Tips from Grayson on being a successful artist....
Learn how to be a bohemian
Stop trying to be cool
Turn up on time
Put the hours in
Stand out in the media landscape (e.g have a missing foot or be a transvestite)
Monday, 9 April 2012
Wellcome Exhibition - Charmed Life: The Solace of Objects
"It seems that the soul..loses itself in itself when shaken and disturbed unless given something to grasp onto; and so we must always provide it with an object to butt up against and act upon."
Michel de Montaigne Essais 1580
One of the most magical exhibitions I've visited this year was at the Wellcome Collection this February.
He was fascinated with folklore and magical objects and built up a huge collection of over 1400 objects during his life.
Powell's presentation of these lucky charms fantastic. There were so many of the same kind, like horse shoes for example, all different shapes and sizes scatter across a table.
Each object carried its own story of hope or luck. ...
These horse shoes covered in fabric were kept to stop nightmares.....
... The various uses to which these…were put were as follows: Boxes for dominoes, flower vases, ink bottles, pin holders, tape measures, scent bottles, match boxes, snuff boxes, and the modern satin shoes for throwing at weddings." Edward Lovett, 'Magic in Modern London', p. 58
Bits of coral were worn to keep sailers safe at sea....
I found the exhibition fascinating and this kickstarted an interest with Folklore and Superstition...I would love to do a project based on this subject in the future....
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| Trailing Tears Wax on mirror back Felicity Powell 2011 |
Another part of the Charmed Life collection was Felicity Powells own waxworks on plates of fairytale figures and floating hands. Watching the video of the making of these small scale works makes you engage with the objects themselves as they are formed carefully by hand. The reveal a ghostly beauty and I was transfixed with every delicate aspect of her work.
Edward William Cooke's Grotesque Animals
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Printmaking Project: Rosie In Wonderland
These sketches were done mostly on tube journeys when I had nothing else to turn to for entertainment but my imagination. The eye of a peacock feather is a key emblem within my work. I'm not sure why it always pops up but it adds tone and weight to the drawings as well as references to nature.
My main source of inspiration was David Hockney's version of Hogarth's "The Rakes Progress" a personal narrative about his first travels to America.
I love the rough texture of these etchings, they make the images so much more personal and exciting. You can really understand Hockey's experiences from these simple yet stimulating images.
These images are ideas for etchings I want to do in a similar autobiographical manner as Hockey's. The are narratives of experiences, thoughts and dreams I've had in the last year. Some of them are symbolic some are more accurate.
ALFRED KUBIN [Research For Printmaking Project: Rosie In Wonderland]
I came across Alfred Kubin's work on a website called monsterbrains.com.
He is an Austrian printmaker and illustrator that worked during the early 20th century.
His etchings tell tales of an imaginary land of monsters and bleak open landscapes. I was initially drawn to his dreamlike scenes. There was something fantastical about giant hippos and imagined birds and reptiles, despite their macabre environment. However as I looked at more of his work, I found the majority was deeply sinister and grotesque.
After doing some research I found out that he was a writer and had written a novel called The Other Side, which he also illustrated. Kubin writes of a strange invented world called "The Dream Kingdom"and plays with the nature of the subconscious.
This was exactly the subjects I wanted to illustrate for my personal project. Although I learned that Kubin had a very traumatic background and tried to commit suicide on his mother's grave. I appreciate that these dark experiences lead him to create these amazing yet disturbing works of art, however I have had a fairly happy upbringing so I doubt my images will be as dark!
Kubin worked with aquatint to create dark cloudy texture of his etchings, I think as this will be my first try at etching, I will probably keep my images simple and use only hard ground line drawings. I really love the atmosphere that aquatint can create and would definitely consider using it in a future project.
George Condo: Mental States
JAN 2012
I was familiar with condos work before I visited the exhibition in January but never understood his classical influences and his obsession with portraits.
In an article in the times he states that he uses the classical painting methods of Michael Angelo and Rembrandt to create starkly modern images.
I went on my own and the gallery was almost empty. Which was perfect, I had him all to myself!
I was introduced to a line-up of bronze heads, each telling a different emotional story.
Some were frightening, some were odd but despite this I felt a sense of empathy towards these beings. Condo, although better known as a painter, has been making sculptures throughout his artistic career. The heads displayed are imaginary portraits of tragedy and woe and refer to Greek sculpture. Some had a recognisable reference to Greek sculpture and some faces were completely characterised it was almost comical.
Condo states that the reason for creating these characters was to “create the illusion of excavated buried treasure, as if these were relics of a lost civilisation.”
This is what I want to create when I draw from my imagination and this quote is such a beautiful way of putting it.
It stated in the booklet, that “Condo has focused on reconfiguring our basic ideas of portraiture”
Every single character had a story to tell and although their extended limbs, protruding chins and fanged grins were completely imaginary, the characters were utterly real. They all had a strange demonic glee about them.
Their faces were unhinged and frightening yet I felt almost related to them. Their stare is as though they have been caught in the act. I couldn’t put my finger on it but I felt as though they reflected a part of myself. Some strange disassociated common ground. Walking past the portrait was as though you were catching a glimpse of yourself in the mirror. Perhaps his understanding of classic painting made his portraits so alive.
However Condo states that some of his works such as Aldous Huxley “come from the minds antipodes, where objects do not stand for anything but themselves.”
I feel I can relate my work to this as sometimes I draw things that are a compilation of things that are solely from my imagination. When I look at it afterwards I can’t understand where some of the imagery has come from and it produces an image that doesn’t represent or identify anything but the image itself gives it a purpose.
I found condo’s work immensely inspiring. There was so much to learn and think about. I learned a lot about his techniques as well.
Seated Nude
George Condo 2005
I noticed condo’s characters seemed to stand or sit in a void of colour.. I often draw onto a blank space and my drawings seem to float and aren’t contained on the page very well. I wanted to learn how condo housed his creatures. In one painting, [See above, “Seated Nude” 2005] an eerie bug-eyed being sits hunched on the floor, his neck and limbs extending across canvas. I noticed condo had added a shadow that went from left to right. I thought this is a good method of creating depth to a background and I will probably steal that idea.
Although Condo draws mostly from his imagination, real life plays an important role in his work.
He addresses subjects of melancholy, depression, excess and alienation and the highs and lows of modern life or “Boom and Bust”
Some his characters represent failed business men, alcoholics and tired relationships. Many of his characters are isolated within the canvas, reflecting the loneliness of the everyday working life. The starkly realistic gloom that emanates from the paintings is an awakening reminder of the difficulties of human consciousness. The solitariness and stillness in these paintings is very powerful and evoke a sense of empathy towards these sorrowful characters.
Dancing To Miles, 1985-86
George Condo
The section on Abstract Figuration was interesting but least inspiring to me. Condo depicted scenes of chaos that I found overwhelming. They mirrored the chaos of everyday life, which was completely relevant to me as an resident of central London. It reminded me of how many faces you see everyday but do not process. From a distance the image was a blur and even close up it was difficult to distinguish a face or a person. It reminded me of how much your brain has to process during everyday consciousness and the many faces you see living in a busy city that you will never see or remember again.
“The great thing about art is that you can see yourself without ever having to look in the mirror…Occasionally, real life is crazier than anything that can come from our imagination. You only have to look around you to see how nuts it can actually be.”
I got so much out of my visit to the exhibition. I found that Condo’s imaginary characters expressed a reality that I never understood before. Although they were from imagination there was something real about them that you couldn’t ever comprehend from consciousness. I have always had doubts from working from my own imagination but if I was to take inspiration from my own mental experiences my work would make more sense to an outside viewer.
My own george condo style character...
From this exhibition I have decided to create a personal project about my own experiences, whether conscious or sub-conscious and make a series of prints that represented my own little wonderland.
I will look at Lewis Carol’s Alice and Wonderland, and George Condo’s portraits and will include references to reality and fantasy, will pay with scale and perspectives to create scenes from my imagination.
Friday, 6 April 2012
The Unilever Series, Turbine Hall, Tate Modern, London
I went to this with my Mum and Dad when they came to London to visit for the day. It is about the tactile quality of film itself. During the reign of digital process Dean wanted to express her love for film and used collage and cutting of the film reel itself to create a piece. The images were very beautiful and enchanting. It was a stark reminder of the artist processes that will soon become extinct because of the digital age we live in today.
Wednesday, 4 April 2012
Wilhelm Sasnal Exhibition - Whitechapel Gallery, London
Kacper and Anka 2009
I had seen a couple of Wilhelm Sasnal's pieces before but never understood the reason behind his alluring paintings. I think the only way to fully appreciate his work is to see it first hand.
The collection was of recent works by the Polish artist and as soon as I stepped into the gallery I was instantly in awe.
It was evident that Sasnal uses photography as a reference to his work. The images themselves were very powerful,yet they also celebrated painting as an exercise.
I think the element that ties Sasnal's evocative use of photography and painting is light. There is a stark contrast between light an shadow in his paintings. Where some painters use softer alternative tones to create light and shadow, Sasnal is not afraid to use true black and white.
You can see this clearly in Kacper and Anka, a haunting yet beautiful image that works as an image or a narration.
There is a strong possible story behind this scene yet I chose to leave it as a mystery. I did not want to taint the beauty of the image with my interpretations.
Although Sasnal's paintings are concerned with themes of high culture and mass media, these were unimportant to me. I found his work enchanting. I realised that I had stood in front of some of the canvas's for ages, that I had become transfixed...hypnotised almost. I didn't really question the subject, I was simply absorbed by the scenes he painted.
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