Press

Faces and anthropomorphic features abound in Charlie Hammond’s mixed-media practice, in which recognition seems chance-filled, canny and gratifying. Dark, inscrutable oil paintings become portraits by the simple addition of eyes or a mouth, or by the suggestion of a title, such as Filmmaker (macaroni style) or Untitled (bread man), both from 2006. Cartoon faces are drawn over photographs, rendering the iconic as blobby caricature.

Hammond’s formidable work in ink on paper suggests visages of Frances Bacon-esque dread; the faces appear on the edge of slipping back into the marbled ink from which they emerged.