Gary Hume

Gary Hume is an artist dictated by no man. Hume is an artist whose works can range from childish simplicity to sophisticated and complex ideas. He is an artist that is so refreshingly unique that he catches criticism from many art critics. Hume's work emerged during the eighties, a time that Brian Sewell Artist Corner website described as a time period when critiquing was the rule and pleasure and self-expression were out. Tragically, the eighties were a time when art was supposed to make sense. Hume thought outside of the box; he developed a very unique and controversial style. This distinctive artist has been called things such as frustratingly uneven, uncohesive, hastily assembled, jejunely jokey, and clumsy. While by the same critic he is said to be magnetic, alluring, and impressive. (Kino 121). As it is now clear, from the conflicting opinions of Carol Kino, Hume is someone that each individual needs to study and develop an opinion on separately.

To fully understand were someone is coming from you must understand where they have been. According to www.biography.ms, Hume was born in 1962 in Kent England. He worked as an assistant film editor in the 80's until he decided to pursue art full time. In 1988, Hume graduated from Goldsmith College in London with an entire generation of other British artists (Gary Hume). Before I go into more depth on his art accomplishments, I feel that it is only practical to tell you more on his style. Hume is known for his simple, bright colors and simple, bold shapes in most cases. His work has a lot of depth and sharp edges (Kino 121). Each piece achieves depth with deliberate and visible brush strokes. The sharp edges are a build up of paint caused by paint being poured against a template (Kino 121). Often times these compositions are simplistic portraits. One source summed up the appearance of Hume's work perfectly, "A common strategy in Hume's work is to start with a familiar image- a picture of a celebrity, some flowers, whatever- and without actually distorting it at all, alter it in such a way that when you see the painting the subject flicks in and out of your consciousness" (Sewell). Usually, he paints with gloss paint on panel, medium density fiberboard, or aluminum. His work can also be a mangled wonderful mess of people composed simply of lines.

In 1988, Gary Hume was involved in the Freeze exhibition curated by Damien Hirst. The earliest work that gained attention to this artist was life-size representation of hospital doors (The Free Encyclopedia). As Hume's artistic exposure expanded so did his subject matter to included pop culture icons such as Tony Blackburn, Kate Moss, and Patsy Kensit, and natural things such as flowers and snowflakes (Gary Hume). Since Hume hit the art scene in Britain, his work has been exhibited all around the world. A full list of Hume's exhibits will be attached as Appendix 1 (Gary Hume). Taking part in more than 40 exhibits, Hume was nominated to the Turner Prize. The prize was formed in 1982 to help buy new art for the Tate Gallery's collection, and to encourage wider interest in contemporary art (Turner Prize History).

There are some techniques I learned in class that could be applied to Hume's paintings. However, I feel that to compare paintings to digital art is like comparing apples to oranges. For this section I will discuss techniques that could have been used if Hume did his work on a computer. The shadows and relief created by the sharp edges would be hard to create digitally. With a lot of time and care, a similar effect could be created using a small brush with the burn tool or painting with a slightly darker color. Hume's premeditated brush strokes can be created by playing with the different brush tools. I feel that a larger size brush would be most successful. It would be quite easy to create the simple shapes, that Hume is known for, with the pen and pad. The uniform colors could be added using the bucket tool. When speaking in term of content, he uses many of the things we were taught in class. All of his images are very well balanced and graphically appealing. The content is interesting and intriguing. For the most part Hume stays away from clichés. One of the main things that I learned in Computer Art Graphics is that you should let your personality shine through in your work. Hume does his art for himself and we all should too.

The thing that inspires me most about Hume's work is the way he uses color. The colors are so simple, yet they come together to make a picture. I really admire the fact that he can take six colors, slap them on a sheet of aluminum and call it done. Most of his works are simple, almost childish drawings that a view can get so much out of. For example, the Whistler, it uses four simple colors, no shading, a few simple shapes and wham you have a jungle man whistling. This simple piece conveys emotions and a story that I could not get out of piece with a hundred pictures. In my own work I carried Hume's simplistic use of color while also conveying an emotion. Hume's pieces all have a distinct felling and style, as an artist my goal is to establish a unique identity for myself. There is no doubt that Hume's work is done for himself. Despite what critics say, he still manages to express himself freely without reserve. I admire this fact, I hope to become that comfortable in my abilities to know that I like my work so that means that it is perfect.

Works Cited

"Biography.ms." Gary Hume. 05 Dec. 2005 .

"The Free Encyclopedia." Gary Hume. Wikipedia. 05 Dec. 2005 .

"Gary Hume." Art Net. 05 Dec. 2005 .

Kino, Carol. "Gary Hume at Matthew Marks." Art in America February 2002: 121.

"Turner Prize History." Tate Online. 05 Dec. 2005 .

Sewell, Brian. "Gary Hume." Brian Sewell Artist Center. 05 Dec. 2005 .