Charles Gaines: Multiples of Nature, Trees and Faces

Fun exhibition at Hauser & Wirth of two series of Charles Gaines’ Plexiglas gridworks.

The works overlap a glass pixilated effect colour image over a black and white photograph. The colour image being a mathematical analysis in colours of the photograph or a collection of photographs. I’m not sure I understood the logic or what the colours and numbers but I liked the images they created.

It was nice that each series “Faces” and “Trees” were shown in separate galleries so you could concentrate on each one. “Faces” is an amalgam of faces in a series which began in 1978. Gaines uses people who identify as multi-racial or multi-ethnic and overpays their images in the colour section of the work to emphasis the similarities and differences in the faces.

“Trees” continues a series which began in 1986 and in this case just looks at Dorset trees. The back photograph in this case shows a section of a tree whereas the colour grid shows whole ones again overlaying colour graded images of successive trees. I particularly liked the effect of the shadow thrown onto the wall of the coloured image which elongated and seemed to complete the image.

Closes 1 May 2021

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