Group Critique

I always find group critiques one of the most rewarding ways to step back and analyse yours and your peers work. It is also so helpful to receive very direct feedback which you may not receive another way. This helps form direction, try and work through doubts about your work and work out what is working well within your practice so your work can move forward.

An interesting topic that was raised in my group crit was my position as an artist/painter. Feedback has suggested that my work is misleading as it is made with such energy and assertion, yet underlying these very bold statement is the feeling of fatigue and doubt. I personally don't feel this is a bad position for me or my work to be in at this present time. This is because the direction and intentions are still becoming clear to me. Another point was not just my position but painters in general. This was because a painters position in contemporary art is becoming more and more ambiguous. This is also another element that injects a sense of doubt into my work.

There were some points raised that I didn't necessarily agree with but I still took on board and experimented with prior to the group crit. One of these points was to vary the thickness of tape used. I felt quite closed minded when first hearing the suggestion because the work I was creating was so unbalanced in so many ways I felt a consistency that ran through the piece helped ground the work and give it more substance. After trying to vary the thickness, it did make the piece even more nonsensical, however in some cases I had already been pushing the boundaries on how uneasy you can make a piece before it collapses and I felt not keeping the thickness consistence was one step too far.

Another point was to paint the work using something other than a sponge. I could understand that this was an obvious point to make as I had been using a sponge to paint more of the work I've made on the core project. But I chose not to try this idea out because I feel the mark making and paint application I had achieved with a sponge could be mistaken for a number of different painting tools. For example, brushes, fingers etc.

The group crit since has really benefited my work, perhaps not in the way I'm producing it but I am now holding much more importance over the theological ideas and motivations that I've used to make my work. 

The Lion and Lamb

Visiting the Lion and Lamb was a very surreal experience for me because it was a space that included two of my favourite things, a pub and an art gallery. Walking through the pub was interesting as it has the typical edgy London pub feel to it with 'cockney lads' swearing over a game of pool, then you walk through a door in the middle of the pub into a very neutral, light space which is not dissimilar to a space like the Poppy Sebire gallery. The art on show was interesting but unfortunately I didn't pay much attention as it was the end of a long day walking around London and the novelty of being able to sit and enjoy a pint at the bar whilst looking at some contemporary art hadn't worn off. However I admire what the land lord is doing and I think it's a brilliant way to bring in trade. Therefore I will be making it a pit stop for a well needed rest on my next trip to London.

  

Serpentine: Rosemarie Trockel

When walking around the Rosemarie Trockel exhibition I became overwhelmed with the variety and contents of the exhibition. I understand that Trockel could be criticised for not maintaining a set theme and style when looking at the work, however this variety and the fresh, interesting changes between each room made the exhibition flow with a assertive sense of movement. Also when looking at each of pieces all together every piece had an organic, gritty, handmade look to it. This made you notice the contrast between the materials and the variety of feelings that you picked up while walking around. For example Trockel's woolen pieces had a very vibrant, yet homely feel to them and then it was as if the rug was swept from beneath you when moving through to her sculptures which made me feel incredibly uneasy. 
I felt I could relate most to her woolen pieces as I noticed how the relationship between the colours and how one affected another. This is a relationship I have been looking at in my own work.

 Something else that caught my eye whilst walking around were Trockel's miniature sketchbooks. They had been so intricatelycrafted that they became a astoundingly beautiful object in their own entirety.

Rosemarie Trockel's work was very interesting for me to see first hand because the emotion her work emits is something that is lost through representations of the work. However I didn't like the majority of the work mainly because I'm so engrossed within painting and the issues I am stumbling upon I felt I couldn't relate to the work as much as I would've liked.

It was rewarding to also see the Serpentine gallery itself because as an exhibition space it's very interesting and unique. Which may be another factor to why Trockel's work maintained it's enegery throughout the exhibition

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Lichtenstein: A Retrospective.

 When first showing up to the Tate modern I was expecting to be looking around the exhibition 'A Bigger Splash', however both tutors agreed that the Roy Lichtenstein exhibition was the stronger show of the two. I had known of Lichtenstein's work for some time because of certain pieces such as 'Whaam!' Which was arguably one of the most iconic pieces of the pop art movement.

However as much as I appreciate the process, composition and idea of Lichtenstein's comic book pieces, I became much more engaged with Lichtenstein's seascapes. What made the seascapes stand out for me was the simplicity of the composition and as whole they raised more issues with me than any other pieces on display. Lichtenstein's repetitive style of using dots and lines in a very calculated sense only became undermined by the irregularities the occurred when he painted them. Although these irregularities are apparent in his other work, you begin to appreciate the way the paint has been applied due to the more simplistic composition.

 Noticing these small blemishes within Lichtenstein's work has also made me embrace when the paint may bleed in my pieces. I also feel that it makes the work feel more genuine and makes the process less ambiguous to the works audience. When having a discussion with one of peers whilst walking around the exhibition they criticised Lichtenstein's work due to the way it felt "too mass produced".  I had to disagree with this point due the fact there were these slight irregularities within the work. I feel this is the same when comparing a screen print to a mass produced print. There is a quality that would only be apparent in the screen print. For example, slightly raised ink and unplanned marks.

I was also very fond of Lichtenstein's studio studies. Humour always seems to be an important aspect to Lichtenstein's work and I felt this came through in very clever and subtle way in the studio studies. The way he depicted his own studio and own work in these pieces was a very interesting snap shot of the way he saw himself and his own work.

Some of the pieces I was less keen on were the Japanese landscapes. It was very difficult to put my finger on why I didn't like them but it felt almost as though his style had been exhausted. Even though the subject of his work had changed it didn't contain the same freshness that many of his early pieces had. Lichtenstein's female nudes had very much the same impact on me and I felt that overall the pieces were uninteresting.

Another set of work that really appealed to me were Lichtenstein's black and white pieces. These pieces showed every day objects in Lichtenstein's unique style. This was one of the things Lichtenstein carried out so well throughout his entire career; making the normal, average, mundane things that we barely glance at in day to day life captivating. The effect these pieces had on me was really quite extraordinary. One piece in particular (Tyre) stood out more than the others. This piece made my mind sway between recognising the everyday tyre and getting dragged into the pattern which made up the painting. I feel the black and white aided this effect very well due the marriage of these two components it acted upon your mind like an optical illusion.

Overall Lichtenstein has been one of the most iconic artists of the 20th century and epitomises the metaphor of milking a cow dry with his consistent use of the same style over his 40 year career. Although it may be the case that some of his pieces may be similar and lose the freshness Lichtenstein's work craves to be successful, I can appreciate the avenues of exploration and experimentation he took within his practice. This show has made a lasting impression on me and my own practice and has given me a new found appreciation for Licthenstein's work.