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JAMES HYMAN GALLERY
Hughie O'Donoghue (b.1953)
Please scroll down for further information. Hughie O'Donoghue (b.1953) Geometry of Paths Oil and mixed media on board 2008 Literature: Hughie O'Donoghue, The Geometry of Paths, James Hyman Gallery, London, 2008, (cat. 1), illustrated (un-numbered). Exhibition History: Hughie O'Donoghue, The Geometry of Paths, James Hyman Gallery, London, 06 March - 19 April 2008. Painting in 12 parts Each panel is approximatively 31x 44 cm The Geometry of Paths Hughie O’Donoghue, in an essay for the publication accompanying the exhibition, The Geometry of Paths at James Hyman Gallery (March-April 2008) evokes the ideas behind this 12 part work: “Late one October evening as I made my way home I went into a second hand bookshop on the Charing Cross Road that I had often passed. It was seven or eight o’ clock but the shop was still open and there were a few other customers looking at the books on the shelves. The layout of the shop and its slightly eccentric nature led me to follow a meandering path which led to the basement. In the farthest corner there was a shelf of similar looking volumes bound in brown cardboard with rudimentary labels. On taking one of these down I noticed that it had last been withdrawn from the University of London library, its former home, over fifty years earlier. The volume was called The Geometry of Paths by O. Veblen and T.Y. Thomas and though the text of this dissertation was difficult to follow it seemed to be explaining in an emphatic, if somewhat abstract way how the world was. Open the door and climb into the dark. You have to find your position, check the instruments, spread the charts, check the radio, check your pulse, check anything. Waiting on the frozen airfield until your number is called. No fear boys. This is the worst time. There was a time perhaps when there was no fear but that time has long gone. The place used to be called Cotton Farm before the three runways were hastily made. From out of your small window you can see the moonlight reflecting back from the snow and frost covered fields. The scene is one of disturbing tranquillity. The planes lined up in orderly rows have a certain aesthetic , though in essence they are just big sheds with wings, the heavy transports of death, a logical development in a process of collective irresponsibility from the earliest days of manned flight. The planes are painted black and make their journeys in the night, they are called Halifax and Lancaster, somebody thought it would be a good idea to name them after somewhere grim in the north. Made in Trafford Park in Manchester, built in sections by women wearing headscarves and bolted and riveted together at the Metrovicks factory. On the side of Lancaster S is painted the figure of a saint with a halo and the motto ‘he will be back’. As time has gone on the ambiguity of this image and its message has become unsettling to you. The numbers are starting to add up, the odds are changing, the laws of chance, of avoiding mishap, of getting back safely are starting to prey on your mind. The numbers are written in red.” Please click here to contact us about this item, or if you wish to buy or sell a work by this artist. | ||||||||
