Fúcares Gallery is pleased to present the fifth solo exhibition by Jonathan Hammer (1960) at its space in Madrid.

Crypto

What happens when the lights are off?? The world of childhood is also the world of nightmares. Are these teddy bears or monsters? Planets or marbles? And who is the Knight in Shining Armor, friend or foe? What happens “after school”, when it is time to face the night, having left the body behind, gone in sleep and dreams?

“My interest in toys and clowns and monsters is not per se “about childhood”, declares Jonathan Hammer. What I am fascinated with is the extreme values placed on these images/objects. A doll or a stuffed animal is something we “love to death”. We adore the toy and abuse it. Embrace it and kill it. And like the clown, both innocent and criminal, the toys that are sometimes victims are also victimizers. They are malevolent. They morph into monsters from being loved too much. And yet, we are also thrilled with monsters: we love the excitement and frisson of the fears.”

Jonathan Hammer’s fifth solo exhibition with Galeria Fúcares deals with those issues of fear and excitement, love and repulsion in a vocabulary both infinitely subtle and sensitive, elegant and provocative. The unusually fine and crafted techniques used by the artist (pastels, encaustic painting, leather marquetry) attract and lead the viewer into this very peaceful world of violence, absolute refinement and nightmares.

What lies below the skin of the civilized grown-up, is the loss of childhood. What is revealed might be what was obviously hidden and crypted: the circulation of blood, ready to be spilled. The metamorphosis of life.

Fúcares Madrid

C/ Doctor Fourquet 28, bajo
Madrid 28012 Spain
Tel. (+34) 91 319 74 02
galeria@fucares.com
www.fucares.com

Opening hours

Tuesday - Friday from 10.00am to 7.00pm
Saturday from 11.00am to 2.30pm

Related images

1, 2 & 3. Jonathan Hammer, Installation views
4. Jonathan Hammer, Skinned (detail), 2012, Pastel sobre papel. 206 x 155 cm
5. Jonathan Hammer, Crypto, 2011, Diferentes pieles y pan de oro sobre tabla. Políptico (4) 136 x 40 cm c/u
6. Jonathan Hammer, Milkway, 2013, Encáustica sobre tela. 50 x 50 cm