Tony Bevan British, b. 1951
Head Horizon, 1996
Charcoal and acrylic on paper
110.5 x 77 cm. (43 1/2 x 30 1/4 in.)
Copyright The Artist
Tony Bevan's Head Horizon from 1990 is a striking example of the artist’s enduring exploration of the human head, a subject he has obsessively revisited since the early 1990s. In...
Tony Bevan's Head Horizon from 1990 is a striking example of the artist’s enduring exploration of the human head, a subject he has obsessively revisited since the early 1990s. In this painting, the head looms at a colossal scale, its presence inescapable, confronting the viewer with an almost oppressive intensity. Bevan's characteristic style is immediately recognisable – the head seems carved into the canvas with aggressive, lacerated lines, giving it a sculptural quality that is both visceral and raw.
Rendered from an unusual angle, the head is depicted as though seen from below from a contre-plongée perspective, with flared nostrils and a network of facial features that appear to tremble on the verge of disintegration. This skewed perspective heightens the unsettling effect, making the viewer feel as though they are physically beneath the towering form, staring up into a face that is both familiar and alien. The extreme close-up, coupled with the unconventional viewpoint, lends the work a disturbing energy, forcing the viewer into an intimate, almost confrontational engagement with the subject.
Bevan frequently uses his own face as the primary model for these works, imbuing them with a sense of solitude and introspection. The repetition of the self-portrait across his oeuvre mirrors the painter's isolation in his studio, grappling with both his physical presence and psychological depth. The intricate, web-like structure of his facial features is built up through a network of lines, reminiscent of both anatomical studies and psychological mapping. These lines seem to reveal the inner architecture of the face, as if the surface of the skin has been peeled back to expose the underlying emotional tension.
Bevan’s process is as much about the act of drawing as it is painting. The surface of the canvas is often subjected to an aggressive working and reworking, creating a dynamic texture that echoes the intensity of his subjects. This visceral engagement with the medium amplifies the existential weight of the image, giving the head a monumental, almost mythic quality.
In Head Horizon, the human face becomes a terrain to be explored – both a physical and emotional landscape that invites contemplation and discomfort in equal measure. By scaling the head to monumental proportions and presenting it from unsettling angles, Bevan transforms the intimate act of portraiture into an encounter with something far larger and more profound, a reflection of both the artist's inner world and the broader human condition.
Rendered from an unusual angle, the head is depicted as though seen from below from a contre-plongée perspective, with flared nostrils and a network of facial features that appear to tremble on the verge of disintegration. This skewed perspective heightens the unsettling effect, making the viewer feel as though they are physically beneath the towering form, staring up into a face that is both familiar and alien. The extreme close-up, coupled with the unconventional viewpoint, lends the work a disturbing energy, forcing the viewer into an intimate, almost confrontational engagement with the subject.
Bevan frequently uses his own face as the primary model for these works, imbuing them with a sense of solitude and introspection. The repetition of the self-portrait across his oeuvre mirrors the painter's isolation in his studio, grappling with both his physical presence and psychological depth. The intricate, web-like structure of his facial features is built up through a network of lines, reminiscent of both anatomical studies and psychological mapping. These lines seem to reveal the inner architecture of the face, as if the surface of the skin has been peeled back to expose the underlying emotional tension.
Bevan’s process is as much about the act of drawing as it is painting. The surface of the canvas is often subjected to an aggressive working and reworking, creating a dynamic texture that echoes the intensity of his subjects. This visceral engagement with the medium amplifies the existential weight of the image, giving the head a monumental, almost mythic quality.
In Head Horizon, the human face becomes a terrain to be explored – both a physical and emotional landscape that invites contemplation and discomfort in equal measure. By scaling the head to monumental proportions and presenting it from unsettling angles, Bevan transforms the intimate act of portraiture into an encounter with something far larger and more profound, a reflection of both the artist's inner world and the broader human condition.
