( 3 reviews )
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Posted: Jul 21 2006
Provincetown Arts Press published two books on the occasion of Peter Hutchinson's retrospective at the Provincetown Art Associaion and Museum in 1994: "Narrative Art," the exhibition catalogue with essays by Brian O'Doherty, Ann Wilson Lloyd, and Douglas Huebler, and "Dissolving Clouds," a collection of the artist's writings. In the catalogue introduction, I wrote that the term "Narrative Art" was coined by John Gibson for the title of an exhibition at his gallery in New York in 1974. Hutchinson was one of several artists, including Bill Beckley, Jean Le Gac, and Roger Welch, who were introducing language into aspects of visual art, not merely as another collage element, but as a medium independent of the visual image. Hutchinson's typical practice, then and now, combines image and text emblematically so that the separate mediums interact to make a total statement about art and life. Generally he uses his own photographs and his own written anecdotal descriptions as documentations of an action in a specific time and place that was intended consciously to be a work of art. His texts provide parabolic commentary on the action, but they do not depend on the photographs for their context or their sense of completeness. In this new book, Hutchinson presents his mature self in an elegant summary. The book, beautifully produced, reproduces touchstone images, but they jump to life in their accumulated orchestration. When Hutchinson throws a rope on a lawn, it is with the purpose of finding an accidental line where he will plant the flowers that materialize into his works of art. The unseen, presented through documentations of its existence, becomes mysteriously animated as an idea greater than the forms that represent it; and what is ultimately called the work of art is an entire cycle of creative process, including destruction, rather than any one of its states, however finished. It seems natural that Hutchinson often works in series and that he incorporates fundamental systems in science and language--cosmic, atomic, chemical, numerical, and alphabetical--while relishing the power of a system to blindly organize random information. Such a rule of system is what makes the Conceptual artist successful in terms that are somewhat strictly defined. From an airplane, on a clear day, any volcano might look beautiful, but knowlegede that Hutchinson has walked the sterile rim and scattered bread--moistening it, and covering it with plastic to grow mold--alters what you see.
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( 1 of 1 found this review helpful ) Posted: Mar 1 2006
This is a great chronicle of some of the many wonderful works by this cutting edge conceptual artist. Like his work, each page of the book is carefully touched by the genius behind the work. It is beautifully edited and is a great read.
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( 1 of 1 found this review helpful ) Posted: Feb 23 2006
It's been a long time coming and it looks wonderful. Princeton Press & Blind Spot have provided a well deserved place in the art book world for Peter Hutchinson and his art. Lots and lots of beautiful photos chronicles a long career and helps us understand better conceptual art through the wisdom and talent of Peter Hutchinson. A must-have!
