Untitled 20081003

Tim Maguire is an artist who investigates making paintings within the age of mechanical reproduction. In his paintings, Maguire reworks photographic media through appropriation or by emulating CMY colour-separation processes used in commercial printing. Despite this interest in mechanical reproduction, the works are meticulously hand painted. The passing of time and temporality are also underlying themes in Maguire's works; they often depict nature suspended in growth or decay not unlike momento mori or vanitas motifs found in 17th century Dutch still-lifes. These aspects of Maguire's practice are foregrounded in this painting, 'Untitled 20081003' 2008, which he describes as "a testament to the passage of time - the knobby accretions at the ends of old pollarded linden branches, where each year they are cut back and bright red new growths reshoot [1]".

1. Tim Maguire, Everything changes: Tim Maguire 2002-2017, Newcastle Art Gallery, 2017, np