Visiting lecturer - James Iveson.

A few days ago we had a visitor in the form of James Iveson; a very fashionable and successful result of Goldsmiths. Its not often you get to see an actual real life contemporary fine artist, just doing as they do, so it was pretty exciting! His work focuses on patterns, mostly fashion garments; he takes into account and researches the fashion industry, but in no means is it involved in his work (or an instrumental tool in the creation of his work)
One painting that stuck out for me was originally inspired by a pair of H&M boxer shorts. If I’d been told this without actually seeing the work for myself, I’d think the idea behind it would diminish the quality of the work somehow; but that really wasn’t the case. The boxers had a repeated boat pattern that Iveson had manipulated and scaled larger, in order to recreate the image. The fact that he’s able to find inspiration from something as mundane as boxer shorts is almost... well, admirable.
He repeats and repeats the image until it becomes a slight recognizable recreation of its former self. With one painting, he'd explained his girlfriend had bought a new dress, which he was instantly obsessed with because of the 'complexity' of the pattern. When eventually revealing this 'pattern' to us, it emerged as a load of dots. To me, that's just fantastic.

It’s the simple things and ideas in life that make me smile… and this is no exception.

I’ve driven a lot of inspiration and admiration from this artist; I’m beginning to look at my work with a less critical eye, and trying to tone down the ‘psychological details’ I felt necessary in order to make my work at all interesting. I'm slowly beginning to learn this really isn't the case.

John Moores prize.... and its winners.

Being a student at John Moores, it struck me a few days ago that I know very little about the John Moores prize, or its winners. The competition was first held in 1957, it is a contemporary painting prize and is the UK's best known painting competition; its named after Sir John Moores who died in 1993, who was the founder of the prize. The competition culminates in an exhibition that is held in the Walker Art Gallery every two years. It is then later linked with the Liverpool Biennial. The principles of the exhibition will never change; to support artists and to bring to Liverpool the best contemporary paintings from all across the UK.

My favourite has to be 'Blotter', by Peter Doig which won first prize in the 1993 exhibition. The idea originally derived from a photograph of the artists brother standing on a frozen pond. Doig said about the painting, 'The title 'Blotter' refers to the notion of one's being absorbed into a place or landscape, and to the process through which the painting developed: soaking paint into the canvas.'
The figure is shown looking down at his reflection, which suggests he's possibly in deep thought, or perhaps contemplating the landscape in which he finds himself.



Another personal favourite of mine is 'Mirage', by Michael Raedecker, winner of the prize in 1999. The work combines an inventive range of mediums, mostly influenced by his undergrad studies involving fashion. He uses thread in areas you could expect to use paint; balls of painted looped thread add texture, as well as a combination of surfaces that display intricate embroidery all completed in neutral tones, which result in quite an unsettling (but nicely decorated!) atmosphere. It appears rather bleak; almost a depiction of a desert landscape. He expressed 'real suprise' at winning the prize, bless him.


Last but not least is 'Super star fucker - Andy Warhol text painting' by Peter Davies, who won the prize in 2002. This text painting includes a series of artists names, starting with Warhol's in the centre, and the rest flowing out like a diagram. Everything in the painting is repeated only once. Davies said of the piece, 'I want to... combine the sensuality and beauty of formalism with the humour and toughness of conceptualism'. Davies had this to say about winning the prize;

'It is going to enable me to not worry about money so much for a while…and concentrate on making what I really want to make rather than what I feel is a sensible thing to make, [something] that someone might buy.'

What a little rebel rouser!

So, a few dys ago we watched Tony Hancock’s, ‘The Rebel’. A 1962 satirical comedy; not lacking in post-modern irony. It explored a man who had grown sick of his 9-5 life and headed to Paris in search of success as an abstract artist. Straight away the film made me slightly uncomfortable; seeing his childlike work coupled with his dreams of success actually brought out nothing but empathy in me. And obviously we’re all privy to his trials and tribulations along the way! Surely a hit in its day, I found myself fidgety throughout it; understanding the underlying message, just not so much appreciating the humour.
The jokes relating to the abstract art all seem pretty clichéd now, seems the jokes have all been done to death since the films release! In terms of initiating new ideas and helping me progress with work, its not had much impact. It has, however, made me appreciative of how much more we are allowed to explore and manipulate in terms of art these days, without being questioned.

Amsterjamin'...

Over summer I spent a relaxing few days in Amsterdam, and suprisingly I managed to cram in a visit to the Van Gogh gallery.
I've never really been a massive fan of Van Gogh, but any oppertunity to go and see one of the top rated artists in the worlds work, I couldn't really pass up. Plus, any excuse to see those sunflowers in the flesh...


It was a bit of a drag having to wait in a queue for every single painting, but patience was the price you payed it seemed. I didn't get the time to really look at the paintings, and because it was so busy, I even had to skip some. The works are organised chronologically into five periods. Each representing different phases of his life and work, they are; The Netherlands, Paris, Arles, Saint-Remy and Auvers-sur-Oise.

Another exhibition at the time of our trip was, Odilon Redon and Emile Bernard; Masterpieces from the Andries Bonger collection. It featured more than 80 works including paintings, drawings, pastels, prints and pieces of embroidery by Redon and Bernard, and offers progressive insight into the progressive taste of Bogner.

Why, hello again… Walker.

I found myself in the Walker for the second time this week; being treated to a (very funny, might I add) guided tour of three very famous and intriguing paintings.

The first, was Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s ‘Dante’s Dream’, which was completed in 1871. It is a depiction of Rossetti’s intense interest in the Italian poet, Dante. It is an interpretation of Dante’s dream in which he is lead by a physical ‘Love’ to the death bed of Beatrice; an object of his unrequited passion and love. It is his largest painting, combining rich and soft colours and complex symbols that require us to interpret them.
The model for Beatrice was Jane Morris, (the wife of William Morris… the guy who did the wallpaper) a lady in which Rossetti had a long term affair and obsession with.
Everything is symbolic; the ladies in green are symbolic of hope, whilst the spring blossoms signify purity. The doves indicate the presence of love, whilst the poppies are symbolic of sleep, dreams and death. I found all of them interesting, but it is fascinating to me how Rossetti made no attempt to disguise his obvious obsession with Morris. Maybe it was his way of saying he fancied her…?
.. Joke.

The second was William Holman Hunts ‘The Triumph of the Innocents’, oil on linen, thought to have been completed in 1891. It depicts a day’s journey en-route to Gaza from Bethlehem. Compared to his earlier works (‘Scapegoat’, ‘Finding of the saviour in the temple’) Hunt separates the foreground and background; more attention is drawn to the haloed infants in the foreground, who are illuminated by a supernatural glow.
Hunt had originally intended to light the painting with moonlight, but later felt that would be too monotonous. He strived to reproduce the event with such precision; to reach the closest possible depiction of how the event may have actually looked, from a religious view point of course. The painting was designed to awaken the viewers religious emotions, and designed specifically for us to question whether or not these biblical events had actually taken place.


The third was by John Everett Millais; ‘Lorenzo and Isabella’ was Millais’s first Pre-Raphaelite painting, completed during 1948-1949, when he was just 19 years old. It was inspired by the John Keats poem, ‘Isabella’. It is loaded with tragic and ironic symbolism; most notably showing Lorenzo how he is to die. The story starts with Lorenzo and Isabella keeping their love a secret, Isabella’s brothers find out and plot to kill him, then take him to the woods and murder him, Isabella has a dream in which she see’s the murder take place, rushes to she spot where the body is, cuts off Lorenzo’s head and places it in a flower pot in which the basil grows (you know… as you do) her brothers then eventually discover this and flee to Florence out of shame and guilt.


The symbolism can be seen in the dog affectionately nuzzling Isabella; symbolic of devotion; being kicked by her snarling brother. Who, has a questionable shadow appearing from his crotch… referencing the artist actually had a sense of humour! The expressions of the rest of the family’s face look pretty smug; sensing they are satisfied with their plot. The brother on the left side of the table holds out a glass of blood red wine, whose gaze seems to be firmly fixed on Lorenzo. The spilled salt on the table is symbolic of the blood that is to be spilled later. The painting is actually overloaded with symbolism… you get the gist! A chair is carved with the initials PRB (Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood) this shows Millais was involved and initiated with the brotherhood.

Here is an extract from the Keats poem:

'Fair Isabel, poor simple Isabel!
Lorenzo, a young palmer in Love's eye!
They could not in the self-same mansion dwell
Without some stir of heart, some malady;
They could not sit at meals but feel how well
It soothed each to be the other by.
These brethren having found by many signs
What love Lorenzo for their sister had,
And how she lov'd him too, each unconfines
His bitter thoughts to other, well nigh mad
That he, the servant of their trade designs
Should in their sister's love be blithe and glad
When 'twas their plan to coax her by degrees
To some high noble and his olive trees.'

So it begins... albeit a little late.

After a few weeks of flustered instructions, I think I’ve finally got this whole 'blog' thing sussed! This blog will mostly be used to record recent visits to galleries, my thoughts and opinions on exhibitions, and ideas and experiments all relating to my core work. Which at the moment, is based on and around the themes and idea of 'identity'. How likely it is to stay that way, I can’t possibly say!

The special exhibition being held at the Walker at the moment is by Bridget Riley, and is called ‘Flashback’. I can’t say I hold much appreciation for this work. While a small part of me wants to argue that a lot of the works are extremely mature and that there is well thought and well structured patterns, the other half of me thinks it wouldn't look totally out of place in a children’s primary school. The idea just seems far too… easy. The paintings are optically vibrant, so much so there is a warning sign before you even walk through the door! They generate wild sensory movement and play with sensations of light and space. There are displays showing finished paintings, also paired together with sketches of new and exciting patterns. These paintings could easily be described as assemblages, I believe if they were a little less structured and Riley was to just let it happen, they would have a totally different effect.

However, with all the resources available now, it seems just about anyone could try this sort of art out. Maybe they had a lack of masking tape a few years back?! The combination of geometric shapes, horizontal and vertical lines and brash and wacky colours just hurts my head. In my opinion, the level of talent and raw skill can be seen in any other room in that gallery. Having said that, I’m really not opposed to more contemporary ways of working, nor do I believe the more time spent on a piece of art automatically gives it a right to success either. I don’t doubt that during the 60’s, Riley’s works paved the way for new, ambitious and exciting ways of working; it’s just not something I can totally engage myself with.

For me, this image says it all...