Gary Hume’s Yellowstone National Painting, 2005, is an exemplary manifestation of the unique visual language that has garnered the artist critical acclaim. Executed in the artist’s signature medium of enamel paint on aluminum, a simplified, soft brown depiction of the top of a corn stalk commands the center of the composition. A pop of pale-yellow radiates from the lower left corner. The muted palette is consistent with the artist’s oeuvre, as unexpected combinations of color have become a notable facet of Hume’s style.
The present work features a prominent distillation of the tension in materiality central to the artist’s work. The rigid fields of yellow and brown emanate a sense of earthly effervescence that counterbalances the cool chrome of the negative space rendered in unfinished aluminum. The contrast between the natural and the manufactured that spans both the physical and conceptual layers of Hume’s art achieves a harmonic sense of balance that imbues the work with emotional potency. His emphasis on form rather than minute details gives rise to reserved compositions that carry meditative, pensive undercurrents.
“Well, a painting should be tough, it should have muscle, but I have to find some tenderness in it too. There has to be that dynamic.”
—Gary Hume
Hume participated in the 1999 Venice Biennale and 1996 São Paulo Biennial, representing Great Britain. In 2001 he was elected to the Royal Academy. His work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at several esteemed European institutions, including Tate Britain in London, Modern Art Oxford, the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin, the Kestnergesellschaft in Hanover, Kunsthaus Bregenz, and Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens in Deurle, Belgium.
