A sly and nasty physicality drives Peter Hopkins’ abstract
paintings. Their formal vacuity and contrasting optical beauty, even
seductiveness, argues with – and bemoans the supposed “end” – or at least endgame – of
painting, much as Gerhard Richter’swork
does. But Hopkins’
paintings are not empty of content – or at least contents. Fabricated from
“social fluids” that have been applied “over” (as opposed to the usual “on”)
canvas, the three luminous surfaces on view here also incorporate sheer fabric,
reflective holographic foil, and medical, industrial and domestic cleaning
materials – stuff that you’d expect to be stashed in a utility closet not
hanging out in an painter’s studio. Hopkins
has been goosing the art-life boundary for a while now, constantly asking himself, and us what comprises that
boundary, whether such a boundary is integral or inimical to human perception.
End of painting, indeed.