Neil Hamon
29 May - 25 Jul 2008
JACK BURTON, 173 U.S. AIRBONE DIVISION. VIETNAM 1968-1969
2002-2004. Selenium toned B&W print. 53 X 43 cm. Edition of 3 + 2PA
2002-2004. Selenium toned B&W print. 53 X 43 cm. Edition of 3 + 2PA
NEIL HAMON
At first glance Neil Hamon’s works may appear as familiar documentation, but upon closer inspection reveal themselves as carefully constructed conceits that question how we are lured into falsehoods because of our often-fatal desire to preserve, restore and remember.
Hamon focuses on mediums of representation that lay claim to a depiction of truth through an indexical link to their subject. These are processes that rely on such a claim in order to function as accurate re-presentations, such as documentary photography and the more obsessive approaches of historical re-enactment and taxidermy.
For the ‘Living History Series’, Hamon travelled the British Isles in order to meticulously document historical re-enactors and their re-enactments. The large-scale colour photo-works and smaller nostalgically tinted images capture the objects, costumes and activities these war-weekenders assume in a bid to authenticate and re-live a lost past. Each image is printed and toned to match the photographic style of the time, pushing the re-enactors aim one step further by re-presenting them back into the two dimensional world from which they draw their references.
At Galeria Fucares Hamon will accompany a selection of photographs from the ‘Living History Series’ with recent sculptures that feature his leitmotif, the fishing fly. These works constructed from adapted faux Victorian furniture are trap-like in appearance, suggestive of function albeit a questionable one. As David Thorpe explains, ‘the work exudes a macabre domesticity, a vehicle for Hamon to externalise his thoughts about what the flies represent... [He] employs the illusion of reality to reveal a deeper truth, one that is more closely linked to the tragedy of the human condition’.
There is an absurdity at the heart of fly fishing, namely to the idea of using parts of one animal in order to reconstruct the appearance of another in an attempt to seduce and eventually through its representation, catch a third. Hamon sees this as a metaphor for his own production and as the artist has explained his work is “not about the notion of the artist as revealing truths but about the complex relationship between imitation, presentation, and seduction.”
At first glance Neil Hamon’s works may appear as familiar documentation, but upon closer inspection reveal themselves as carefully constructed conceits that question how we are lured into falsehoods because of our often-fatal desire to preserve, restore and remember.
Hamon focuses on mediums of representation that lay claim to a depiction of truth through an indexical link to their subject. These are processes that rely on such a claim in order to function as accurate re-presentations, such as documentary photography and the more obsessive approaches of historical re-enactment and taxidermy.
For the ‘Living History Series’, Hamon travelled the British Isles in order to meticulously document historical re-enactors and their re-enactments. The large-scale colour photo-works and smaller nostalgically tinted images capture the objects, costumes and activities these war-weekenders assume in a bid to authenticate and re-live a lost past. Each image is printed and toned to match the photographic style of the time, pushing the re-enactors aim one step further by re-presenting them back into the two dimensional world from which they draw their references.
At Galeria Fucares Hamon will accompany a selection of photographs from the ‘Living History Series’ with recent sculptures that feature his leitmotif, the fishing fly. These works constructed from adapted faux Victorian furniture are trap-like in appearance, suggestive of function albeit a questionable one. As David Thorpe explains, ‘the work exudes a macabre domesticity, a vehicle for Hamon to externalise his thoughts about what the flies represent... [He] employs the illusion of reality to reveal a deeper truth, one that is more closely linked to the tragedy of the human condition’.
There is an absurdity at the heart of fly fishing, namely to the idea of using parts of one animal in order to reconstruct the appearance of another in an attempt to seduce and eventually through its representation, catch a third. Hamon sees this as a metaphor for his own production and as the artist has explained his work is “not about the notion of the artist as revealing truths but about the complex relationship between imitation, presentation, and seduction.”