Gallery Visits 24/1/15

Gallery Visits 24/1/15

Went to the Green Park area to view allergies for the weekend 

Good thing about this area is that there are lots of small little galleries around next to the big Royal Academy of Art so theres plenty to see and a wide range of artwork and style to view. 

As i was approaching the RA, I noticed this. 

The Swastika Sign on the walls of the Tate 

This reminded me of the theme Appropriation and the presentation we had discussing this sign.  

This is a good thing, because of this TOP group exercise we have going, it allows me to use continuously think about it outside of university as well, this means i see more in the outside world.

TOP is more effective to my perspective in the outside world of art as well as my practice more than i know 

Throughout history it has been appropriated and altered in more ways than one 

This was the first Exhibition we saw at the RA 

PACE LONDON

Hiroshi Sugimoto "Still Life" 

This exhibition consists of 13 large format photographs from the artists ongoing series Diorama series executed between 1976 and 2012. 

It didn't have much to do with appropriation nor my stye of practice 

Looking at how people interact with the scale of photographs and where they stand to look at what subject n the photograph.

The Alan Cristea Gallery - Christane Baumgartner " Totentanz"

I saw a little of how i may present my paintings in this exhibition. See how its 5 x 3 

I imagined a presentational layout with my paintings similar to this 

Other smaller galleries i visited on the way, some sold paintings, 

I was looking carefully at the labels 

The reasons for this is because i was planning for our Off Site Exhibitions this term .

I want an exhibition where we will sell our work 

Therfore i was looking at the layouts of the label 

What was needed to be put on 

Castle Galleries - FOX presents the films of MARILYN. The diamond dust collection by Simon Claridge

I walked by and i noticed an exhibition on Marilyn. This linked into appropriation and part of the video that we were making for the symposium. 

Decided to have a look

He used a medium in which i rarely see 

I know that a rendition of Marilyn's song was 'Diamonds are a girls best friend" 

Could this be the reason the artist decided to use Diamond dust as a medium?

Diamond Dust was "Perhaps most famously used by Andy Warhol" 

"Ive always regarded myself as a portrait painter - it's where my passion lies - and for me the screen shots of Marilyn from her Fox movies are the ultimate portrait. It doesn't get any better." - Simon Claridge

Art you miss everyday

Art You Miss Everyday

During visits to galleries, i look at how people interact with the space around them and how they loo at the pieces of art. 

We take our time to look carefully at every detail, the brushstrokes and colours in galleries but why not outside?

So in Edinburgh i did a small project, looking at 3 things. 

1. The texture in our surrounding

2. The colour within the texture, the colour expressed in the overall photograph. 

3. Evidence of people's interaction

Footprints

Wear and tear (both weather and people)

I really like this piece, the fact that it emphasises the sunlight that shines on a single leaf in between the gaps.

Shadow looks like a face

Experimented with different colours, changing the mood of the image which can create a different outcome to viewers. 

Contrast between the subject and colour when turned to pinky red. 

The colours are really exaggerated here and i loved how it turned out. (top and bottom)

Footprints showing signs of presence.

Damages in nature, like broken twigs caused by mankind.

This is a tear in a taxi cab

How did it happen? 

Over time or single action?

Words carved into the stone

Stop and take a moment next time your out to look at your surroundings in much more detail. 

Barn door Painting in Plaster and Acrylic paint

Barn Door Painting 

During one weekend, i went to a friends house. His family owned a farm and hundreds of acres of land. I love the countryside, growing up in boarding school in North Yorkshire i grew to love the countryside. 

When i went to his house, i spent hours admiring the outdoors which lead to this piece. 

Yes i love the countryside but what i found fascinating on my long walks was discovering old buildings, the texture of them, the damages they had endured through weather, the interior...etc

I started documenting what i saw and photographed all that interests me. 

The moss growing on the buildings, the wear and tear the building and its materials have suffered through, the building body texture, the colour, the smell, the silent. 

I wanted to paint a still life of a barn door i came across. 

covering ¾ of the space, darkness inside gave contrast to the mould and mud on the once white painted door outside. the bricks growing with fungus on its surrounds. it was beautiful. 

I experimented with plaster, i wanted a 3 dimensional appeal that would really pop out th canvas. More than just a painting. 

I wanted the texture on the barn door so i experimented with the use of different kinds of cardboard. 

Finally after all the experimenting i knew how to proceed so i did and the outcome was amazing. 

This was the canvas i painted on but what i did was stuck ripped pieces of cardboard only on the areas i saw fit. it would create that extra depth and texture to make the overall more 3D. 

I used plaster and put it on top moulding it into brick like shapes. 

Acrylic after that. 

The annotations below are my analysis to the finished piece of painting after. to see what went well and what did not. 

In the end, i think the qualities of the cardboard and the plaster really gave this piece that compelling aesthetics that created a vas contrast between the elements of the painting. the darkness roughly in the middle brightens everything up. 

When you see this piece up close the texture looks so real that it drags you in to touch it.