Tom Hackney ‘Scenic Wonder’
12 November — 4 December 2004
SPACE Mare Street
Amid the increasing number of art awards, the BOC Emerging Artist Award is one of the newest and most generous, with a grant of £20,000 to the winner.Last year saw Tom Hackney’s paintings of famous American film locations gain first prize and it has now enabled him to stage his first solo show, together with the seven shortlisted artists for this year’s prize. Hackney’s collection of new paintings, Scenic Wonder, depicts a series of tranquil scenes painted in meticulous detail and in highly florid colour. Framed to resemble vintage 3D View-Master slides – though they could also appear to be the windows of a train framing the scenic route – they cast a glaze of nostalgia across the picture-postcard views, which are graphically illustrative, rather than photorealist. And he is particularly good when he paints dappled water…
