Image: Todd Hunter, "Home Made" 2010 Oil on Canvas 183 x 160cm
Todd Hunter knows about paint.. and apparently, is very in touch with his emotions and the poetry of bodily intimacy. His new body of work "Love Buzz" at GrantPirrie Gallery in Sydney's Redfern, left me gasping for more. Luscious swathes of paint in energetic yet sensually dripping colours of Cad Red (how does he use this colour???) sienna, lemon yellow, white and an occasional patch of sap green evoke masterfully the works of de Kooning. They don't just copy, but to my mind, rival this master's work, albeit some 50 years later.
But it's a phenomenal achievement to be able to paint like this, and all credit to Todd whose studio floor is testament to the thousands of decisions and indecisions which accumulate to make such a work; an accretion of scrapings, trowelling, dripping and change of mind. I tried and tried to work out a favourite, but the consistency in quality prevented this happening decisively, though the touches of sap green at the edges of "Home Made" probably just swayed the argument in my head. You can fall in love with each painting, let alone the artist.
masterful....
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