Andrew Léon Conway-Hyde
| Andrew Léon Conway-Hyde | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 1, 1968 1968 (age 57–58) Münster |
| 🏳️ Nationality | British |
| 💼 Occupation | |
| Known for | Painting and Photography |
| Movement | Impressionism, abstract |
Andrew Conway-Hyde (born 1 July 1968) is an English artist and photographer known for his impressionist and contemporary landscape and seascapes.[1] He currently lives and works on the Isle of Wight and in London.[1]
Early life and education
Andrew Conway-Hyde was born in Münster, Germany in 1968. As a young boy, Andrew painted on the Norfolk Broads with his grandfather, Richard Ayton, a well-known artist in Norwich. It was not until 1987 that he began to take painting seriously. He found success and displayed his work in two major German galleries over a five-year period until 1992. When returning to the United Kingdom, he spent four years at the Oxford College covering the technical aspects of Art & Design and photography. Drawn to these mediums, Conway-Hyde began a pursuit of self-teaching to become an artist. He found himself heavily inspired by impressionism and spent 20 years visiting Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum print room studying their collections.
Career
During his time in Oxford, Conway-Hyde began painting his signature large impressionist landscape works. In early 1999, he exhibited his work in Christchurch College and Oxford Museum, leading to solo exhibitions in 2001 in Oxford and London. From 2001 to 2017, he studied in the Ashmolean Museum’s Print Room investigating colour. His colour research led to the development of what would become his own theory of "colour percentages". His studies investigated the question of, “why does colour hold a viewer’s attention?”. Conway-Hyde relocated his studio practice to the Isle of Wight in 2018 where he is closer to his subjects, the sky and sea.
Aesthetic Theory and Philosophy
Conway-Hyde’s practice revolves around his interest in what he calls “L'heure bleue”; the fleeting moments when two opposites exist simultaneously. He utilizes light, line, and colour theory to exemplify “L’heure bleue” within his subjects of the sea and sky; such as transitions of day to night or the meeting of waves and sky along the horizon line. The works are intended to evoke emotion in the viewer as they witness these ephemeral moments. The sea and sky become representations of universal truths that find themselves beyond words; only understood through the sensations they instill in us. The use of a wide palette allows juxtapositions of colour to create a visual harmony that embodies the movement, the weight, and the rhythm of the subjects. The use of simplistic lines enhances the composition to proportionately divide space and balance elements of light and dark. Each viewer’s encounter provokes a unique individual response, a time of self-reflection, and as the viewer escapes their daily norms. The work represents Conway-Hyde’s own struggle as an artist to capture, in visual form, the simultaneous aesthetic and emotional beauty experienced within nature; amplified by his relocation to the Isle of Wight where the presence of the sea permeated his daily life.
Colour in its Entirety
Conway-Hyde began developing his own colour theory at the Ashmolean Museum Print Room in 2001. With the encouragement of the museum's Keeper of Western Art, renowned Art Historian Doctor Jon Whiteley, Conway-Hyde began research to expand his knowledge of biological and psychological processes related to Color theory. Intrigued by the entrancing nature of colour on a viewer he had witnessed, he began to develop his own unique approach to Colour theory. Conway-Hyde explored Eric Kandel’s theories that the preeminent ability of colour to hold the viewer’s focus was based upon how the human eye studies colour and contrast through a reductionist approach which allows for perceptions of colour to be understood objectively.[2] Conway-Hyde adapted this approach to scientifically analyze the way the eye interprets colour in order to create a visual harmony within his works, which he refers to as Colour in its Entirety.
He began by understanding the mechanisms of visible light; which consists of different wavelengths that can be detected by the human eye from 380 to 700 nanometers.[3] Then he developed an understanding of the anatomical implications of colour; including that historically some scientists believe that the earliest humans were colour-blind and could only recognise black, white, red, and only later yellow and green,[4] and modern day revelations such as that the cones within the human eye are approximately 64% red sensitive, 32% green sensitive, and 2% blue sensitive.[5] Additionally, he explored the systematic use of colour throughout art history. For instance, the historic use of the colour blue by the Catholic Church to signify the working class beginning in 431 AD, but the colour undertook an evolution to become a signifier for the Virgin Mary.[6] He also began experimenting with the psychological findings he uncovered. He found cool colours are usually calming and soothing[7] but can also express sadness,[8] the color red can act as an emotional stimulate,[8] and the use of warm colors convey a sense of joyous energy and hope.[9]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Conway-Hyde, A., 2020. Artist Statement. OpArt-Gallery. Available at: https://oparts.co.uk/artist-statement/.
- ↑ Kandel, E., 2017. Reductionism in Art and Brain Science: Bridging the Two Cultures. Columbia University Press, 50. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/315910721_Reductionism_in_Art_and_Brain_Science_Bridging_the_Two_Cultures_Reductionism_in_Art_and_Brain_Science_Bridging_the_Two_Cultures_by_Eric_R_Kandel_Columbia_University_Press_New_York_NY_USA_2016_240_pp_T
- ↑ Anon, Visible Light. NASA. Available at: https://science.nasa.gov/ems/09_visiblelight.
- ↑ Chattyfeet et al., 2018. The History of the Color Blue: From Ancient Egypt to the Latest Scientific Discoveries. My Modern Met. Available at: https://mymodernmet.com/shades-of-blue-color-history/#:~:text=But%20that%20wasn't%20always%20the,no%20words%20to%20describe%20it.
- ↑ Anon, The Color-Sensitive Cones. Available at: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/vision/colcon.html#:~:text=Painstaking%20experiments%20have%20yielded%20response,about%202%25%20are%20blue%20sensitive.
- ↑ Anon, 2019. The Moody Blues. University Art. Available at: https://universityart.com/the-moody-blues/#:~:text=The%20Modern%20History%20of%20Blue,was%20given%20a%20blue%20robe.
- ↑ Minguillon, J. et al., 2017. Blue lighting accelerates post-stress relaxation: Results of a preliminary study. PloS one. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5648169/.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Sintellyapp, 2020. Can Colors Impact Emotions and Behaviors? Available at: https://www.sintelly.com/articles/can-colors-impact-emotions-and-behaviors
- ↑ Gremillion, A.S., 2020. How Color Impacts Emotions and Behaviors. 99designs. Available at: https://99designs.com/blog/tips/how-color-impacts-emotions-and-behaviors/.
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