Thick Time, William Kentridge, Whitechapel Art Gallery (Thursday 12th Jan)
Works of interest:
All works in the show. Particularly liked the piece with the 2 boards moving and choreographed with the video projection.
Notes:
Fascinating, engaging, lively and mesmerising exhibition. I had loosely known of William Kentridge and became a little more familiar with him when watching the BBC’s Imagine programme on his books. However this show was on a different level, every room featured an intricate network of video projections and moving sculptures. Fascinating to see the installation and use of so many video projectors to create one single film / animation that spanned around the whole room to create an immersive experience. Kentridge is a great experimenter and creates some very clever films, often using himself as the subject in which he performs creating drawings. The main thing that struck me about him was that he had a very strong style and visually it was present in every work. I think this is something that really can be learned from. Experimentation is good, but it is also good to have developed a style, rather than continually searching and trying to develop a style. This is something I will be aiming for during the course of the MA programme.
http://www.whitechapelgallery.org/exhibitions/william-kentridge/
Beyond Caravaggio, National Gallery (Friday 13th Jan)
Works of interest:
Guido Reni (1575 – 1642) – Lot and his daughters leaving sodom, about 1615 – 16
Giovanni Francesco Guerrieri (1589 – 1657) – Lot and his daughters, about 1617 – 18.
Caravaggio – Sleeping Cupid
Notes:
Lots of theatrical drama present in all of the paintings. Looking at the works I looked deeply at them, to imagine and see beyond the finished image. What I could see and imagine was the work involved in creating this image. The scene would be set up using real models. They would be clothed in the appropriate costumes with the added accessories such as angels wings for example. The artist would pose the figures, creating a story and settling on a composition that would then be used to produce the final image. Recently I created a work (Welcome, 2015) that made me question if the sculpture that I made and installed on the beach was the art work if the finished photographic image was the work. I enjoyed creating and making the work and setting it up and for me the work lives on as the photographic image, much in the same way as Caravaggio’s paintings live on. Mathew Barney is a modern artist who I think is similar in the approach to Caravaggio. He creates clever scenes that are posed and use lavish drama that are captured on film. Another artist I can think of is Marina Abramovic who is a performance artist and her video pieces can have a cinematic appearance, such as ‘The Hero‘, 2001.
The religious imagery in much of the paintings such as ‘The Taking of Christ’ and ‘Supper at Emmaus’ reminded me of a recent phase in my art work. After the bereavement of my younger brother in 2010, I had spiritual feelings. From 2011 to 2014 I produced several paintings and drawings of Cypriot churches. I had never engaged with this subject matter before this and it gave me a comforting feeling and solace. I began to think more of religion in art and the stories in the bible. A particular story that I became interested in was Lot and his family fleeing from Sodom. It is a story that for some reason fascinated me and opened up the door to exploring other stories. Rembrandt was a large exponent of paintings and engravings that explored biblical stories. In the Caravaggio exhibition I was fascinated by the visual depiction of Cupid, laying asleep with his bow and his arrow next to him. The painting says the viewer that the only way to kill love is to steal an arrow from Cupid while is sleeping. In the world of today when there is so much hate, it is more and more believable that only love can set you free. I marvel at the minds of the Italian and Dutch painters who engaged so much with these subjects and created images that 500-600 years later are still relevant and we are still talking about them.
https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/about-us/press-and-media/press-releases/beyond-caravaggio
Guido Reni (1575 – 1642) – Lot and his daughters leaving sodom
Giovanni Francesco Guerrieri (1589 – 1657) – Lot and his daughters leaving Sodom
Caravaggio – Cupid Spleeing, 1608
Robert Rauschenberg, Tate Modern (Saturday 14th Jan)
Works of interest:
Dante series, combines, screen prints, art and technology collaborations, oil wealth works
Notes:
Looking at his work reminded me of art school and the fact that I used to hang out with a bunch of print makers. I became quite familiar with the different techniques of printmaking and Rauchenberg was often mentioned and this got me interested in his work. Much like Warhol, I loved the way he printed photographs onto materials via silk screen printing. The direction towards this was pioneered when Rauchenberg discovered that applying lighter fluid onto the back of a magazine or newspaper page and rubbing on the it with an empty biro pen, the image would transfer onto paper. This led to a series of transfer drawings that illustrates the thirty-four cantos of Dante’s Inferno that are described as:
‘Combining his own drawings and watercolors with these images transferred with a chemical solvent from glossy magazine reproductions, Rauschenberg provides a contemporary context for Dante’s poem by including such popular figures as John F. Kennedy and Adlai Stevenson.’
(Rauchenberg foundation website)
As with all exhibitions, it is interesting to see the distinct phases of the artist’s work. His Use of simple everyday materials, especially the objects created by ‘dumpster diving’ in New York city reminded me of some of my work, particularly work made during the course of visiting the Cyprus college of art. This practice was strongly influenced by the teachings of the late Stass Paraskos, artist and director of the college.
All in all, Rauchenberg’s oeuvre is a mixture of simple low tech quick experiments in sculpture at one end of the process and experiments in art and technology at the other end. He also perused performance with his dance company. This was an exhibition I was very glad to attend and by looking at the works, I learned a great deal more about Rauchenberg and still find his free flowing wanderings through visual culture highly inspiring.
http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/robert-rauschenberg
Intrigue – James Ensor by Luc Tuymans, Royal Academy of Arts (Saturday 14th Jan)
Works of interest:
The Fall of the Rebel Angels, 1889
The Dangerous Cooks, 1896
The Entry of Christ into Brussels, 1895
Adam and Eve Expelled from Paradise, 1887
Large View of Ostend, 1884
The Skate, 1882
Intrigue, 1890
Notes:
I have always been interested in Ensor, so it was a privilege to see this show. I visited Ostend in Belgium once (where Ensor lived) a long time ago in the late 1980s and it was in the middle of winter. It was a haunting, empty, strange place and it has been stuck in my mind ever since. I wasn’t really into art back in those days, but the place just stuck in my mind. It was therefore easy to relate to the paintings and Ensor who felt and knew only too well the strangeness of the town when it emptied after the tourist season and the winter set in. He would disappear into his own little world, exploring the world of his mind through painting and drawing. Unknown to me, I learned from the exhibition that Ensor had a particularly cutting, witty and dry sense of humour and this is evident in the drawings such as ‘The Dangerous Cooks’ that he produced. Some of his paintings such as ‘The Entry of Christ into Brussels’ were viewed as scandalous. I liked his interpretations of the biblical stories, the fact that like Caravaggio he placed the story in the time and place of his own life. Biblical stories are something that I would really like to explore more and these works by Ensor have been added to my visual library.
https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibition/james-ensor-luc-tuymans
James Ensor, Intrigue, 1890
Ostend, Belgium
Anselm Kiefer – Walhalla, White Cube Gallery (Saturday 14th Jan)
Works of interest:
Everything
Notes:
This was quite simply a Mega, mega installation that spanned many rooms at the White Cube gallery. Kiefer’s work always reminds me of Christian Boltanski’s, who work I seen in the 90s many years previous to seeing anything by Kiefer. They have a similar earthy, dark, leaden feel to them and in a way the subject matter can sometimes be similar – dealing with the war and its aftermath. I do like Keifer’s work, the scale is monumental and the logistics are pretty mind boggling. The openness of the work really connects with the audience. Having to navigate through the tight spaces, up close and personal with the work was quite an experience. Kiefer creates what ever he likes and is a really hard working artist. We can all learn from him.
http://whitecube.com/exhibitions/anselm_kiefer_bermondsey_2016/
Paul Nash, Tate Britain (Sunday 15th Jan)
Works of interest:
Blue House on the Shore, 1929-31
Dorset – A Shell Guide, 1936
Landscapes from a Dream, 1936-8
Battle for Germany, 1944
Notes:
As with all retrospective exhibitions, it is fascinating to see the different phases and periods laid out for us to walk though their lives. Paul Nash had quite a life indeed. Having seen front line action in the Great War and then commissioned as a war artist, he produced a series of works that are haunting but also profoundly creative. This mind went on to be influenced by Di Chirico, and I have always liked the work of Di Chirico so found even more reasons to like Paul Nash. What I also liked was the fact that Nash would routinely return to a subject or place that he was familiar with and made paintings and drawings of it. He would revisit this at all times in his life and would re-imagine the the local landscape over and over.
A painting that I caught my eye was ‘Blue House on the Shore’, 1929. It reminded me of a painting of a Cypriot church that I had made during my ‘spiritual phase’. This painting for Nash seemed to be a turning point, where he would become more interested and involved with Surrealism.
Included in the exhibition was Eileen Agar, a contemporary of Nash and an exponent of Surrealism. One of her works ‘Human skull, gold paint and sea shells’ reminded me of the Damien Hirst skull piece. This demonstrates how far ahead of her time this artist was, to produce such challenging works of art. Indeed, Nash was also experimenting and never stood still.
The cleverness of Nash is perhaps seen in his painting ‘Landscapes from a Dream, 1936-8’, of which Roland Penrose wrote:
‘A bird watches itself in a glass, waiting for the image to move so as to know which is really alive, itself or the image. This is just what has happened with the images of Paul Nash, they have moved, asserting independent life’
Nash was an incredibly hard working artist and always busy, again something we can all learn from.
http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/paul-nash
The Menin Road, 1919
Totes Meer (Dead Sea), 1940-41
Blue House on the Shore, 1929-31
Dorset – A Shell Guide, 1936
Eileen Agar, ‘Human skull, gold paint and sea shells
Things I’ve learned from visit:
- Experimentation is good, but it is also good to have developed a style, rather than continually searching and trying to develop a style. This is something I will be aiming for during the course of the MA programme.
- Investigate bibilcal stories such as Lot and his family fleeing from Sodom. It is a story I find particularly fascinating and can open up the door to exploring other stories.
- Like Rauchenberg, move between periods and phases and recognise these, while also remaining free to explore and experiment.
- Consider availability of historical work and how curators might access it for shows / retrospective
- Think about scale of work and how it could be up scaled or developed for larger spaces, such as the work of Anslem Kiefer.
- The artists all seemed to say ‘they never set out to make art’, they were just enjoying experimenting and trying out things. This is true, sometimes we are trying too hard to create ‘art’