Shepard Fairey and Barbara Kruger.

Here is yet another extract from an essay in the making! Another comparison, as you can tell... I like those. Here goes nothing...
Barbara Kruger’s works are highly recognisable and energetic; embodying a scattered juxtaposition of both words and images that have been appropriated from various forms of media and popular culture. The works are originally derived from her experience working as a designer, and are usually accusatory or declarative in their delivery and tone. Kruger is a conceptual artist whose pieces often include black and white photographs with bold red overlaid captions, usually featuring pronouns such as ‘we’, ‘I’, ‘you’, ‘they’ and ‘your’. Her main motif is the criticism of sexism and the circulation of power within cultures. Kruger’s 1981 piece, ‘Your comfort is my silence’ [1C] shows the placement of shapes blocking the man’s eyes which eliminates his identity and reduces him to a generic symbol of masculine dominance and control. Kruger keeps her bold statements somewhat cryptic, and forces the viewers to construct a meaning from their own previous experiences; therefore forcing them to actively participate in her work.
It is the works of Kruger, and old Soviet Union communist propaganda posters, such as the works of Alexander Rodchenko, that have paved the way for artists such as Shepard Fairey. Without this work, the birth of ‘Brand Obama’ would never have been born. Fairey has found his name with a carefully nurtured reputation as a mischievous street artist, most well known for his ‘Obey’ street posters and Obama ‘Hope’ print [1D]. Unlike Kruger, Fairey is more obvious in his message and has taken a more active role in the philosophies of commercial advertising and feels his work has a connection to companies culturally, and has said his work is ‘...designed to question conspicuous consumption’ [b]. As a result of this, on numerous occasions, Fairey has been accused of plagiarism. The re-use and appropriation of images in todays society has reached a crucial new level; the repetitive distortion of history could prove damaging to art, leaving the embedded political and social messages overlooked and therefore become meaningless. Kruger’s work rejects the majority and raises questions about gender equality, consumerism and stereotypes.

Kruger once said, ‘I had to figure out how to bring the world into my work’. Both artists use this type of appropriation as a focus; they pull from the works of others and the worlds they depict to create their own work. They both utilize historic images in order to interact with current global issues. Both artists, but mostly Fairey, and Kruger mainly by advertising, have been heavily influenced by history during their peak working years, however this does not mean they can provide us with an accurate critical assessment of whereabouts in the grand scheme of things we all stand. Simply, their attention is focused on current issues of that time. Even though the idea behind the works are similar; bringing issues to the forefront of our minds, it is Fairey’s Obama ‘Hope’ and ‘Progress’ prints that focus our attention on current political issues, whether that be in a global or local setting. The ‘Obama’ prints further support my argument; they do not suggest Fairey is a genius in the context of politics, it just goes to show that any artist, with passion and determination can attempt to provide us with a painting that makes us critically assess where we stand today.

Me and mine.

It's occurred to me that I haven't done the one thing I guess you'd expect from a blog. And that's... actually talk about my work. I find it difficult to write about, even on here, which I know only a handful of people will read (...if that!)
But talking and discussing it, whilst some good may come of it; new ideas may be generated and positive feedback may be given, it also opens the doors and paves the way for scrutiny, and judgement.
Now, don't get me wrong, I'm all for constructive criticism, but if I'm totally honest, I feel the amount of 'constructiveness' you get back all boils down to the amount of work you've done, and the mood your tutors in.
Alas, there's no good to come from moaning...

It seems there's no time to let your work take a natural progression and manifest naturally, because it's all got to be done in time for your reviews and tutorials... (this, is usually when I say hello to a big fail) I've never been good at explaining ANYTHING. How I'm feeling, even what I did yesterday! So for me, of all people, trying to explain what my work is about and what I want it to say, is a disaster waiting to happen.
If only there was a line in our handbooks that read, 'Let your work speak for itself'.

... But there isn't! so I'll just get on with it.


These are just a few examples of different avenues I was exploring. How to approach drawing the face. At first, I just drew from memory, different features, and just zoomed in on them. I used my friends as guinea pigs, obviously. That's that they're there for. I'm just trying to figure out what it is I want to reach, at what point will it be enough?
Am I trying to re-create these peoples personalities?
Am I? ... I just don't know!

At first, this work was about setting myself time limits. With drawing and painting, it takes me forever and a day to fully tune myself, and get into 'the zone'. It started with drawing random objects, setting myself limits from a few seconds to 15 minutes at the most. This, as most of my other work has in the past, eventually deviated towards people. Now, because I started with the idea of limits, its difficult to try and explain just what these faces actually mean. For me, they are a triumph. I'm a long way off from being a perfect portrait artist (far, far from it!) and usually, I find myself disappointed with a finished face. The fact that it's finished and has reached a conclusion and yet is not perfect... frustrates the hell out of me. It occurred to me that perhaps subconsciously, this work is autobiographical, and is setting the path for stories that I have yet to tell, and people I have yet to meet.

Now, isn't that interesting? a little cliffhanger for you there.

... But really, For me, work is a slow succession. Try to keep up!

Another naked place.

Living in Crosby makes it easy to take a stroll any time over to the beach to visit Antony Gormley's 'Another place'. It was not the best decision I've ever made, but I decided to brave the weather in order to pay them another visit a few days ago. There is something beautifully calm about being there, and you can't help but feel contemplative... Something I frequently crave!


Here is an extract from an essay I've written...

Antony Gormley, an internationally established sculptor and winner of the Turner prize, uses his body as a means of expression. In Gormley's work, the body almost becomes a shell; its purely a means for creating casts and iron moulds. In which Gormley then tries to communicate an idea;

‘Accept that we live in a world of the visible, but make it unsatisfactory enough that behind the visible is some kind of potential that does not exist in the sculpture, but exists in the viewer.’


Gormley expresses the understanding that he feels to a certain degree, his work is unsatisfactory; it is asking you to look for something in yourself that can empathize with the inner space of his work, of which is not an object, as such. He feels his sculptures and casts that represent the body do so as a condition, not as a given identity. In essence, he has striped the body of any personal identity, personality, and feelings it may have possessed or expressed; taking away any empathy felt by us, the viewers, to turn the body into nothing but a catalyst. Gormley replaces the surface structure of skin and hair with rough and coarse materials, making the bodies almost unidentifiable as a structure that would have once been recognisable as a living entity.
‘Another Place’, a sculpture of Gormley’s set across three kilometres of Crosby beach in Liverpool, is home to 100 life sized cast iron sculptures of Gormley’s body. They are displayed at different stages of rising out of the sand with all of them turned facing towards the sea; staring out at the horizon with a sense of hopeful expectation.


Like a lot of his other works, the ‘Another Place’ sculptures have been stripped of everything
personal; everything that would make them recognisable as a living entity; a personality, an expression, a soul; and this has been done purposely. They stand unclothed, a small shell of their real-life double, prone to a number of physical changes at the mercy of mother nature.
Due to its obvious ‘sense of place’ connotations, I feel the theme of identity has somewhat been shelved. I am not in any way questioning Gormley’s motives; yes, in part I believe it stands as a poetic response to the universal sentiments associated with emigration; the sadness of leaving a place behind, coupled with the hopefulness of a future in a new place. However, I feel I must ask, why 100 sculptures? Wouldn’t one sculpture still serve the same purpose? Perhaps Gormley felt his message wouldn’t be as strong with just one. I, however, feel if just one sculpture was made, the work may have adopted a whole new line of questioning; it would have sustained our focus and interest, put forward and questioned identity within a social context, not just to be focused upon the people here, but everywhere in the world. It would have focused on the past social identity of these people, seeking out new places to live. Why he didn’t feel the need to highlight both agendas within this work is anyone's guess...

I guess we'll never know!

David Barton.

One artist in particular who stood out at the zine fair was Mr David Barton. I quickly recognised him from the previous fair, as his pictures are highly energetic and beautifully executed in their simplicity. Here's a few below...


Sadly, there isn't much about him on the internet, besides this, a sort of personal statement, from the zine website:

'Working in the privacy and intense concentration of notebooks for many hours each day has always been important to me and in 1964-6 while studying with the late Anton Ehrenzweig, initially as a student at Goldsmiths, I began working under his guidance on what he called "Tease and Worry" books. These are notebooks in which ideas are tested and pursued relentlessly through drawings, paintings, texts etc; in order to identify, realize and understand a personal imagery through respect for the spontaneous interruptions offered by the creative process itself. This allows the development of an intuitive dialogue between the artist and the emerging content of the work in which the unconscious can stimulate the disclosure of otherwise ignored and suppressed insights and revelations.'

In my opinion, this man just exudes professionalism and pure loveliness. Its easily recognisable that he is 100% commited and focused on his practise. He spoke with such passion; I can only hope that one day I am as focused and (talented!) as he.
Knowing he worked in his studio almost 7 days a week, I asked if he ever got bored. He was pretty adamant that the time spent in his studio was certainly not wasted nor spent halfheartedly; he draws at least 200 pictures a day, totaling 1000 in a week. At first, I imagined he drew from a life model, or at the very least, photographs. But having listened to his conversations with others, he suggested he drew from 'life', which according to him, is changing shapes and continually expanding. I think its safe to say I met a real life slave to the cause that day.

Here's the website, if you want to take a look - http://www.zinefair.com/