Le Salon Vert is delighted to present the latest drawings from the Franco-British duo Hipkiss, Alpha Mason and Christopher Mason, both born in 1964. They have been working together since they met in London in the early 1980s. They moved to France in 2001.
The exhibition title “Present” is in reference to a book which is to be published in May and will include a selection of drawings by Hipkiss. The theme also works as a bridge between their work that focuses on current events, their practice of mindfulness in connection to nature - which humans tend to destroy - as well as the English meaning of the word, a gift.
Indeed, Hipkiss have dedicated their lives to observing and portraying nature; their creation relies on graphite and silver ink, subtly associating the real with the imagined. Enthusiasts of ornithology and botany, they study their environment, cataloguing the birds, insects, and plants of France’s Gers region where they live. The precision and delicacy of their drawings are akin to botanical illustrations, but their approach fits into the current environmental crisis and defense of the world’s biotope as threatened by the devouring of the Anthropocene. Though certain scenes may resonate with a sense of anxiety, this is balanced by a sensitivity as well as sometimes through humor. Theirs is a four-handed working practice, a constant collaboration to transcribe their perceptions; the intricacy of this work is reminiscent of the illuminated manuscripts of the Middle Ages.
