James Capper

Linear Paintings and the Hydraliner

25 February – 23 September 2022

Albion Barn is delighted to present an exhibition of new works titled LINEAR PAINTINGS by James Capper, produced by the artist’s painting machine HYDRALINER.

Capper’s sculptural practice as a ‘speculative engineer’ leads him to work with the versatility of the machine: blurring boundaries between sculpture, biomimicry, and industrial processes. HYDRALINER juxtaposes mechanised processes of modern mass production with the creation of unique artworks. An ergonomic collaboration is performed between artist and machine, bridging the gap between human intuition and repetitive methods of production.

Both Capper’s paintings and sculptures use the same industrial marine paint, bringing together the two and three-dimensional elements of his practice. The marine paint interacts with the movement of the roller arm in different ways depending upon its consistency; a heavy density forming a lacquered, gloss finish, while thinning it with solvents makes lively, wash-like marks. These contrasting consistencies express a sense of time and motion: different levels of speed within the process are implied in the variation of marks. The LINEAR PAINTINGS capture in their shifting hues both the actions and motions of the symbiotic relationship between artist and machine.

Alternating between caustic humour and poignancy; the titles often drawing from newspaper articles, press announcements, and PM’s briefings. The paintings act as a contemporary archive documenting the pandemic and its aftermath. Capper has described this practice as ‘meditative’, induced by the routine regularity of the machine arm combined with the subtly hypnotic blending of the paint:

 “As the operator I enter an almost meditative state with the monotony and repetition of the process. Decisions are made in milliseconds around distribution of colour and density of paint resulting in the permanence of the painting.”

The new series builds upon Capper’s ROTARY PAINTINGS, which were created using the related HYDRAPAINTER during the 2020 national lockdown. The methodical process of creating the paintings gave form to the temporal limbo experienced by all during the lockdown and the sense of monotony caused by identically spent days. The bold, circular paintings engage with seminal works such as Jasper John’s Target, 1961, the colour field paintings of Kenneth Noland, Ugo Rondinone’s target paintings, and Damien Hirst’s spin paintings. At the beginning of the project, much of the proceeds went to the charity Covid Smart.

With the presence of the HYDRALINER, many of the LINEAR PAINTINGS series will be created in situ, bringing the mess and immediacy of the studio practice into the gallery space. The exhibition functions as a site of performance, left in various dynamic states of the art-making process. Even when the space is not in use, it implies the motion of the studio, simply awaiting activation by the artist’s presence.