Artist Patrick Hughes and Art Blogger Geoffrey Dicker Pose in front of Hughes’ Work, A Study of the Studiolo (All Photos By Gail)

The Wow Factor is off-the-charts at British Surrealist Patrick Hughes‘ new exhibit, Studiolospective up now at Flowers Gallery.

“My pictures seem to move as you move,” Hughes explains in his artist’s statement. “They come to life when we bring them to life. This is because they are made in perspective the wrong way round, in reverspective. If you bob down in front of them, it is as if you have gone up, and as you walk past to the right it is as if you have gone to the left. I am delighted to bring together paintings for this exhibition, which move between the centuries.”

We had no idea what to expect when we walked into the gallery, but it was immediately clear when moving even slightly from a straight ahead view to a side perspective of any of the works in this exhibit that these are 3D paintings the likes of which I had never seen.

New York Flowers

The above painting, named after the gallery and depicting works by other artists represented by Flowers, is shown here from its head-on perspective.

When you move to the right, you see more of a perspective from the left.

And what the hell is this thing? Kudos to Hughes for giving me nightmares of a Minotaur stalking me in a deserted art gallery!

Pop Up

The above painting is called Pop Up, and depicts an art gallery full of Contemporary Pop Art including well-known works by Warhol, Lichtenstein and Oldenburg.

In this photo you can see how the painting is constructed in 3D and actually extends outward from the canvas. Trippy!

The painting in the center of the above photo (on a green field) is a replication of an original work by Hughes, featuring Allsorts, a Licorice candy fr0m England. I know this because Hughes just happened to be hanging out in the gallery when we were there and he was happy to answer our questions  and also signed cards for us and posed for some nice photos. What a super nice and extremely talented man he is!

Happy Endings

A shot of this Painting from the side will will give an idea of how Hughes’ works are constructed.

The centerpiece of the exhibition is the three-dimensional reverse perspective, A Study Of The Studiolo, seen in the first photo in this post. In 15th century Italy, a studiolo, (little studio) was a small, often extravagantly decorated room reserved for studying, writing and reading – all correlations with Hughes himself, who is an avid academic. Hughes based his painting on the studiolo of Federico, the Duke of Montefeltro, who commissioned his marquetry studioli in Gubbio and Urbino in about 1480 (Hughes has visited both studioli several times). The Urbino Studiolo in Italy still exists in-situ, while the Gubbio Studiolo was re-installed in its own room in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1996. Hughes urged both Geoffrey and I to check out the Studiolo recreation at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it is located on the main floor. I don’t know how I’ve never managed to see it after literally decades of visiting The Met, but I will be checking it out on my next trip.

Studiolospective is one of the coolest exhibits in town right now. Be sure to pop into Flowers Gallery before the show closes in just over a month.

Love All

Love All Perspective

Studiolospective by Patrick Hughes will be on Exhibit Through June 7th, 2014 at Flowers Gallery, Located at 529 West 20th Street, NYC in the Chelsea Gallery District.