Visceral Images
Mark Haccius
22 October – 2 November 2019
“If I don’t holler, you ain’t doin’ it right” Barbara Carr.
We are constantly assaulted by images. Photos of love, violence and sex saturate our senses daily. We have the images; what we need is the emotion.
In this exhibition Haccius presents a selection of oils, acrylics and charcoals that have moved him in one way or another. His images are of everyday people, unassuming at first, but each shimmering with life. But people are more than a physical representation of physiology. Haccius has his cast of characters shout, cry and laugh, and progressively seduce the viewer with their range of passion.
Why Visceral Images? Because there’s no point in painting if it doesn’t touch the viewer somehow, somewhere. Haccius aims for feelings, and expression of emotion over an intellectual exercise of precision and technique. His paintings depict people and places, but beneath the form and thick, angry use of paint there lies a sadness, an anger, a love or a loneliness.
These paintings all have this in common: they all dig deeper than the form.
“If they don’t touch you somehow, I ain’t doin’ it right.”
The Artist
Mark Haccius was born in the sixties, of English, Swiss, and Australian nationality, and Irish by osmosis. He is a father of four, fascinated in history, people, the Rolling Stones - along with many other subjects. He also enjoys cooking and wine.
After a variety of different career paths, he began teaching in the 80s and decided it suited him: social, relevant, varied and useful. Time also passed quickly. Five years ago he began to channel his energy into his painting, the relationship he developed with the subject on the canvas complementing the energy he injects into his classroom.
Haccius isn’t really sure what an artist is; he just paints. His work has attracted interest in Switzerland, where he has exhibited and participated in two collections: Le Noir et Blanc (2018) and “L’érotique” (2018).
“Painting is all about building bridges and creating links. A bit like teaching, actually...”
He lives and works near Lausanne in Switzerland and escapes to Brittany whenever possible.