James Capper: CURVE-BASED SYNTAX | Albion Jeune
James Capper used to work on farm machinery. He brings an engineer’s eye to his art, which is attention-grabbing and cheeky. Two types of works, both using industrial marine paint on paper, are on show currently at Albion Jeune. First a series of vaguely James Turrell-like disks, made up of different coloured concentric circles. Then a set of what look a lot like blood spatters, reaching back to Pollock.
Perhaps it’s a weak spot that Capper’s art gains substance when you learn about their means of production. He created the spatters through firing paint at the paper with a machine he developed - called the SPECKLER. For the planetary rings, he used his HYDRAPAINTER, for which the paper is attached on a square table and the paint is applied using a rotating arm.
Capper’s works are all titled in confident little pencilled capitals, often directly in the middle of the paper. They’re the syntax alongside the curves.
The show’s press release reveals that all are named after confiscated Russian super yachts. Just like the SPECKLER and the HYDRAPAINTER, they’re machines, produced thanks to rather more destructive social systems than an engineer’s impulse to create art. Capper’s choice of marine paint seems apt.
The names seem innocuous and comic sometimes: a white circle within a solar haze bordered by black is called LUNA, another bound by a golden ring is ROYAL ROMANCE. Things get sketchy with the (blood) splatter paintings, though, which are surely Capper’s own creations and never emblazoned the side of any yacht. IT’S PART OF HUMAN NATURE, states one line of pencilled text. FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT states another. THERE’LL BE A BLOOD BATH IF HE LOSES.
James Capper: CURVE-BASED SYNTAX is at Albion Jeune (London). 03 September - 03 October 2024