British Surrealist Patrick Hughes reverses perspective in new exhibition

Hughes is the initiator of ‘reverspective’ – a mode of relief painting which plays with the logic of perspective. Patrick Hughes’ paintings ‘appear to move’ as the person viewing them moves. Forwards to Backwards will feature seven painting works and Ouroboros, a sculptural snake made in the Leeds College of Art ceramic department in 1969. A catalogue essay by Murray McDonald will accompany this exhibition.

Since his breakthrough discovery of reverse perspective, Hughes has continued to confound viewers with his three-dimensional paintings, by presenting those parts of the picture that seem farthest away at the nearest point.

He explains: “My pictures seem to move as you move. They come to life when we bring them to life. This is because they are made in perspective the wrong way round, in reverspective. If you bob down in front of them, it is as if you have gone up, and as you walk past to the right it is as if you have gone to the left and vice versa.”

The exhibition will run from 12 August until 9 September 2016. More information can be found at Leeds College of Art.

Via direct submission | All images are © Patrick Hughes, courtesy of Flowers Gallery London and New York