Australian Art Resources presents...

Robert Hague After Athena

at Axia Modern Art

Recent  Sculpture, Painting and Works on Paper
18 June - 13 July 2008

Opening Wednesday 18th June 6:30pm

Following a decade of allegiance to the strictures of Modernism, Hague has unexpectedly transformed his work with a rich, almost baroque patterning. The appropriation of text; with the more than 5000 hand punched characters that cross the monumental work After Athena, and the use of literal elements such as the Deca hammers, has marked a profound transition in his work. 

Delicate gold lacework, rich in cultural reference, fades in and out across the bronzes and dramatically marks out the ghostly appearance of Moths in a series of bronze plate paintings, like torn wallpaper. Decay, decadence and an unknowable past is written into these works. Heavy, solid ribbons of bronze contort effortlessly into gentle compositions, devoid of the distress of there making.

This recent break from formalism has been costly, and in major works such as Black Orbis the turmoil is evident. Within the sheer beauty of his sculpture there now lies a deeper and more personal reading. The ideas that inform his work are now more evident, and included in this exhibition are photographs and maquettes to illustrate this evolution in his sculpture.

Robert Hague is a Sydney based sculptor who works primarily in fabricated bronze. Born in New Zealand, he migrated to Australia in the mid-1980's and has been a practicing artist here for more than two decades. In 1999 he was awarded the 'Director's Prize' at Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi. His work is part of corporate and private collections in Australia, China, New Zealand, United Kingdom and the United States. 

Robert is in Melbourne and available for interview from Monday the 16th to Friday the 20th of June 2008. For further information and images please visit: http://www.roberthague.com/sculpture/axia_modern_2008.htm

Axia Modern Art
30th May 2008