Initium, Kings Street Exhibition

The exhibition we held at King street was a fantastic way to display everyone's work especially as I personally hadn't been keeping up with the work everyone else was producing. So for that reason it was very interesting. I also found it a rewarding experience because I became involved with the thought processes involved in where to situate work around the gallery and all the decisions that come with it. At times it was incredibly challenging due to the wide variety of work. So in some cases it was difficult to carry out a harmonious flow to the exhibition.  Overall I thought the end product was a very professional one and that everyone's work was displayed in the best way possible.

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.

Viva and Tutorial - BIG Canvas.

It was brilliant to receive feed back on the work I had been creating and I came to a few realisations on what work actually was successful and which pieces I juts thought were successful.
After creating a variety of work using text, computer imagery and different techniques in painting, my masking tape drawings had shown to have become the most successful. What I found strange about this is how I had discontinued using masking tape as a way of working very early on in the course and moved away from it, only to now find it is the main thing I am concentrating on. What stood out to the tutors was how the indecision in mark making and what colours I had chosen gave the piece energy and movement. Another aspect of the work was how when the colours were placed next to the purity of the white the became much more vivid and noticeable. This had quite an interesting effect because due to the amount of white in the work it was surprising to see how the white didn't overwhelm and consume the work.

 I had created one piece on three canvases that didn't represent any of the good points about the masking tape paintings. I had tried to stick and create a formula to create work and this had an incredibly negative effect when it came to the end product of the work. The piece lacked any kind of movement and it looked too forced. What makes my other pieces work was the look of a preconceived idea mixed with chance and spontaneity.
After the Viva my idea's progressed further in the way that I wanted to have an intentional meaning as well as holding a high importance in the process of creating the work. I felt with previous pieces that had been unsuccessful I had made them too even, too polite. So this is the area I had to change. I began trying to make the pieces deliberately problematic to the eye by creating a sense of unease and off balance. After experimenting more with this idea I felt increasing the scale would increase the direct interaction with the viewer. This would make it unavoidable to become baffled on whether the piece worked or not.
I began making a 5ft by 7ft canvas. Making the canvas bigger than a person was intentional to again try and carry off the overwhelming feel of unease.
Building the stretcher and stretching the canvas was fairly straight forward, however it was time consuming and when it came to priming the canvas it took 4 layers of primer and sanding to get the intended effect. I had to make sure the canvas was as white and smooth as possible so the white could highlight the surrounding colours as much as possible.

 
 I began to question if it was worth it. Because preparing the canvas ready to paint on was taking 3 times longer than it was going to take me to tape it up and paint it. I spoke to my tutor about this who made me understand the preparation for the work is a vital part of the process and part of the work itself. For example the majority of the time Damien Hirst's work relies on the preparation and planning before putting the work together.

 
Masking the piece was relatively simple. It was just a challenge to envision what the end piece was going to look like because of the scale of the canvas. It was also very difficult when choosing how thick to have the masking tape lines. Too thin and the piece would become too intricate and complicated. Too thick and the piece would become too disjointed which is an effect I have yet to decide if I like or not.

When it came to painting the canvas the scale became problematic again. This was because on the smaller scales it was quite easy to keep up the energy and aggression while painting. This took a lot more effort to put forward to same movement throughout the piece. It was also challenging when applying the paint, as on a small scale several blobs of paint would suffice to fill the whole page, whereas on the large scale it took much more thought when placing the paint down onto the canvas. (Mainly to try to prevent much wastage.)
 Once I'd finished the piece it was clear the scale had helped the effect the work had dramatically. Because of the scale the painting became much more a statement, something that could not be ignored. It became apparent as well at this point how effective the hand made canvas was. The choice to prime it as many layers as I did created a much more clean cut finish than if I'd just gone a bought one. It was also good to see how my choice not to prime the edges of the canvas became part of the work too. I did this as I knew when painting the shapes I would not paint up to the edge of the canvas anyway. Therefore when looking at the side of the canvas you can see a decent into purity. This also clearly shows another process within the piece. Overall I thought the piece had worked well, however in future I need to try and be less vigorous when applying the paint. This was because I did rip some of the masking tape off which meant paint bleed into the white space. This did add a feeling of imperfection to the work. It is up for the viewer to decide whether that is a positive outcome or not.

      

No Furniture - Private View

No Furniture was a exhibition put on by some 2nd and 3rd year student from the University and was held in King Street Cambridge. It was advised that I went down to see the exhibition space as that was where the first years exhibition that I was a part of was taking place. The space itself is very spacious and with the front side of the area just being windows throughout the day the source of natural light would be amazing. It was also interesting to see what work was being created by students who were further along in the course. I found some pieces incredibly interesting like the bricks made from food, several small geometric prints and a large canvas that was overwhelmed with colour and energy. These pieces may have interested me simply because these pieces (other than the food bricks) highlight the direction my work is taking at the moment. However I felt the large portrait/self portrait and charcoal/ pencil sketches were amateurish and something you would be more likely to see at an A-level exhibition. I did find it strange that these pieces were on display, however I did not ask or speak to the artists who made the work so I didn't quite grasp the intent of the pieces in question.  
It was rewarding going to the private view as I gained inspiration on how to present my work in the exhibition.