Charles Hinman - Analogous Eclipse (triptych)
Shaped canvas 2010

Robert Swain - Untitled 7-25-6 x 11-25-7 x 25-25-6
Acrylic on canvas 2010

Charles Hinman - Blue Twist
Shaped canvas 2011

Robert Swain - Untitled 11-25-7 x 23-25-6 x 27-25-6
Acrylic on canvas 2010

Charles Hinman - Lemon Twist
Shaped canvas 2011

Robert Swain - Untitled 11-25-7 x 29-25-5
Acrylic on canvas 2008

Charles Hinman - Mint Twist
Shaped canvas 2011

Robert Swain - Untitled Study for 10 x 6–12
Acrylic on masonite 1990

Charles Hinman - Orange Twist
Shaped canvas 2011

Robert Swain - Untitled Study for 6 x 4–08
Acrylic on masonite 1986

David Richard Contemporary is pleased to present On and Off the Grid, a two-person exhibition featuring new and recent work by Charles Hinman and Robert Swain. Hinman’s work is physical, of significant scale, wall-mounted and three-dimensional. His art-making practice since the early 1960s has focused on the tension between the physicality of sculpture and the illusion of painting. His handmade supports are engineering feats in and of themselves, enhanced by the painted stretched canvas. In this new series, Gems, the front surfaces are painted very subtle, neutralized hues reminiscent of gemstones, while the cantilevered backsides angled away from the plane of the wall are painted saturated contrasting colors, reflecting onto the wall behind them and creating the after glow of the sparkle from a precious gem. This latest work is “off the grid,” in that they are uni-structures versus his earlier multi-component constructions that were more “on the grid”

Robert Swain has spent his career since the 1960s exploring the interactions and sensations of color from psychological, physical and emotional perspectives. Systematic color mixing and blending by experimenting with proportions and analogous relationships on a grid, versus the vibrating and contrasting qualities of complementary colors in Op art, has been the cornerstone of his art-making practice. He has dedicated his career to understanding how color triggers memories and emotions through individual interpretations and personal experiences. This required him to create tools and processes for systematically studying the hue, value and saturation of color and the impact of each on sensory perception. The newest work is made of overlapping, lush and curvaceous, impasto brush strokes that create very active color relationships. While very painterly in appearance, these pieces have an organization and structure, but not strictly “on the grid.” The proximity of the colors creates a new intensity, almost vibrational, that generates afterimages.