Hirst Opens Newport Street Gallery With John Hoyland
Damien Hirst opened his Newport Street Gallery in south London on October 8, alongside a stunning inaugural display celebrating the late incredibly talented John Hoyland. “Power Stations” boasts more than 30 of Hoyland’s large-scale paintings, dating between 1964 and 1982, all pulled from Hirst’s private collection. The paintings tell the story of Hoyland’s unmatched career: his bold and intuitive use of color, line and space, and his form. Hoyland, perhaps most notably, led the British abstract movement from its inception in the early 60s. His death in 2011 only solidified what all creative already knew: that he was an artist unlike any British had ever, or would ever, find again.
“Power Stations,” according to Hirst’s website, marks the first major exhibition devoted to the artist since the 2006 retrospective at the Tate St. Ives in 2006. Hirst’s admiration of Hoyland began when he studied at Leeds Art Academy. He described Hoyland as an artist who “was never afraid to push the boundaries.” He also noted that Hoyland’s works would forever feel like a “massive celebration of life.” It only seems fitting, then, that the student would so graciously admire the teacher on the debut of his own gallery.
On display throughout all six of the gallery’s exhibition spaces in Vauxhall, Hoyland’s exhibition will run until April 3rd of 2016. Hoyland’s seven-month long residency is accompanied by a written foreward penned by Tate director Nicholas Serota; a text from Barry Schwabsky, an art historian and critic; a re-published essay by Gordon Burn; and a 2009 conversation between Hirst and the late Hoyland.
