Paul Huxley
After Venice 2, 2015
Acrylic on linen
188 x 188 cm
74 x 74 in
74 x 74 in
Unique
In 2015, Royal Academician Paul Huxley was commissioned to contribute an installation for the Azerbaijan Pavilion exhibition Vita Vitale at the Venice Biennale, which focused on artists and scientists confronting...
In 2015, Royal Academician Paul Huxley was commissioned to contribute an installation for the Azerbaijan Pavilion exhibition Vita Vitale at the Venice Biennale, which focused on artists and scientists confronting the ecological challenges we face globally. Using measurements and proportions taken from scientific data, Huxley created three large-scale wall paintings that used
his signature language of geometric structures and intense colour to create a visual representation of the data.
Returning to the studio, Huxley created these smaller versions on canvas of the wall drawings that could be exhibited in other locations. After Venice I, shows the rise in human population painted in dark red with the growth of animal farming in blue and the resulting decline of natural wildlife in bright green. With the vertical dimension representing a measure of biomass
(Terrestrial Vertebrate Biomass) measured in millions of tonnes, Huxley gave the horizontal dimension a measure of time separated into fifty-year periods from 1900 to projections for 2050. This powerful visual representation highlights the rapid rise in human and domestic animal populations and its dramatic effect on wildlife.
In After Venice 2, the pulsating neon pink band on the right-hand side of the painting shows the approximate ratio of human generated Carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere each year followed by Methane in dark green, Nitrous oxide in purple and fluoridated gases in light green. The emission of these greenhouse gases into the atmosphere is replicated in the same ratios in the tumbling stack of black blocks in the main part of the painting, representing the precarious balance that threatens our planet with
global warming.
After Venice 3 tackles the rising sea levels that will occur as a result of global warming, with the three ellipses representing the black holes that have been exposed in the rapidly shrinking Arctic Sea ice which now absorb heat rather than reflect it compounding the rate of ice melt.
his signature language of geometric structures and intense colour to create a visual representation of the data.
Returning to the studio, Huxley created these smaller versions on canvas of the wall drawings that could be exhibited in other locations. After Venice I, shows the rise in human population painted in dark red with the growth of animal farming in blue and the resulting decline of natural wildlife in bright green. With the vertical dimension representing a measure of biomass
(Terrestrial Vertebrate Biomass) measured in millions of tonnes, Huxley gave the horizontal dimension a measure of time separated into fifty-year periods from 1900 to projections for 2050. This powerful visual representation highlights the rapid rise in human and domestic animal populations and its dramatic effect on wildlife.
In After Venice 2, the pulsating neon pink band on the right-hand side of the painting shows the approximate ratio of human generated Carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere each year followed by Methane in dark green, Nitrous oxide in purple and fluoridated gases in light green. The emission of these greenhouse gases into the atmosphere is replicated in the same ratios in the tumbling stack of black blocks in the main part of the painting, representing the precarious balance that threatens our planet with
global warming.
After Venice 3 tackles the rising sea levels that will occur as a result of global warming, with the three ellipses representing the black holes that have been exposed in the rapidly shrinking Arctic Sea ice which now absorb heat rather than reflect it compounding the rate of ice melt.
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