Patrick Hughes (Born in 1939, Birmingham, United Kingdom, currently lives and works in East London).

Patrick Hughes is best known for the creation of Reverspectives, or so called ‘sculptured paintings’, which combine painted surfaces onto a three-dimensional protruding structure. They deploy a quizzical strategy in which the furthest point of a painting, in reality is the nearest point to the viewer. This series of works seek to celebrate, and provide another ‘reading’ of the enigmatic, upside-down, inside-out universe of Hughes’ Reverspectives.

Following his earlier investigations into perspective and perception, Hughes created his first Reverspective in 1964, entitled Sticking-out Room. Since then, Hughes has continuously developed the art of reverse perspectives, depicting scenes that accentuate the proportional perspective to give the illusion of depth and recession in a painting. However, as soon as the viewer walks towards the seemingly flat painting it becomes apparent that the ‘furthest’ point is in fact, the closest to the viewer. The viewer not only ‘sees’ this paradox but also experiences it. A paradox, which is normally only met through reading words and letters, is now accomplished visually through Hughes’ Reverspectives. 

Like a Surrealist dream, Hughes’ paintings provide a powerful and often disorientating impression on its audiences. The linear planes of a Reverspective appear to shrink and expand, coinciding with the movement of the viewer in perfect harmony. This apparent motion demonstrates that Hughes’ paradoxes are always in a constant state of flux; a paradox cannot be achieved on its own but always in tandem. They are shifting extremes – visually and metaphorically – that oscillates back and forth.

Hughes has exhibited throughout Europe, South East Asia, America and Canada. His momentous collection of works are part of many public institutions including the Tate Gallery and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, Goldman Sachs International and Arts Council GB. Widely recognised as one of the major painters of contemporary British art, he is also a designer, teacher and writer. In 2014 Hughes celebrates his 75th birthday with exhibitions in Seoul, Tokyo, The Hague, New York, and London.