This exhibition uses Hurvin Anderson’s recurring paintings of a Birmingham barbershop to delve deep into the artist’s creative process and influences.
There are few more concentrated insights into an artist’s process and preoccupations than a subject to which they continually return. Over the past 15 years, Turner Prize shortlisted artist Hurvin Anderson has repeatedly painted one barbershop in Birmingham, using the location to trial painting styles from abstraction to classic still life and to probe the ways in which art can reflect identity and community.
This solo exhibition at The Hepworth Wakefield sets this series, including a new, final piece, amongst sketches, 3D models, objects and drawings from Anderson’s planning stages. Together, these preparatory works reflect the artist’s process from early studies to finished painting. The exhibition is also accompanied by Hurvin Anderson Curates, a selection of paintings from UK collections that are in dialogue with Anderson’s practice, including pieces by Lubaina Himid, Francis Bacon and Leon Kossoff. Collectively, these reveal Anderson’s influences and point to the historical references interwoven through his work and address larger questions around the legacy of painting.
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