Charles Christopher Hill was a 1993 recipient of an NEA grant, providing him with two studios in France, la Napoule and Paris. Here, Hill studied the renowned 17th century print, The Sudarium, by Claude Mellan. This tour-de-force made from a singl, continuous, engraved line inspired Hill's chargers design as well as recent paintings.
Since the early 1970s Hill has produced a remarkable body of works where the exploration and investigation of the surface has remained a constant. In this "spiral" paintings a single bar forms a coil. These are contructed with countless layers of paint and varnish. Each successive layer conceals the preceding one except at the periphery where the bars do not overlap perfectly so the edges of each line are exposed. The chargers also reflect this irregular alignment of pigmented layers, creating a chormatic aura at the edge of each stripe. The deep, hard shine on the paintings transfers beautifully to the inviting glaze of the high quality ceramic plates.
The artist has exhibited in the United States of America, France and Italy. His work is held in public collections including the Museum of Modern Art and the Solomon R. Guggenheim in New York, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in California and the Centre George Pompidou, Paris, France. He lives and works in Venice, CA.
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