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Scott Richards Contemporary Art: Patrick Hughes - Superspectivision.

Review by Jennifer Jeffrey: Walking into Scott Richards Contemporary Art, I'm immediately captivated with the work of British painter Patrick Hughes. Hughes has created innovative cut-away structures upon which he's painted a pastiche of recognizable pop art, borrowing liberally from Warhol, Lichenstein and others. Brillo pads, Jackie O, dizzy-fied psychedelic shapes-- they're all here, and it feels like a party. Unfortunately, the 3-dimensional shapes of these structures are flattened by my camera lens, so they're hard to appreciate unless you go in person. So go already-- this is one of the most fun exhibits I've seen in a while.

Review by Dennis C. Scherzer: Patrick Hughes graciously poses for a portrait. It's later that I see he shares his vision, literally, with my camera. He has an open-eyed gaze (augmented a bit by his eyeglasses, a bit like Ansel Adams) that takes in the entire room. He has an uncanny ability to reverse/inverse proportions and perspective. Convex/concave-- exhale/inhale: simultaneously. This mastery of perception allows him to put these images into the field of play, to the delight of all who view his works. Thus it is called "Superspectivision."

Field of play-- Perspective in art was "invented" in the Renaissance. Patrick Hughes plays with it as a virtuoso musician improvises and "plays" with the structure, cadence, rhythm and sound of his instrument.

And he's British! He teases us by montaging Warhol ("Warhogram"), and Hopper ("Hopperational") or incorporating bits of Mondrian ("Broadway Boogie Woogie", Mondrian's most American piece), Pollock, and Indiana into larger pieces. They are painted in oils and mounted in 3-D, enabling Hughes to literally poke us with them. (And the gathered guests simply adore his salient creativity.)

I try to capture what this art does with a my camera, however, a video is actually required to visually describe what it does. Familiar modern American artworks embrace a median horizon, which, when viewed straight on appears to be a series of deep perspective views. But wait-- that's not really what's happening in this construct. Well, the images do stick out from the wall, but what about the horizon line on the beach? Something's not "right" here.

See? Now I'm playing with the paintings, too. They actually are a series of adjoining truncated pyramids. Huh? And the horizon line migrates atop the flattened crests of the pyramids. With four trapezoidal flanges migrating outward, or deep angular wedges, each adorned with replicas of familiar modern art.

Mr. and Mrs. Richards (Scott and Alina) are in on this as well. They host this wonderful reception for Patrick, and people come and genuinely engage the art. More so than I have before witnessed at such a gathering. Everyone moves about, viewing the perspectives-- entire compositions change within a pace to the left or right. They stroll about, leaning, looking, sharing, laughing in wondrous amazement at the genius of Patrick Hughes, who came all the way from London, England just to mess with our heads and taunt us with our American art.

Finally, "Professor" Hughes educates us as to the limits and idiosyncrasies of our natural visual perception. Hughes could wreak havoc on our senses creating disorientation, even vertigo. However, the Brillo boxes and Pollock splatters create a bit of whimsy to buoy our eyes from certain confusion. There's power in this art, and it's shared in a most pleasant and cordial manner befitting an English gentleman.

Comment by AB: Patrick Hughes is the originator of this fascinating illusionary take on painting, messing with your mind, duping your brain into seeing three dimensions as two, the upshot being art that moves along with you as you transit about a room. He tells me he came up with the idea 45 years ago-- and he remains the undisputed champ today. It may be tricky, but it's high trickiness. Check it out; you won't believe your eyes. Pick of First Thursday.