Assignment 5 feedback session

Overall Comments

You have been a thoughtful student and have demonstrated to me that you have the ability undertake a degree level piece of academic research.  Your drawing skills have developed but I think embarking on the degree will really speed that up and help you to commit more time to drawing. Importantly, your understanding of art and its possibilities for you as a maker has really developed. In particular, there is plenty of scope for you to continue to ask questions of drawing as it relates to sculptural practices. Best of luck with your future studies.

In the Studio: Reflection

What have I learnt?

My tutor (Emma Drye) labelled Jackson Pollock as a “Painter’s painter”, and I think I am beginning to understand this statement. Much of this work is about the act and experience of painting. The observer is expected to understand this – at least to a degree. I was close to the point when I wrote about “Art as Materials Study,” though that is only an element of the overall meaning. Add in a dose of an artist trying to get you to spend a significant amount of time on their work, whether in appreciation or struggle. The observation of this work becomes an experience in itself, and that is beyond the encoding on meaning into the symbolism of a flower.

In the Studio: Yayoi Kusama

“Infinity net painting.” Oil over acrylic works, not the other way round. – Big douse of black, with a bit of colour for interest. Think what to do with edges. Kusama often left them primed. Making the ground very smooth, rather than having brush strokes visible. Allow to dry then sand with 120 grit. Provides a less glossy surface and exposes the weave slightly.

In the Studio: Ad Reinhardt

Ad Reinhardt worked in Oils, and needed good quality specific paints to achieve the effects he wanted. He produced a very matt quality of paint by withdrawing medium. Impressionists did this by taking paint and putting it on absorbent paper, but Reinhardt mixed prime colours 9Red, green and blue) into larger amount of black to reduce the value and get very deep blacks. He used a small amount of pigment, then 10-25 times as much Mars Black. He dissolved this in a lot of solvent, very thoroughly mixed. This is sealed in a jar and left to settle out, so that most of the binder is in the solvent. The solvent is now decanted. Repeat the medium extraction until the consistency works well. May need 3 repetitions

In the Studio: Agnes Martin

Agnes Martin is giving me a bit of a philosophical challenge. From what I can see I think I’d quite like her work, but the meaning discussed about her body of work seems quite “Emperor’s new clothes”. She is definitely an artist where the work doesn’t translate to internet based images. The body of is based around the imperfections of hand making around the “perfect” grid concept.

In the Studio: Mark Rothko

I seem to be engaging with this approach to exploring the Abstract Expressionists. The next Artist on the Journey was Mark Rothko, who creates complex colour field paintings. Again, when I went to the Abstract Expressionist exhibition last year Rothko was one of the artists that stood out. These colour fields are complex for pieces that are (initially at least) seeming fairly simple in concept.

In the Studio: Willem de Kooning

Continuing on the “In the Studio” series, the focus has moved to de Kooning.

Approach

The initial video is about de Kooning’s style and approach. Here the artist is an “Action Painter” with major gestural marks on a large format and working with the “physicality of the medium”. This is explained in the videos as using the liquid and viscous properties of different paints and paint blends to get effects.

Exhibition: XPO Picasso

Exhibition

We were in Bruges and ran into a Picasso exhibition. It’s a very interesting exhibition of 300+ of his pieces. Many were from Sketchbooks. One sequence, for example, was a number of drawings done about the same model. I’d speculate from the same sitting. There was quite a variation in style and approach across them, giving an idea of how Picasso approached his work.

Reflection: Abstract Expressionism

So what have a learnt after my visit?

Royal Academy: Abstract Expressionism

After my previous consideration of Jackson Pollock then a major Abstract Expressionism seemed to be an opportunity that I shouldn’t skip. There is a lot of work here, much of it by Jackson Pollock – including some of his most famous pieces. This was an opportunity to really try to engage with the concepts.

Book: Jackson Pollock on reflection

I think I’m nearing the end of my Journey with Jackson Pollock, having spent some time looking at a slightly wider range of material about him. Continuing my thoughts from Modernism in Dispute I thought it worth opening up the net a little. This included a series of internet searches, plus Honour, 2014 and Kleiner, 2011.