Following No Rush, the last show of Norman Hyams’ work at Hannah Barry Gallery and the first since his death in the Autumn of 2024, ΠΝΕΥΜΑ PNEVMA is the first international exhibition of Hyams’ paintings. Situated on Patmos, a remote Greek island eight hours from Athens, the exhibition presents a series of paintings depicting the Dodecanese and surrounding sea, many selected from Hyams’ studio in Shepherds Bush, London, and previously unseen. Painting on a range of materials available to him – dried paint palettes, fruit crates, sponges and plates – a number of the works present as halfway between object and painting, the rough surfaces mimicking the rugged landscape and changeable sea.
ΠΝΕΥΜΑ PNEVMA, the title of the show, selected by the late Hyams’ wife, Sacha, is an ancient Greek word translating as breath or spirit – a life-giving essence. Having returned to the island each year as a family, Patmos came to represent a second home where familiar routines and rituals were repeated year on year: teaching the children to swim, breakfasts of figs, honey and walnuts and lunches at the local taverna. Installed across the four rooms of Stavrakas Mansion in Chora Patmos, ΠΝΕΥΜΑ PNEVMA presents a journey across the landscape but also into the interior world of the artist himself.
|
|
