This is another exhibition I only just got to before it finished, and I’m glad I did. I like his classic, canonical collages but knew nothing about what he did after that. This small but interesting exhibition at the National Gallery has answered at least some of that question.
‘Works’ is the correct term here: Hamilton uses painting, photography and digital images, often together, to explore painting and surface. The recurring tropes become obvious: the nude (mostly the same nude woman), religious homage/parody (particularly the annunciation), reflection and perspective (both painted and digital), self-reference (the same images are used in multiple pictures). To me, these point to investigation of the flat surface itself. Hamilton uses meticulous painted reflections combined with digital images to make us think about what is real and that we are looking at a flat surface. This is not a new thought, but it is executed with such a feeling of curiosity that it works, and works well.
I found this collection both funny and solemn; seeing what Hamilton is doing or a clever way of doing causes the laughter of recognition despite the scene itself. His clean use of the digital, particularly as architectural backdrops, shows constant innovation.
Perhaps the solemnity comes from the timing of the works: many artist’s late work changes in tone slightly. Perhaps the angels, afterlife and mortal flesh are Hamilton’s response, to push himself to try and capture this in a post-modern, self-referential format. His final, unfinished work (shown in tryptich) combines colours, photography and explicit references to other paintings. In all too, it is a puzzle decoding what parts are in what media. This, however, is a puzzle worth finishing; and the exhibition is a worthy tribute to the late Richard Hamilton.
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