Terry Haggerty

Opening: Friday, March 17, 2006. 7 pm
Duration: March 18 through April 29, 2006
Opening Hours: Tu - Sa 12 - 7 pm

The principles of abstraction are the simplification of form and its repetition, as well as a reduced, and at times even monochrome use of colour. At the provisional end of its variable history, the understanding of abstraction is linked to a turning away from visible reality in the language of art.
Even though Terry Haggerty's pictures remind us vaguely of simple, everyday objects, the artistic intention is not exhausted exclusively through the representation of radiators, air vents or blinds. This is because Terry Haggerty's conversion of these structures into pictures reaches an intensity which, upon careful viewing, produces a variety of spectacular visual reactions. The lines, running parallel to each other over a distance, that suddenly describe a curve and suggest plasticity, produce that mysterious oscillation over the monochrome background, that allows the borders of the picture to blur. In the way that the arrangement of the lines thicken to form a complex planimetric representation, the focus of perception gradually shifts towards the visual qualities of the apparition. The incredible precision of Haggerty's handiwork is also responsible for the impressive effect of his pictures. Even upon closer examination, it is impossible to discover any brush stroke or irregularity in the distribution of the colour. The final coats of varnish veil the painting process, leaving the picture strangely smooth, with an appearance of quasi mechanical perfection. With Terry Haggerty, the expression 'abstraction' takes on new dimensions, by the fact that the painting process is no longer in the foreground and the viewer can no longer be sure of the intentionality. In this case, abstraction is not defined exclusively by the picture, but find itself at the same time in the process of its creation.