Gallery opening times:
Saturday 3rd & Sunday 4th September 10am – 4pm
Saturday 10th & Sunday 11th September 10am – 4pm
Preview: Friday 2nd September 6pm – 8pm
I Wish I Had Wings is an exhibition of paintings that explores the visual language of the ‘Smear frame’ through the medium of paint. Showcasing movement and obscuring figuration by way of distortion, Hoffmeister uses this visual language to respond intuitively to the process of painting to further explore the self-referential nature of the painting process.
A ‘Smear’ is a visual representation of an optical phenomenon found in early futurist paintings, such as Giacomo Balla’s ‘Dynamism of a dog on a leash’ (1912) and later was adopted/reinvented within animation. It is an abstract manner of showcasing movement and of obscuring figuration by way of distortion. It is a representation of embodied air, volume where no volume exists.
Oliver Hoffmeister (b.1995 Chesterfield) is a Newcastle-based painter-printmaker. His work focuses on the obscure nature of the imagined image, with particular reference to the artist’s conceived imagery. More recently Hoffmeister has attempted to delve into his creative process and re-think his paintings, the imagery he makes and the manners in which he works. Since graduating in 2018, Oliver has shown work as part of The Ingram Collection Young Contemporary Talent Award, London; Ghosts That Live Amongst Us in 155a Gallery, London and was long-listed for The British Contemporary Painting Prize 2021. More recently, in 2021, he produced his first solo exhibition with Berwick Visual Arts at Gymnasium Gallery in Berwick upon Tweed and has been accepted onto the Drawing year 2022-2023, a post-graduate course run by The Royal Drawing School.
The former 36 Lime Street Gallery was established in 2009 as an artist run space to provide a platform for emerging and established artists to experiment and take risks with new work. Selected by committee from an open call, 8 proposals are selected and exhibited throughout the year.
The gallery space continues to provide a platform as 36.
