james hopkins: perspective sculptures + works on paper

‘role reversal’ 2005 acrylic plastic, 165 x 175 x 175 cm courtesy of cosmic galerie, paris

british artist james hopkins is known for slyly transforming familiar objects, converting them into different items and nudging them towards a state that produces an unexpected response from those who behold them.

‘role reversal’ 2005 acrylic plastic, 165 x 175 x 175 cm courtesy of cosmic galerie, paris

‘perspective sculptures’ are a series of installations that use optical illusions to play with the viewer’s perceptions. as hopkins is interested in changing the norms of how audience see objects, he explores this concept by introducing a series of distorted musical instruments and optically created cartoon characters such as ‘the simpsons’, the cast of ‘south park’ and ‘tom and jerry’.

‘role reversal’ 2005 acrylic plastic, 165 x 175 x 175 cm courtesy of cosmic galerie, paris

from one perspective, the characters appear recognizable with all their parts aligned. however, another viewpoint reveals their individual components.

‘cat & mouse’, 2005 plastic, 72 x 140 x 150 cm private collection

‘kyle, stan, cartman & kenny’, 2006 acrylic plastic, 103 x 150 x 123 cm private collection

‘tom & jerry’, 2005 acrylic plastic, 90 x 150 x 150 cm private collection

‘melting mickey’ 2006 acrylic plastic, 75 x 75 x 49 cm Private collection

‘wibbly wobbly boogle woogle and melting mickey’ detail, 2005 160 x 150 x 140 cm

‘wibbly wobbly boogle woogle and melting mickey’, 2005 160 x 150 x 140 cm

‘live wire’ 2005 wood, paint, metal and plastic, 90 x 250 x 4 cm private collection

‘purple haze’ 2005 wood, paint, metal and plastic, 65 x 240 x 5 cm

‘blue thunder’, 2005 wood, paint, metal and plastic, 90 x 250 x 4 cm private collection

‘salvation lies within’ 2003 lectern and bible, 122 x 50 x 34 cm private collection

part of the ‘works on paper’ series, ‘salvation lies within’ uses the pages of a biblical book to create a sculptural pistol. here the artwork draws from the historical tradition of the american west where it was common to hide guns in faux bibles. according to hopkins, the decision of using paper with text as the main material makes reference to print as a object of power, or inversely religion as a symbol of conflict.

‘head land’, 2005 maps, 20 x 15 x 18 cm private collection

‘full circle’, 2000 london A-Z road maps, 15 x 30 x 20 cm private collection