Venice by Night – Nocturnal Reflections
by John Hopkins
June 7th – July 14th, 2019
VENICE BY NIGHT- NOCTURNAL REFLECTIONS is a recently completed series of one-of-a-kind monotype prints. Investigating “everyday spaces”, the happenstance, the familiar, common threads of water, light, building, and alley - the fabric of what makes Venice unique - are what John Hopkins set out to study, draw, and present in his new series of monochromatic monotype prints. This series is uniquely original in how Hopkins, all at once, coaxes out representation and abstraction in these graphically engaging, yet atmospherically evocative Venetian nocturnes.
Hopkins observes, “By day these are colorful places full of constant activity and commotion, busy, crowded, noisy, sometimes frenetic. By night, however, a transformation takes place. Motion is replaced by stillness, crowds by emptiness, noise by silence. Venice becomes a place of quiet reflection, sometimes lonely, sometimes threatening, but always alluring.”
As this body of artwork represents - the intersection of when day meets night, and those moments when night overcomes day - become compelling experiences of sensory awareness in this beguiling city. At night building forms become ambiguous and indeterminate. Remaining light, shrouding fog, and veils of mist, contribute to an illumination that is Venice. Canals are the integral network of circulation and means of commerce to this place. Without canals the city would loose the mysterious vitality it embodies. As much as the light on buildings can be silhouettes, high contrast shards of light, or muted tones on surface, light shimmering and dancing on water’s surface is always ever-present. These elements all contribute in what the artist observes and portrays in these nocturnal reflections.
