Hugh Mendes | A Retrospective: It was 20 years ago today... | Charlie Smith London

CHARLIE SMITH LONDON is delighted to present a Hugh Mendes retrospective exhibition at The Truman Brewery in Brick Lane, London. Consisting of over 100 paintings and spanning 20 years of work, the exhibition will provide a fascinating overview of Mendes' career. He is known for political and obituary paintings, where he adopts the visual language of newspapers and renders in trompe l'oeil.

The day of 9/11 in 2001 was a significant one for Mendes, the events of which came to fundamentally inform his practice. Timed to coincide with the 20th anniversary of that fateful day, Mendes will also conduct a 'Meditation for Peace' at 2pm on September 11th. In his own words:

"In the summer of 2001, I was studying for my MA in Fine Art at City and Guilds of London Art School. In my studio, I was incorporating newspaper clippings into still life paintings, and was working on a memorial piece to mark the 20th anniversary of John Lennon being shot in New York: '20 Years Ago Today'. It juxtaposed a painted newspaper clipping with another object, in this case a green apple, relating to Apple Records.

That summer, I was also following the contested US election between Al Gore and George W. Bush. They were recounting endlessly in Florida and arguing over 'hanging chads'. Eventually, they fraudulently declared Bush as the winner. Walking down Brick Lane one afternoon, I spotted a piece of newspaper on the pavement, featuring an image of an Arab with a Kalashnikov gun and some Arabic looking text. Back in the studio, I juxtaposed this clipping with an image of Al Gore and George Bush: 'Gore Really did Win Florida'.
I hung both of these paintings in my MA graduation show, which opened on September 11th.

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Category: Arts | Visual Arts | Galleries / Art

Artist: Hugh Mendes