Patrick Hall

The Paper It's Written On

15 November – 9 December 2023

Despard Gallery is very proud to host solo exhibition, The Paper It’s Written On by contemporary Tasmanian artist Patrick Hall.

With a career spanning four decades, Hall has forged an international reputation for his interdisciplinary approach and seamless blending of form, function and concept. Hall’s practice is easily distinguished by the innovative application of everyday materials combined with poetic verse. Storytelling has become a fundamental part of Hall’s work, where autobiographical snippets and personal reflections become a vehicle to examine broader social issues and mounting global conflicts.

Unifying this exhibition is an exclusive focus on hand cut paper, each work carefully constructed through layers of etched, shaped and distressed paper, where compositions are often defined by their shadows only. The delicacy of these aesthetics is contrasted by the gravity of themes underpinning each piece, revealing how memory fades over time and increased social detachment fosters an erosion of belief. Hall’s own text becomes part of a broader visual dialogue examining the power of the written word, both as a means of communication and a weapon of propaganda. The Paper It’s Written On offers a deeper understanding of the relationship between words and paper and the many documents that define our cultural systems, each artwork becoming a contemporary manifesto that offers insight into social change and lessons to be heeded from history.

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The Torn Whole

If They Should Accidentally Fall

If They Should Accidentally Fall is a multi-piece sculptural installation originally created for Dark Mofo in 2019, presented at Narryna Heritage Museum and then again at Sydney Contemporary. The original series of seventeen individual works explore the passing of time and the slow erosion of belief, created using LED lighting and audio recordings, which were installed in a darkened and intimate space. These ‘preachers’ figures, maybe spirits, saints or genies, also have a bottle head, but a body that spills from the unstoppered container. Each preacher is enclosed behind glass, suggesting a state of incorruption, such as a religious relic or icon. Etched into the glass of each figure is a passage of text, written in heightened prose to suggest a devotional hymn or parable. If They Should Accidentally Fall creates a secular and sacred space of intimate confession, where fragile vessels spill secrets, longings and desires. It is a place where confessions are made and shared, where voices seep and search for solace, a place where we can bear witness to our own human frailty.