AARON WAGHORN
Shake Well Before Opening
April 9th-27th, 2019
Join us for an exhibition preview April 9th 5:30-7:30pm
EXHIBITION IN SITU
EXHIBTION CATALOGUE
EXHIBITION TEXT
Collisions of colour and form will take over Warwick Henderson Gallery this April for Aaron Waghorn’s solo exhibition Shake Well Before Opening.
Wellington based emerging artist Aaron Waghorn creates paintings that draw inspiration from the media that surrounds us. Through watching the news, reading articles, streaming music or browsing the internet, Waghorn, like us all, experiences fast-paced impressions of the world in vivid colours and clashing concepts. Waghorn finds inspiration in the dramatic juxtapositions and contradictions thrown up by contemporary media, translating them into transecting colour, motif and line.
The category of Pop Art is a continual influence on Waghorn’s practise, his works stylistically engender many of the features of this ground-breaking movement which began in the late 1950’s. The thick outlines and Benday dots of Lichtenstein make their way into Waghorn’s canvases, while his use of colour blocking makes reference to Warhol. Pop Art’s strategy of plucking material from the everyday and presenting it as visually removed subject disconnected from its known context, often combined with unrelated material, is an approach Waghorn employs.
Waghorn is known for pairing his work with lyrics that he finds in the music he listens to. The show title Shake Well Before Opening is a reference to the 90s funk and electronic rock music of Black Grape. This strategy is another link to the Pop movement which found inspiration from the music of the day, believing that all media was fodder for the art making process.
The body of work presented in Shake Well Before Opening offers two threads. The first, found in six large canvases that feature layered motifs and colour blocks that the artist calls ‘abstract interruptions’. These pieces feel urgent with images of fire, explosions and zooming objects. When paired with titles such as “Chaos from the top down”, taken from the stereophonics politically motivated single of the same name, these works seem to encourage the contemplation of deeper layers of meaning, perhaps the global state of affairs and recent current events.
By contrast, Waghorn also presents five decidedly minimal canvases which appear as geometric studies into shape and colour. The concerns of these works feel more formal as the artist dissects his canvas into circles and squares rendered by hand.
Shake Well Before Opening is Aaron Waghorn’s second solo exhibition with Warwick Henderson Gallery. We invite you delve into this artist’s unique and energetic visual language. Join us for an exhibition preview on April 9th 5:30-7:30pm. The exhibition will run from April 9-27, 2019.
Text by Neala Glass
Wellington based emerging artist Aaron Waghorn creates paintings that draw inspiration from the media that surrounds us. Through watching the news, reading articles, streaming music or browsing the internet, Waghorn, like us all, experiences fast-paced impressions of the world in vivid colours and clashing concepts. Waghorn finds inspiration in the dramatic juxtapositions and contradictions thrown up by contemporary media, translating them into transecting colour, motif and line.
The category of Pop Art is a continual influence on Waghorn’s practise, his works stylistically engender many of the features of this ground-breaking movement which began in the late 1950’s. The thick outlines and Benday dots of Lichtenstein make their way into Waghorn’s canvases, while his use of colour blocking makes reference to Warhol. Pop Art’s strategy of plucking material from the everyday and presenting it as visually removed subject disconnected from its known context, often combined with unrelated material, is an approach Waghorn employs.
Waghorn is known for pairing his work with lyrics that he finds in the music he listens to. The show title Shake Well Before Opening is a reference to the 90s funk and electronic rock music of Black Grape. This strategy is another link to the Pop movement which found inspiration from the music of the day, believing that all media was fodder for the art making process.
The body of work presented in Shake Well Before Opening offers two threads. The first, found in six large canvases that feature layered motifs and colour blocks that the artist calls ‘abstract interruptions’. These pieces feel urgent with images of fire, explosions and zooming objects. When paired with titles such as “Chaos from the top down”, taken from the stereophonics politically motivated single of the same name, these works seem to encourage the contemplation of deeper layers of meaning, perhaps the global state of affairs and recent current events.
By contrast, Waghorn also presents five decidedly minimal canvases which appear as geometric studies into shape and colour. The concerns of these works feel more formal as the artist dissects his canvas into circles and squares rendered by hand.
Shake Well Before Opening is Aaron Waghorn’s second solo exhibition with Warwick Henderson Gallery. We invite you delve into this artist’s unique and energetic visual language. Join us for an exhibition preview on April 9th 5:30-7:30pm. The exhibition will run from April 9-27, 2019.
Text by Neala Glass