Tenses by Walter Hatke

March 28th – May 17th, 2015

Curated by Julie Lohnes, Curator of Art Collections & Exhibitions

Walter Hatke, Cradle, 2013, oil on linen, 42 x 28 inches

“Form, light, space, time, perspective – in short, these comprise the terms that dovetail to shape the tenses of my art. Recognizable subjects automatically trigger contextual associations and connotations that can be accidental or deliberate depending on a particular work. My subjects emerge and engage my attention over time for no consciously preconceived reason. As in poetry, I, the artist, provide an image. Viewers bring their own experiences and perceptions to the images I present and come away with their own interpretations, which is exactly my intention.

The materials I use are those that artists have employed for centuries: oil paint applied to Belgian linen stretched on wood frames; charcoal, graphite, or watercolor applied to heavy paper. My reason for working in my chosen manner is free of doctrinaire motives, apart from the simple fact I enjoy painting and drawing the way I do.

This exhibition touches on developments in my work over a span of 25 years. It is not a retrospective in the usual sense of the word because most of the work was completed in the last three years, and I continue to produce art, sometimes reconfiguring earlier compositions. Time takes on a meaning that differs from standard intervals. Tenses constantly shift.”

— Walter Hatke

Art, in a sense, is a revolt against everything fleeting and unfinished in the world. Consequently, its only aim is to give another form to a reality that it is nevertheless forced to preserve as the source of its emotion. In this regard we are all realistic, and no one is.

— Albert Camus

Co-sponsorship and funding was provided by the Department of Visual Arts and Humanities Faculty Development Grants