Gary Hume, Back of a Snowman
October 8, 2002 - April 20, 2003

Gary Hume is known primarily for his richly colored, abstract flora, fauna, and assorted icons rendered on aluminum surfaces, an aesthetic which once won him the title of a "modern day Matisse." Each weighing half a ton, his enameled snowmen are made of clay and then cast in bronze. They are Hume's first foray into sculpture and the latest in his exploration of iconographic shapes, which have included institutional doors, birds, orchids, hands in prayer, and models. Employing his tantalizing palette, the snowmen come in chocolate, olive, pale pink, black, and white and exemplify Hume's uncanny talent to create works in which "form and color are independently expressive factors."

Hume, who was born in Kent, England in 1962, currently lives in London and is represented by Matthew Marks Gallery in New York City. In 1988, the same year he received a diploma from Goldsmith's College of Art, Hume participated in Damien Hirst's legendary exhibition, Freeze, which placed him and a handful of YBA (Young British Artists) contemporaries on the A list in the international art scene. His work has been exhibited at several museums including in the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition; Tate Liverpool's Remix; Century City at the Tate Modern; Fondaciõ "la Caixa"; Whitechapel Art Gallery; Bienal de São Paolo; the Turner Prize Exhibition; and White Cube Gallery. Gary Hume was short-listed for the Turner Prize in 1996 and he represented Great Britain in the 1999 Venice Biennale.