The top row of images are screenshots from the start of the movie documentary, Woodstock.
below, a set of Apple Ipod advertisements.
EL CRUZ DE DOMINGO, EL CUATRO DE OCTUBRE, DOS MIL NUEVE
A Papal crucifix (0n right) that I purchased at Vatican City last year in August. I found it in a tiny shop beside the entrance to the Reliquary museum in St Peters cathedral. The crucifix,which was popularised by Pope John Paul II on his pastoral crozier, has a similar feel to the mystical drawing by San Juan de la Cruz - the small drawing in Avila prompted Salvador Dali to paint his homage which was hung in St. Mungos Chapel in Glasgow, last time I visited in 2003.
SABATO, EL TRES DE OCTUBRE, DOS MIL NUEVE
I've just finished re-watching Crumb, a doco that I own about cultural cartoonist, Robert Crumb. He visits his younger brother Maxon in San Francisco and discusses their time growing up and look at some of his paintings. The painting below that he's holding produced an intense flash-back to Madrid, where I saw Caravaggio's St Catherine of Alexandria at the Thyssen-Bornemisza Gallery.
Both paintings feature intensely elegant, yet fragile-looking women, juxtaposed with aggressive, metallic forms. St Catherine is turning her head away from the impaling prongs, while brazenly stroking the blade of the rapier. I distinctly remember being captured by that stare and the angle of her head. Crumb's painting has a female encased in a metallic bra, which he mentions, "...talks about her personality...".
Both their expressions have an impish, puckish air about them. Just thought the comparison was kind of interesting.
I've just finished re-watching Crumb, a doco that I own about cultural cartoonist, Robert Crumb. He visits his younger brother Maxon in San Francisco and discusses their time growing up and look at some of his paintings. The painting below that he's holding produced an intense flash-back to Madrid, where I saw Caravaggio's St Catherine of Alexandria at the Thyssen-Bornemisza Gallery.
Both paintings feature intensely elegant, yet fragile-looking women, juxtaposed with aggressive, metallic forms. St Catherine is turning her head away from the impaling prongs, while brazenly stroking the blade of the rapier. I distinctly remember being captured by that stare and the angle of her head. Crumb's painting has a female encased in a metallic bra, which he mentions, "...talks about her personality...".
Both their expressions have an impish, puckish air about them. Just thought the comparison was kind of interesting.
VIERNES, EL DOS DE OCTUBRE, DOS MIL NUEVE
Thomas Kinkade, the self-proclaimed Monet of the millennium has been 'Endorized'. There's also another one of a large octopus devouring a Kinkade lighthouse somewhere out there on the net that I saw a while back.
I find the politics of Kinkade's work interesting, especially in regards to the christian-right acceptance of his art. Since the 60's, the airbrushed landscape poster-reproduced paintings of this genre have dominated christian publishing, book covers and ephemera. It's amazing how quickly a pastiche is created through total acceptance. It's a far cry from the visceral Catholic imagery of the Quattrocento. Jeffrey Vallance, commented on Kinkade's paintings: "...This is another area that the contemporary art world has a hard time with, that I find interesting. He expresses what he believes and puts that in his art. That is not the trend in the high-art world at the moment, the idea that you can express things spiritually and be taken seriously… It is always difficult to present serious religious ideas in an art context. That is why I like Kinkade. It is a difficult thing to do...")
I think Vallance's quote talks more about art hierachies and politics rather than presenting religious ideas through art and I find his work is nestled closer to the christian art of the past: the use of narrative and imagery to instill comprehension through trepidation. If Vallance's was born during the Trecento, I would imagine him to be a predella painter - subtly subverting and questioning tenets through his use of extant symbols, all displayed in small format at the base of a formidable polyptych.
below: Kinkade/ Star Wars mash-up
under that: Jeffrey Vallance, The Devil Hates Art, 2001
(courtesy Lehmann Maupin, NYC)
I find the politics of Kinkade's work interesting, especially in regards to the christian-right acceptance of his art. Since the 60's, the airbrushed landscape poster-reproduced paintings of this genre have dominated christian publishing, book covers and ephemera. It's amazing how quickly a pastiche is created through total acceptance. It's a far cry from the visceral Catholic imagery of the Quattrocento. Jeffrey Vallance, commented on Kinkade's paintings: "...This is another area that the contemporary art world has a hard time with, that I find interesting. He expresses what he believes and puts that in his art. That is not the trend in the high-art world at the moment, the idea that you can express things spiritually and be taken seriously… It is always difficult to present serious religious ideas in an art context. That is why I like Kinkade. It is a difficult thing to do...")
I think Vallance's quote talks more about art hierachies and politics rather than presenting religious ideas through art and I find his work is nestled closer to the christian art of the past: the use of narrative and imagery to instill comprehension through trepidation. If Vallance's was born during the Trecento, I would imagine him to be a predella painter - subtly subverting and questioning tenets through his use of extant symbols, all displayed in small format at the base of a formidable polyptych.
below: Kinkade/ Star Wars mash-up
under that: Jeffrey Vallance, The Devil Hates Art, 2001
(courtesy Lehmann Maupin, NYC)
JUEVES, EL UNO DE OCTUBRE, DOS MIL NUEVE
I'm getting more and more confused about the de Chirico painting that I've been writing about last week. I just watched Robert Hughes' The Mona Lisa Curse and took a screen-shot of him sitting in the Met, looking at three de Chirico paintings, the one on the left being Composition Metaphysique. This one-hour episode came out last year, so was probably filmed in 2007 - early 2008. Why is it there? Still can't find anything about the Hillman loan. It's possibly a different painting (a copy), something that de Chirico was known to do.
I've stopped using capitals, nothing to do with this, but now that I'm writing a bit more than I was at the start, its a spacer-saver thing...fractal savings.
I'm getting more and more confused about the de Chirico painting that I've been writing about last week. I just watched Robert Hughes' The Mona Lisa Curse and took a screen-shot of him sitting in the Met, looking at three de Chirico paintings, the one on the left being Composition Metaphysique. This one-hour episode came out last year, so was probably filmed in 2007 - early 2008. Why is it there? Still can't find anything about the Hillman loan. It's possibly a different painting (a copy), something that de Chirico was known to do.
I've stopped using capitals, nothing to do with this, but now that I'm writing a bit more than I was at the start, its a spacer-saver thing...fractal savings.
MARTES, EL VIENTINUEVE DE SEPTIEMBRE, DOS MIL NUEVE
Recently, I've been looking through several discs of photos from an overseas trip I took in 2003 to the USA and UK. The pics I took at the Met in NYC bring back vivid memories and significant realisations as an artist standing in front of emotive paintings that I'd been studying since high school.
I had not consciously come across Mark Tansey before. His painting below, The Innocent Eye Test, 1981 was a revelation because of its Po-Mo tenets and use of Paulus Potter's The Young Bull, 1647, which I had read about in Frank Stella's Working Space (which I've recently re-read). Stella's critique of Potter's painting as an example of minimal, if not any, 'working' pictorial space, especially in comparison to Caravaggio, who had revolutionised the use of pictorial space 50 years beforehand. I see this in the weightlessness of the bull's back legs and the clarity of the sky that shortens the pictorial depth.
After doing a quick search, I see that Andrew Paul Wood has used Tansey's painting to describe Denis Dutton's academic enquires as needing a ".. .call for a truly innocent eye...
"
I like the touch of the Monet Haystack to the right of the Potter painting, another thing that bovine are into.
Recently, I've been looking through several discs of photos from an overseas trip I took in 2003 to the USA and UK. The pics I took at the Met in NYC bring back vivid memories and significant realisations as an artist standing in front of emotive paintings that I'd been studying since high school.
I had not consciously come across Mark Tansey before. His painting below, The Innocent Eye Test, 1981 was a revelation because of its Po-Mo tenets and use of Paulus Potter's The Young Bull, 1647, which I had read about in Frank Stella's Working Space (which I've recently re-read). Stella's critique of Potter's painting as an example of minimal, if not any, 'working' pictorial space, especially in comparison to Caravaggio, who had revolutionised the use of pictorial space 50 years beforehand. I see this in the weightlessness of the bull's back legs and the clarity of the sky that shortens the pictorial depth.
After doing a quick search, I see that Andrew Paul Wood has used Tansey's painting to describe Denis Dutton's academic enquires as needing a ".. .call for a truly innocent eye...
"
I like the touch of the Monet Haystack to the right of the Potter painting, another thing that bovine are into.
LUNES, EL VIENTIOCHO DE SEPTIEMBRE, DOS MIL NUEVE
AFTER LOOKING THROUGH ALL THE PHOTOS I TOOK AT THE MET IN 2003, I CAME ACROSS THE ACTUAL PAINTING THAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT ON SATURDAY. AFTER TRAWLING THROUGH THE MET'S WEB ARCHIVE, I CAN'T FIND WHAT EXHIBITION IT WOULD HAVE BEEN IN, BUT PERHAPS A TOURING SHOW OF THE COLLECTION OF ALEX AND RITA HILLMAN (WHO OWNED IT UP TO MID 2008). THE GLASS PROTECTING THE PAINTING HAS PICKED UP THE REFLECTION OF THE LIGHTING IN THE GALLERY, A NICE ADDITION OF THREE UFO FORMS.
IT'S ALSO NICE TO SEE HOW THE PAINTING HAS BEEN FRAMED.
AFTER LOOKING THROUGH ALL THE PHOTOS I TOOK AT THE MET IN 2003, I CAME ACROSS THE ACTUAL PAINTING THAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT ON SATURDAY. AFTER TRAWLING THROUGH THE MET'S WEB ARCHIVE, I CAN'T FIND WHAT EXHIBITION IT WOULD HAVE BEEN IN, BUT PERHAPS A TOURING SHOW OF THE COLLECTION OF ALEX AND RITA HILLMAN (WHO OWNED IT UP TO MID 2008). THE GLASS PROTECTING THE PAINTING HAS PICKED UP THE REFLECTION OF THE LIGHTING IN THE GALLERY, A NICE ADDITION OF THREE UFO FORMS.
IT'S ALSO NICE TO SEE HOW THE PAINTING HAS BEEN FRAMED.
SABATO, EL VIENTISEIS DE SEPTIEMBRE, DOS MIL NUEVE
YESTERDAY'S SPHINX POST REMINDED ME OF ONE OF MY FAVOURITE GUSTAVE MOREAU PAINTINGS, OEDIPUS AND THE SPHINX WHICH IS IN THE MET IN NEW YORK. I FIRST SAW THIS PAINTING IN OCTOBER 2003 AND, BECAUSE OF THE SCALE OF THE PAINTING AND THE HEIGHT AT WHICH IT WAS HUNG, I WAS ATTRACTED BY THE FOOT AT THE BOTTOM RIGHT HAND CORNER OF THE PAINTING (I'VE GOT A DETAIL THAT I PHOTOGRAPHED WHILE VIEWING IT- I'LL HUNT THAT OUT). IT REMINDED ME OF THE PAINTING STYLE OF GIORGIO DE CHIRICO, IN THIS INSTANCE, HIS PAINTING COMPOSITION METAPHYSIQUE OF 1914 (BELOW). THIS PAINTING IS INFREQUENTLY REPRODUCED, BUT HAD STUCK IN MY HEAD. IT HAS TURNED UP A BIT RECENTLY THOUGH - IT SOLD FOR USD$6,130,500 LAST YEAR AT CHRISTIES AND HAS RECENTLY BEEN INCLUDED IN GIORGIO DE CHIRICO AT THE MUSEE D'ART MODERNE DE LA VILLE DE PARIS IN MAY THIS YEAR.
THE FOOT IN THE MOREAU PAINTING IS PROBABLY A HUMAN REMAIN, A CAST-OFF OF THE SPHINX'S VICTIMS WHO COULDN'T ANSWER HER RIDDLE. THE DE CHIRICO FEET ARE CLASSICAL GREEK OR HELLENISTIC REMAINS THAT ADD FLAVOUR TO HIS METAPHYSICAL SOUP. I THINK WHAT INTERESTS ME IN THIS PAINTING IS THE FACT THAT ONE FOOT IS OBVIOUSLY FROM A STATUE, BUT THE OTHER IS CROPPED AT THE EDGE OF THE CANVAS, SO WE ONLY HAVE THE PALE COLOUR TO GO BY TO RELATE IT TO THE OTHER FOOT AS A POSSIBLE MARBLE. THIS IDEA IS REPEATED IN THE CHIMNEY STACK AND/OR OTHER CHIMNEY STACK, OR PERHAPS COLUMN; WHICH IN TURN RELATES, SCALE-WISE, TO THE FLUTE-SHAPED OBJECT LYING ON THE OBLIQUE PLANE BY THE EGG. GREAT STUFF.
(TOP) GUSTAVE MOREAU
OEDIPUS AND THE SPHINX
1864, OIL ON CANVAS
206.4 x 104.8CM
METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, NYC
GIORGIO DE CHIRICO
COMPOSITION METAPHYSIQUE
1914, OIL ON CANVAS
81 X 54CM
YESTERDAY'S SPHINX POST REMINDED ME OF ONE OF MY FAVOURITE GUSTAVE MOREAU PAINTINGS, OEDIPUS AND THE SPHINX WHICH IS IN THE MET IN NEW YORK. I FIRST SAW THIS PAINTING IN OCTOBER 2003 AND, BECAUSE OF THE SCALE OF THE PAINTING AND THE HEIGHT AT WHICH IT WAS HUNG, I WAS ATTRACTED BY THE FOOT AT THE BOTTOM RIGHT HAND CORNER OF THE PAINTING (I'VE GOT A DETAIL THAT I PHOTOGRAPHED WHILE VIEWING IT- I'LL HUNT THAT OUT). IT REMINDED ME OF THE PAINTING STYLE OF GIORGIO DE CHIRICO, IN THIS INSTANCE, HIS PAINTING COMPOSITION METAPHYSIQUE OF 1914 (BELOW). THIS PAINTING IS INFREQUENTLY REPRODUCED, BUT HAD STUCK IN MY HEAD. IT HAS TURNED UP A BIT RECENTLY THOUGH - IT SOLD FOR USD$6,130,500 LAST YEAR AT CHRISTIES AND HAS RECENTLY BEEN INCLUDED IN GIORGIO DE CHIRICO AT THE MUSEE D'ART MODERNE DE LA VILLE DE PARIS IN MAY THIS YEAR.
THE FOOT IN THE MOREAU PAINTING IS PROBABLY A HUMAN REMAIN, A CAST-OFF OF THE SPHINX'S VICTIMS WHO COULDN'T ANSWER HER RIDDLE. THE DE CHIRICO FEET ARE CLASSICAL GREEK OR HELLENISTIC REMAINS THAT ADD FLAVOUR TO HIS METAPHYSICAL SOUP. I THINK WHAT INTERESTS ME IN THIS PAINTING IS THE FACT THAT ONE FOOT IS OBVIOUSLY FROM A STATUE, BUT THE OTHER IS CROPPED AT THE EDGE OF THE CANVAS, SO WE ONLY HAVE THE PALE COLOUR TO GO BY TO RELATE IT TO THE OTHER FOOT AS A POSSIBLE MARBLE. THIS IDEA IS REPEATED IN THE CHIMNEY STACK AND/OR OTHER CHIMNEY STACK, OR PERHAPS COLUMN; WHICH IN TURN RELATES, SCALE-WISE, TO THE FLUTE-SHAPED OBJECT LYING ON THE OBLIQUE PLANE BY THE EGG. GREAT STUFF.
(TOP) GUSTAVE MOREAU
OEDIPUS AND THE SPHINX
1864, OIL ON CANVAS
206.4 x 104.8CM
METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, NYC
GIORGIO DE CHIRICO
COMPOSITION METAPHYSIQUE
1914, OIL ON CANVAS
81 X 54CM
VIERNES, EL VIENTICINCO DE SEPTIEMBRE, DOS MIL NUEVE
ANOTHER RECENTLY DESTROYED PAINTING BELOW, BUT INTERESTING (WELL, TO ME) IN WHERE IT LED.
THIS PAINTING, WHICH SEEMS TO HAVE A LOT OF EAGLE BOYS (NOW DEFUNCT PIZZA OUTFIT) REFERENCES, WAS NOT THE FIRST PAINTING WITH A SPHINX PRESENT, BUT THE FIRST TO ISOLATE THE IMAGE. THE SPHINX TURNS UP IN AS A CARDBOARD SCULPTURE IN MY HUGS AND KISSES SHOW IN 2003 AND IN A VERY RECENT WORK, A CRUZ DE LAS ANIMAS, WHICH HAS A REPRODUCTION OF A PANORAMIC PAINTING I DID IN LATE 2000, JUST AFTER THE TOP BLACK PAINTING. I REMEMBER DOING A GROUP PROJECT AT PRIMARY SCHOOL ON THE RIDDLE OF THE SPHINX, THAT WE ALL ILLUSTRATED IN CLASS. SO MY INTEREST AND THE INFLUENCE PROBABLY COMES FROM BACK THEN. THERE WERE NO SUCH THINGS AS REMOTE CONTROLS THEN, SO THAT'S A LATER ADDITION
ANOTHER RECENTLY DESTROYED PAINTING BELOW, BUT INTERESTING (WELL, TO ME) IN WHERE IT LED.
THIS PAINTING, WHICH SEEMS TO HAVE A LOT OF EAGLE BOYS (NOW DEFUNCT PIZZA OUTFIT) REFERENCES, WAS NOT THE FIRST PAINTING WITH A SPHINX PRESENT, BUT THE FIRST TO ISOLATE THE IMAGE. THE SPHINX TURNS UP IN AS A CARDBOARD SCULPTURE IN MY HUGS AND KISSES SHOW IN 2003 AND IN A VERY RECENT WORK, A CRUZ DE LAS ANIMAS, WHICH HAS A REPRODUCTION OF A PANORAMIC PAINTING I DID IN LATE 2000, JUST AFTER THE TOP BLACK PAINTING. I REMEMBER DOING A GROUP PROJECT AT PRIMARY SCHOOL ON THE RIDDLE OF THE SPHINX, THAT WE ALL ILLUSTRATED IN CLASS. SO MY INTEREST AND THE INFLUENCE PROBABLY COMES FROM BACK THEN. THERE WERE NO SUCH THINGS AS REMOTE CONTROLS THEN, SO THAT'S A LATER ADDITION
MIERCOLES, EL VIENTITRES DE SEPTIEMBRE, DOS MIL NUEVE
LOW-BROW ART?, HOW LOW CAN YOU GO? PLENTY LOW. I'M RE-READING GREENBERG'S AVANT-GARDE AND KITSCH FROM 1939, **WITH SURPRISING RESULTS!!** IT SEEMS THE HUNTER HAS BECOME THE HUNTED
I'LL GET BACK TO YA ON THAT ONE...
LOW-BROW ART?, HOW LOW CAN YOU GO? PLENTY LOW. I'M RE-READING GREENBERG'S AVANT-GARDE AND KITSCH FROM 1939, **WITH SURPRISING RESULTS!!** IT SEEMS THE HUNTER HAS BECOME THE HUNTED
I'LL GET BACK TO YA ON THAT ONE...
MARTES, EL VIENTIDOS DE SEPTIEMBRE, DOS MIL NUEVE
A PROPHETIC ARTWORK? A REVERSE PAINTED CD CASE WITH CD PAINT PALETTE INCLUDED.
I DIDN'T PARTICULARLY WANT THIS AS I HAVE A THING FOR THE PRINTED WORK.
RUMOUR HAS IT THAT THE FAT LADY HAS NOT YET SUNG, SO I'LL BE LOOKING FORWARD TO RECEIVING MY NEXT ISSUE, AS I STILL HAVE 2 ISSUES THAT ARE PAID FOR .
A PROPHETIC ARTWORK? A REVERSE PAINTED CD CASE WITH CD PAINT PALETTE INCLUDED.
I DIDN'T PARTICULARLY WANT THIS AS I HAVE A THING FOR THE PRINTED WORK.
RUMOUR HAS IT THAT THE FAT LADY HAS NOT YET SUNG, SO I'LL BE LOOKING FORWARD TO RECEIVING MY NEXT ISSUE, AS I STILL HAVE 2 ISSUES THAT ARE PAID FOR .
LUNES, EL VIENTIUNO DE SEPTIEMBRE, DOS MIL NUEVE
MY REOCCURRING BACKACHE IS BACK WITH A VENGEANCE. I KNOW WHERE THE PROBLEM IS (UPPER RIGHT-HAND SIDE SPINE, 3 LAYERS OF MUSCLE DEEP) BUT I CAN'T GET TO IT, UNLESS I GO TO A MASSEUR. ALL I CAN DO IS STRETCH TO RELIEVE THE TENSION, ONLY A SHORT TERM FIX.
IN MARCH 2008, I WAS WORKING WITH A MASSEUR WHO WAS INTERESTED IN REFLEXOLOGY, MOSTLY THE FEET. THE CHART BELOW IS THE MOST ACCURATE FOR ME AT PRESENT AND I LIKE IT BECAUSE IT'S VISUAL. IF I CAN RELAX ENOUGH, I CAN WORK ON MY OWN FEET BUT THAT TAKES A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF ENERGY AS YOU NEED TO BE RELAXED, BUT AWARE OF WHAT YOU'RE DOING AT THE SAME TIME.
I INCLUDED THIS CHART IN A LARGE RITUALISTIC PAINTING INSTALLATION I MADE AT THE START OF THIS YEAR CALLED THIRTY-THREE. THE FEET ARE FREED OF THE SHOES, AND WALK TOWARDS THE GRAVE AND ACTUALLY WALK ABOVE IT AS IF YOU WERE SKY-WALKING, SIMILAR TO THE GLASS SKY-WALK OVER THE GRAND CANYON. OF COURSE, YOU CAN SEE THE SOLES OF THE FEET, SO THE WHOLE IMAGE BECOMES FLIPPED 180 DEGREES AT THE POINT OF REALISATION.
MY REOCCURRING BACKACHE IS BACK WITH A VENGEANCE. I KNOW WHERE THE PROBLEM IS (UPPER RIGHT-HAND SIDE SPINE, 3 LAYERS OF MUSCLE DEEP) BUT I CAN'T GET TO IT, UNLESS I GO TO A MASSEUR. ALL I CAN DO IS STRETCH TO RELIEVE THE TENSION, ONLY A SHORT TERM FIX.
IN MARCH 2008, I WAS WORKING WITH A MASSEUR WHO WAS INTERESTED IN REFLEXOLOGY, MOSTLY THE FEET. THE CHART BELOW IS THE MOST ACCURATE FOR ME AT PRESENT AND I LIKE IT BECAUSE IT'S VISUAL. IF I CAN RELAX ENOUGH, I CAN WORK ON MY OWN FEET BUT THAT TAKES A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF ENERGY AS YOU NEED TO BE RELAXED, BUT AWARE OF WHAT YOU'RE DOING AT THE SAME TIME.
I INCLUDED THIS CHART IN A LARGE RITUALISTIC PAINTING INSTALLATION I MADE AT THE START OF THIS YEAR CALLED THIRTY-THREE. THE FEET ARE FREED OF THE SHOES, AND WALK TOWARDS THE GRAVE AND ACTUALLY WALK ABOVE IT AS IF YOU WERE SKY-WALKING, SIMILAR TO THE GLASS SKY-WALK OVER THE GRAND CANYON. OF COURSE, YOU CAN SEE THE SOLES OF THE FEET, SO THE WHOLE IMAGE BECOMES FLIPPED 180 DEGREES AT THE POINT OF REALISATION.
VIERNES, EL DIECIOCHO DE SEPTIEMBRE, DOS MIL NUEVE
ROB MCLEOD HAS AN EXHIBITION ON AT PRESENT OVER IN SYDNEY AT BEATTY GALLERY.
THERE'S SOME GREAT TITLES IN THE EXHIBITION THAT WORK AGAINST THE INGRAINED MYTH THAT HIS PAINTING IS ABOUT FORMALISM: PAINT SURFACE, SKIN AND THAT THERE IS NO MEANING (RECENT TILES ARE : SWIMMING AGAINST THE TIDE, WALKING AWAY, LOOKING FOR A BOSS, FIGHTING THE PAST, BREAKING FREE). THAT WAS THE LATE 70S AND EARLY 80'S, YET THERE HAS BEEN VERY LITTLE DISCUSSION OF HIS HEFTY TRANSITION BACK TO FIGURATION IN THE EARLY 2000'S. I'M GUESSING MOSTLY BECAUSE PEOPLE STILL SEE PAINT ON THE SURFACE, SO PRESUME THAT WHAT WAS WRITTEN IN THE LATE 70'S BY JIM BARR AND MARY BARR IN THEIR A-M BOOK MUST STILL STAND.
HIS WORK IS OFTEN REFERRED TO AS UGLY, WHICH IS AN ATTRIBUTE THAT DOESN'T SEEM TO BE TOLERATED IN THE NZ ART, ESPECIALLY IN THE PAINTING FIELD. THE STATES HAD THE KIENHOLZ'S, WHOSE VITRIOLIC LIFE-SIZE DIORAMAS OF POLITICAL AND PERSONAL THEMES I FIND SIMILAR TO MCLEOD'S GROTESQUES. NOT ONLY IN THEIR SIMILAR MESSAGES BUT IN THEIR RELATIVE SCALE AND INTEREST IN SCIENCE FICTION, HORROR AND HOW WE RELATE THOSE ATTRIBUTES TO OUR EVERYDAY LIVES AND SOCIETY. THE TYPE OF ARTWORK THAT WAS BEING PRODUCED IN THE STATES AT THAT TIME SEEMED TO BE A REACTION AGAINST THE POST-WAR, CLEAN-CUT OZZIE AND HARRIET WORLD THAT WAS BEING PROMOTED TO SOCIETY THROUGH THE TV. I GUESS I'M LEFT WONDERING: IF THE FACT THAT IF SOMETHING HAS BRIGHT COLOURED PAINT ON IT, IS SUPPOSED TO BE PLEASANT AND PRETTY?
HOW DO YOU ALTER THE PERCEPTIONS OF SUCH AN INTEGRAL SIGNIFIER OF PAINTING SO THAT IT'S COMPLETELY TURNED ON ITS HEAD?
ROB MCLEOD HAS AN EXHIBITION ON AT PRESENT OVER IN SYDNEY AT BEATTY GALLERY.
THERE'S SOME GREAT TITLES IN THE EXHIBITION THAT WORK AGAINST THE INGRAINED MYTH THAT HIS PAINTING IS ABOUT FORMALISM: PAINT SURFACE, SKIN AND THAT THERE IS NO MEANING (RECENT TILES ARE : SWIMMING AGAINST THE TIDE, WALKING AWAY, LOOKING FOR A BOSS, FIGHTING THE PAST, BREAKING FREE). THAT WAS THE LATE 70S AND EARLY 80'S, YET THERE HAS BEEN VERY LITTLE DISCUSSION OF HIS HEFTY TRANSITION BACK TO FIGURATION IN THE EARLY 2000'S. I'M GUESSING MOSTLY BECAUSE PEOPLE STILL SEE PAINT ON THE SURFACE, SO PRESUME THAT WHAT WAS WRITTEN IN THE LATE 70'S BY JIM BARR AND MARY BARR IN THEIR A-M BOOK MUST STILL STAND.
HIS WORK IS OFTEN REFERRED TO AS UGLY, WHICH IS AN ATTRIBUTE THAT DOESN'T SEEM TO BE TOLERATED IN THE NZ ART, ESPECIALLY IN THE PAINTING FIELD. THE STATES HAD THE KIENHOLZ'S, WHOSE VITRIOLIC LIFE-SIZE DIORAMAS OF POLITICAL AND PERSONAL THEMES I FIND SIMILAR TO MCLEOD'S GROTESQUES. NOT ONLY IN THEIR SIMILAR MESSAGES BUT IN THEIR RELATIVE SCALE AND INTEREST IN SCIENCE FICTION, HORROR AND HOW WE RELATE THOSE ATTRIBUTES TO OUR EVERYDAY LIVES AND SOCIETY. THE TYPE OF ARTWORK THAT WAS BEING PRODUCED IN THE STATES AT THAT TIME SEEMED TO BE A REACTION AGAINST THE POST-WAR, CLEAN-CUT OZZIE AND HARRIET WORLD THAT WAS BEING PROMOTED TO SOCIETY THROUGH THE TV. I GUESS I'M LEFT WONDERING: IF THE FACT THAT IF SOMETHING HAS BRIGHT COLOURED PAINT ON IT, IS SUPPOSED TO BE PLEASANT AND PRETTY?
HOW DO YOU ALTER THE PERCEPTIONS OF SUCH AN INTEGRAL SIGNIFIER OF PAINTING SO THAT IT'S COMPLETELY TURNED ON ITS HEAD?
MIERCOLES, EL DIECISEIS DE SEPTIEMBRE, DOS MIL NUEVE
THE PAINTING BELOW WAS AUCTIONED IN THE ART EVENT AT THE CHRISTCHURCH ART GALLERY ON FRIDAY NIGHT. HAVEN'T HEARD WHETHER IT SOLD OR NOT. BECAUSE OF THE TONE OF THE TEXT, I WOULDN'T BE SURPRISED IF IT HADN'T.
EX-VOTO (19TH OF AUGUST, 2009)
OIL ON TIN
THE PAINTING BELOW WAS AUCTIONED IN THE ART EVENT AT THE CHRISTCHURCH ART GALLERY ON FRIDAY NIGHT. HAVEN'T HEARD WHETHER IT SOLD OR NOT. BECAUSE OF THE TONE OF THE TEXT, I WOULDN'T BE SURPRISED IF IT HADN'T.
EX-VOTO (19TH OF AUGUST, 2009)
OIL ON TIN
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