REALISMISM // Wednesday night, before hitting up Citrine (see below), HN stopped by our friend Richard Haines’s one night only solo show @ Envoy Gallery. Envoy has played host to some of our favorite artists (see Brandon Herman, et al). Haines’ work is important to HN not only for it’s simplicity and beauty (its explicit homoeroticism), but because it speaks to a larger cultural phenomenon — a return to quick, instant hand drawing. Sketching — practically a lost art in a society dominated by Facebook and Twitter — is perhaps more “of the moment” than any iPhone pic or digital avatar. Because, though one may argue both sides here (sketch vs megapixel), drawing undeniably allows the artist to capture an individual’s characteristics in a way that most modern technology cannot. There is something primal about pen on paper that Haines’ drawings explore. He is not interested in life-like representation. He’s looking to reduce the information — to pare away at the high-definition mumbo jumbo in order to reveal a sort of individual, albeit casual, essence. Lucky for him, and for us, that those “persons” are often beautiful New York City boys. Photos by SMHayhurst.
Read more on New York’s The Cut.
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Tags: Brandon Herman, Citirine, Envoy Gallery, New York Magazine, Richard Haines, The Cut
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i love these photos, as well as the write up. thanks!
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three cheers for richard and his awesome work!bob
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if quentin blake were an eagle eyed homosexual…
The cultural phenomenon that I picked up on had more to do with the trends in clothing and body types that were clearly evident throughout the sketches. It was a reality check that all our fashionable pretensions have just resulted in sameness. It was embarrassing to see myself in so many of the sketches and when I saw the other attendees dressed exactly a like I had to rush out due to mortification. It’s in this sense that I think Richard Haine’s work will become increasingly important, not as a champion for gestural portraits, but for recording our visual culture with a disturbing objectivity, something that oddly enough is not as convincing when done through photography (ala scott schuman).
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I’m so mad I missed this! RICHARD, YOU KILL MAN!!!
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