Halcyon Gallery is proud to present projects by Ernesto Cánovas & Santiago Montoya
Ernesto Cánovas, Turneresque
8 Oct - 25 Oct 2014
Halcyon Gallery, 144-146 New Bond street
Cánovas’ long appreciation for, and attention to colour and form has resulted in a focused exhibition of artworks entitled Turneresque. After leaving Spain bound for Edinburgh to continue his passion for art education, Cánovas completed his courses only to move to London furthering his studies at the Slade School of Fine Art. It was in London where he would visit the National Galleries, constantly immersing himself in the compositions of Turner and the other romantics, with their moody pastoral fields and testimonies of nautical victories. More than the arch of the waves and the wind in the sails, Cánovas became concentrated on small sections of colour within the canvas, particularly the blinding luminosity of cloud formations and skyscapes – not the painting as a whole but a small snapshot of the full scene before him. Comprised of four large-scale paintings and five diptychs, the highly contemplated detail in these abstracted areas of Turner’s masterpieces provide the inspiration for Cánovas’ new series.
Santiago Montoya, Tally Sticks
8 Oct - 25 Oct 2014
Halcyon Gallery, 144-146 New Bond street
Halcyon Gallery is proud to present Colombian artist, Santiago Montoya’s latest project: Tally Sticks. Using wood sourced, carefully chosen (only trees were taken which were naturally uprooted or already decaying) and masterfully carpentered from the Cerro de Armas region of the Colombian rainforest, Montoya has created four monumental structures which stand at an imposing three meters high. Mimicking the interior skeleton of a skyscraper, these monolithic wooden towers stand strong, yet are held together at every join with monetary currency tied into knots; fortified only by shreds of paper. The title, Tally Sticks, derives simply from the root definition of the term. A tally in archaic English meant an identical match, or a duplicate of something that could be copied multiple times, while in more recent history the word referred to a piece of wood, scored with notches to serve as a type of early accounting system. Today the term is widely accepted as a way to ‘keep score’ – a way to measure one’s success or equally as such, one’s failures.