10 September - 17 October 2004
Hibbs presents four paintings of the ill-fated Tricorn Centre, Portsmouth - opened 1966 and designed by the Owen Luder Partnership. At present the centre is awaiting imminent demolition having been turned down for listing in 1995. The architect Rodney Gordon who worked for Owen Luder, and directed the original project, has also sought a reprieve for the Tricorn though unsuccessfully.
In recent years the building has become a political tool, with each of the mainstream parties vowing to dispose of it. However, on its completion it received widespread acclaim and was a key building in Reyner Banham’s influential ‘Megastructures’. Even with the backing of Portsmouth Council it was a surprise when the original project was built, but when it was, most thought it a success. Soon after however the rot set in, M&S and British Home Stores had originally agreed to be connected to the centre providing internal access but got cold feet. The centre remained disconnected from the main shopping street and budget stores moved in, setting its eventual demise in motion.
Even the location of the Tricorn seems ill-fated. Exposed to the coastal elements the building has taken on a stained and corroded brutalism. Akin to an antiquated, futuristic relic. As it stands today, the Tricorn is like a parable for a future state that never arrived. Through the paintings, Hibbs looks to occupy this space between a real and an imaginary ideal - somewhere close to the psychological charge of the place.
New Order