Private View Review - James Hopkins - Hole In My Eye - Max Wigram Gallery - London

In an exhibition that plays with perspective and possibilities, James Hopkins is proving himself to be quite the clever guy. His second solo show, 'Hole In My Eye', at the Max Wigram Gallery (www.maxwigram.com), the only gallery known to man that actually allows smoking on their premises, comprises of seven different but strangely similar works. Fact is, the pieces exhibited are diverse, yet are clearly works from the same artist – Hopkins.

In the first room, ’Wibbly Wobbly Boogie’, a black grand piano, from the tripped-out world of curve, is topped by the fantastic ’Melting Mickey’. Made from slick, shiny acrylic, in familiar Disney-style primary colours, the piece folds onto its blue circular base. It’s a odd one to experience – this is so obviously Mickey Mouse, but from every angle, his shape is distorted. Positioned directly in front of these two works is the superb, oh so crafty, 'Prosperity and Decay', a work that follows from 2005’s 'Le Visage de Vanitas' and 'Shelf Life'. As with this duo, ‘Prosperity and Decay’ deals with ‘concealment and revelation’. The group of marble shelves, that hold the work together, are covered by a selection of bits and pieces. Old books by Coleridge and Scott, a roman numeral clock, chess board, mirror and empty Krug bottles, above which cheaper wines sit stoic. Who knows what Hopkins is suggesting with the old school classic Champagnes sitting demurely beneath the risen mainstream wines – whatever, he certainly leaves you pondering on a cultural point. Almost all the objects here have been cut into and broken up with great curved sweaps, shattering them neatly. As with so many great works, its only when you step away and view the work from afar, that its image, as a gaping skull, a fellow of the ‘Le Visage de Vanitas’ and ‘Shelf Life’, becomes apparent. And it’s superb. It’s a work that that’s clever, original, cunning and even peculiar.

The second room is filled by a further three works, ’Eye Glass', 'A Thousand Miles', and perhaps the strongest, 'In My Dream There Were Three Different Doors'. The sculpture, that’s - big surprise - made with three doors, is based on an ancient Japanese ontological puzzle. Once again it's pretty sassy in a rustic kind of way. Like the rest of 'Hole In My Eye' it leaves you wondering about time and space and all those things that are a luxury to think about.

Photos by Wayne Chisnall