James Capper : Rotary Paintings and Hydra Painter
-
-
Albion Barn is pleased to present an exhibition of recent works by James Capper. The ROTARY PAINTINGS form a significant body of work created using the HYDRA PAINTER - a hydraulic painting machine. The first iteration of HYDRA PAINTER, built in 2015, is a basic machine consisting of a small square table with a hole in the middle to allow the spindle of a hydraulic motor through it, attached to which is a beam affixed with paint rollers. Despite initial successful tests, HYDRA PAINTER was packed away and sat in storage until Capper rediscovered the machine in March 2020.
-
JAMES CAPPER: ROTARY PAINTINGS | THE SECOND SERIES
James Capper creates these ROTARY PAINTINGS in a synthesis with his machine the HYDRAPAINTER. The combination of unique art object with mechanical production methods encapsulates Capper’s investigation into biomimicry, the artist’s hand is extended to the rotating arm of the hydraulic machine: this collaboration creates a performative method of production.
-
-
Capper works primarily in large-scale industrial sculpture, structuring his practice around ‘Divisions’. The divisions the ‘Earth Marking’ and ‘Carving’, while the art object is the machine, demonstrate an obvious preoccupation with the trace left behind by his sculpture. In a divergence of form, the ROTARY PAINTINGS centre the trace left by Capper’s hydraulic sculpture. The same industrial maritime paint is used across the two- and three-dimensional aspects of his practice, drawing further relations between them, and giving the series a distinct, lacquered effect.
The marine paint interacts with the movement of the roller arm in different ways depending upon its consistency; a heavy density forming a thick, gloss finish, while thinning it with solvents makes lively, wash-like marks. The HYDRAPAINTER can then adapt its speed to accentuate these differences, the variation of marks implying the temporality and motion that is pivotal to its production. 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.
-
Produced throughout the pandemic, each ROTARY PAINTING acts as a historical record of the day that it was produced. The titles alternate between caustic humour and poignancy in response to newspaper headlines, PM briefings, and press announcements. Capper forged a link between the repetitive method of production and the monotony of life during lockdown: the subtle blending and shifting hues giving form to the sense of temporal limbo. The initial series of ROTARY PAINTINGS were produced in collaboration with Covid Smart, with much of the proceeds being donated to the charity.
Additional works and prices are available on request.
-
-
James Capper, A LOT OF PEOPLE WILL SAY, UM YOU KNOW, WHY DON'T YOU GO FASTER, 2021
-
James Capper, ALL THE EVIDENCE SHOWS THAT SCHOOLS ARE SAFE, 2021
-
James Capper, FOR THE FIRST TIME IN DECADES, 2021
-
James Capper, IMPORTUNATE NOSE RINGED, DREADLOCKED CLIMATE CHANGE PROTESTERS, 2021
-
James Capper, DO YOU STILL THROW SPEARS AT EACH OTHER?, 2021
-
James Capper, YOU DON'T HAVE TO URINATE IN THE BUSHES, 2021
-
James Capper, THIS BRUTAL LOTTERY OF OLD AGE, 2021
-
James Capper, PERHAPS WE SHOULD THANK EACH OTHER, 2021
-
James Capper, KEEP THIS COUNTRY IN FURLOUGH, 2021
-
James Capper, IF WE LISTEN TO CAPTAIN HINDSIGHT, 2021
-
James Capper, IT'S FIXED, 2021
-
James Capper, YOU CAN DO BOTH AT ONCE, CAKE, HAVE, EAT, 2021
-
James Capper, HEAVING HEMP SMELLING BIVOUACS, 2021
-
James Capper, TURBOCHARGE THE ROLL OUT, 2021
-
James Capper, GOT A BIT EMBARRASSING, 2021
-
-
James Capper PATHWAYS IN MOBILE SCULPTURE, 2021
Albion Publishing
Accompanying the exhibition of James's latest ROTARY PAINTINGS, Albion Barn is excited to announce the publication James Capper PATHWAYS IN MOBILE SCULPTURE, published by Albion Publishing with texts by Richard Cork, James Capper, Edward Campbell, Alexa Jeanne Kusber, and Guy Robertson. The book will be available for orders from June.
