Back to the grindstone.

It's been a lovely Christmas break. Going to be honest and say not enough work was completed... but everything will get done, it always does. I work most well under pressure, oddly, something to do with the panic spurring me on I guess...

Anyway... for a while now Lucian Freud has been one of my biggest inspirations when it comes to portraiture, the chunky paint and blank expressions are just music to my eyes. However, when it comes to me and my (amateur!) attempt at portraiture, I get too obsessed with how a face should look when I really should be hooked on my interpretation of it. I love colour exaggeration, but I can never execute it. There is something annoying about portraits that are so perfect you can never tell if its a painting or a photograph. Why not just save yourself the time and energy and just use a camera?!

... Perhaps they're just showing off their talent. Actually, thinking about it now I'd probably do exactly the same. If you've got it flaunt it right?!

Here are some pictures of Lucian Freud's portraiture:



I was recently flicking my way through a contemporary art website when I came across this next guy, Nick Lepard. While his work bores no great resemblance to Freud's, besides obviously the portraiture, and the chunky paint... it just reminded me of them. With a contemporary twist. Sort of like that feeling of coming home. This is what makes me comfortable, and this is what I like. They're not taken on overly flattering angles and there seems to be a great emphasis (in my head!) on movement and application.

Better get my dancing shoes on.

John Coplans.

I've put off writing about my own work for quite some time now. Even though I'm still not totally sure what it is I should be writing about on here! Whether it be work related or not... Anyway, I'm still pretty focused on identity, and have recently taken alot of interest in John Coplans. A recently completed essay for another module was focused on identity, below is a little of what I had to say about him.

He will be remembered mostly for his later works; black and white photographs not so flatteringly documenting the contours of his ageing body. He is careful to never show his face, one of the most intimate and expressive parts of our bodies that is paramout in revealing to others, parts of our true identity. He does, however, include isolated body parts such as his stomach, knees, penis and fingers; body parts almost as equally if not more expressive and private. There are also other body parts that have been photographed that form together to make an abstract body canvas; pushing at the edges of the picture to reveal a rather grim sense of claustraphobia.
No detail is spared; we are allowed to examine and criticize with great detail the lumps, bumps and depths of Coplans. I feel Coplans explores the idea of identity in the vast sea of black and white; his conjoined fingers, his peering hands from behind his hairy back, and his still muscley rolls of fat emerge almost as a testament to being human; the human body and the acceptance of growing old. Coplans has utilized his own body’s public and personal identity as a primary material for these photographs; opening himself and his flaws to the world, an act which is so rarely publically confronted.
Having visited the Tate Liverpool, in which a small collection of Coplans Self portraits hang, and having read in the biographical description, a quote of Coplans;

‘Photography is a medium to build an identity out of a composite personality’

It occurred to me that to bare ones soul, and to strip the body of everything that brings with it that persons individual identity, is not only courageous, its admirable. Photography, unlike paints, collage, and almost any other type of medium, doesn’t allow room for errors. It highlights flaws in the most unflattering light, and exposes us not only to ourselves, but to the rest of the world, too. I feel this is something Coplans understood, and in terms of helping us to understand, he felt this medium was best. In terms of Coplans Self portraits, what he’s trying to stress is, the body is just a shell; it is our families, culture, feelings, ideas and personalities that make up our identity, we are made up of separate interconnected parts that ultimately make us who we are. We cannot and should not be confined in anyway by our outside surface, and purely by photographing his body, Coplans expresses this message to us.

Maritime Museum.

Last week we visited the Maritime Museum in the albert dock. At first I was confused about this visit, seeing as there's no actual 'art' in there.

However, we were taken on a tour and told facts and figures about the slave trade, in which our interest was maintained. I remember being young and taking a firm interest in this museum; not understanding why anyone would be so mistreated.
There was an installation which has been specifically designed to give out a feeling of opression, and gives you an insight into the harsh degree of suffering that was had on board a slave ship; it gives you an idea of just how much suffering a human can actually take.

This visit hasn't directly affected my work in the short term, however in the long term I do feel I may address some of these issues that have been raised throughout the museum.

Black-E Museum.

About a month or so ago, we made a trip up to the Black-E. In all honesty, I've never heard of it before, never realising there was such a thing as this social artistic outlet right on our doorstep...

The Black-E (formerly known as The Blackie) was first launched in 1968 and adopted its odd name due to a century's worth of dirt that had once covered the building. It is a combination of a contemporary art centre coupled with a community centre and was the UK's first community arts project. It is currently under construction and has been given a hefty grant in which will hopefully return its former grandeur.
The project is commited to young people, offering them 'affection, protection and direction', and promoting both 'do-ing' and 'viewing' in both formal and informal practises.

We were given alot of imformation and packs offering us the chance to get involved and volunteer.

Its motto is, 'Connecting artists and communities'.

New York.

In february, my friend and I decided to spend our student loans wisely on a trip to the big city. Looking back, I slightly regret some of the museum visiting decisions we made, I wish we'd have looked a little more off the beaten track... But still, I got to see (in the flesh!) some of the art worlds most amazing history altering paintings. All of these pictures were taken in the MoMA (Museum of Modern Art, New York)


Here is Frida Kahlo above, complete with a monkey and a moustache.


Above is work by Alexander Rodchenko... (I think!)

Here is me, along with Picasso's 'Les Demoiselles d'Avignon'. Now, I find it easy to say this is one of my all time favourite pieces of art. It sort of just roles right off the tongue. A few years ago however, would have been a totally different story... to think it was locked away for some 20 years is really quite upsetting.


I'm a bit of a fan girl of Jackson Pollock if i'm honest. Anything surrounded by tradgedy i'm sort of drawn to; I feel nothing but complete admiration and empathy for this guy. I know he was probably a miserable drunken grump really, but oh well, C'est la vie.


This work is by Willem de Kooning. Some years ago I based alot of my work on this artist. I remember really liking the messy outcome, its rather pleasing to the eye! I realise the picture is rather blurry... just don't click to make it bigger.


The work above is a result of Yves Klein. I'm not quite sure the meaning behind his work, but I do know he dragged a number of naked women covered in blue paint across a clean sheet of paper, resulting in the image above. Every male artists dream I imagine...

I'm kicking myself because I can't remember the name of this artist or the title of his work. I think it may have been Sam something though... This work is based on him taking a photograph of himself every few hours, which caused him to be sleep deprived. I remember seeing clock-in cards and a video of him doing the same thing at a completely different gallery a few months later... possibly in Barcelona.

Rothko, Rothko, Rothko...

This week, I embarked on a trip up to the Albert Dock, to the Tate Liverpool. At the moment, there is a retrospective of abstract painter Mark Rothko’s ‘The Seagram Murals’. After a 20 year absence from their first exhibition in the Tate in 1988, the paintings made a… somewhat welcome return; for some, just not so much for me. Personally, I feel they should have stayed put, in the four seasons, exactly where they were made to be.

I wouldn’t go as far as to say I dislike modern art, but a lot of the time, I just don’t understand it. I feel ‘abstract’ is a word painters could hide behind; it gave a feeling of credibility to something that was undeserving (in some cases, anyway) In Rothko’s case, it gives meaning to a man whose work, primarily, focuses on being shit. When asked to describe just what it is his work meant, Rothko always said he’d prefer not to explain. That, to me, speaks volumes; too scared to right the upper-class who feel the simplicity in his paintings is nothing short of extraordinary...

I feel art like this invites people into a world where they can appear artistically superior; suggesting they can see something in Rothko’s work that the rest of us can’t. But, maybe that’s just how I feel. Art like this is popular because ultimately, and understandably, it’s misunderstood. It’s very likely it could have absolutely no meaning. It’s because of this that people who believe they do have superior thoughts are all too quick to jump in, and defend and define it as something else other than shit. But this is just my opinion, the reason I think what I do is because I’ve never had the pleasure of these superior know-it-alls try and explain to me why his work is indeed so special.

Red on Maroon, 1959.

It's a... FACT!

I'm not really a big fan of video art, obviously depending on what it is my interest can be lengthened! We had an artist come visit us last year in Southport College called Shelagh Flanahan (her names irish... probably, it was still pronounced 'Sheila') maybe it was because we had a full day of watching her watching herself brushing her hair in the mirror; watching her eat her breakfast whilst crying; watching her blow smoke out of her mouth and then sucking it back in again... but, in brutal honesty, I was bored to tears for best part of that day.

As a result, as soon as I walked into the FACT, I was a little anxious... and felt a slight pang of disappointment. As soon as you walk in, 6 screens are thrust at you, all seperately screaming information. It was a bit much to take in all at once. It was pretty harsh, loud and after looking around in the dark for an explanation after a few minutes I gave up.
In the end, I did find one... explaining the artists biography and explaining his struggles with his native homeland of Thailand.

Apichatpong Weerasethakul is regarded as a central figure in the comtemporary cinema world. His 'Primitive' exhibition in FACT is his first UK solo exhibition; comprising of a multi-screen video installation. The videos were filmed in a village in the Renu Nakhon dirstrict of Thailand, called Nabua. During the 1960's, brutal clashes between the communist communities and the Thai military took place there. The project is about re-inventing Nabua, a place where sadly, memories and ideologies have been forgotten. For the project, Weerasethakul invited teenage decendants of the communist farmers to dream up fabricated memories through the building of a spaceship in the rice fields. I only just understand this now, having read about it.