Nick Collerson

Hermes

5 May - 4 June, 2022

Liverpool Street Gallery is thrilled to present Hermes, an exhibition of new works by Nick Collerson.

The paintings in this exhibition draw on the rich history of symbolism – an element of culture so pervasive that it is often overlooked. Symbols are often thought of as tools for understanding; Collerson investigates how symbols might construct our minds themselves.

Towards this end, the paintings are inviting and ambiguous without being unapproachable. They speak, fundamentally, in the language of painting. The images are illusions and allusions; metaphorical ruminations on the mind and tools towards understanding it.

“Nous never misses the mark, any thought is Hermes.”
—Thoth

”Before the written word, before books and computers, our memory served a vital function. Not only for the maintenance of important information, but also for remembering the innate quality of our mind. Though remembered wisdom cannot be read in a book, certain words and images — called Art — point at the life of the mind.

The paintings in Hermes are made with vision in mind and draw on the rich, but routinely overlooked, history of symbolism. In keeping with the function of this symbolism, the meaning of these paintings will not be found apart from what is seen by the viewer.”

— Nick Collerson