Visit to the Tate Modern

This started a productive week and weekend of art visits. I happen to be working very near the Tate Modern at the moment, and so decided to “pop in” over a couple of lunch time sessions. Even in such short sessions I managed to see a lot of new material, and found Galleries I hadn’t been in before. The following image summary gives an idea of the range:

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.

Grayson Perry: The Vanity of Small Differences

This was being exhibited at a local Gallery, so I decided to go along to have a look. The work has been fairly extensively documented, and so I won’t attempt to describe it in detail here. Suffice it to say that there are 6 tapestries and  wealth of background information to view and consider.

Book: High Art as marketing

Carrying on from my consideration of Jackson Pollock and medium use in “Modernism in Dispute” [Wood, 1993]. The “High Art” discussion around p172 is slightly harder to put in context:

…the works of Louise and Noland … look like this because this is how painting must be made to look, c. 1960, if they are to offer the viewer sufficient degree of aesthetic power…”

Book: Art as a materials study

Carrying on from my consideration of Jackson Pollock and Modern Art in “Modernism in Dispute” [Wood, 1993]. I found the statement, p172, about Saraband (Plate 140) and Bloom (Plate 141) being painted within a year of each other, and one or two years before the first publication of ‘Modernist Painting’:

The two works… are painted in acrylics. Unlike Oils acrylics will retain a high degree of saturation in relatively liquid form … both paintings which exploit the properties of what was at the time a relatively new medium.

Book: Modernism in Dispute and Jackson Pollock

I bought “Modernism in Dispute” [Wood, 1993], as it is a set book and I’m interested in “What is Modern Art about anyway?” I’ve never exactly had a love affair with modern art. Jackson Pollock (e.g. “War”, Plate 123) is deemed to be a great artist – but I just don’t engage with his work.

Maybe there are clothes there

I have been browsing the OCA website and ran into Sue Gilmore’s blog related to willow and the use of it as a “Performance piece”:

Book: Research and this course

Approach

Reading through Visualising Research [Gray, 2004] and relating it to the course, and art practice in general, I was pondering how they fit together. Grossly simplifying the approach of the book the key steps they are suggesting include:

1. Decide on a question that needs consideration;
2. Work out why the answer is important;
3. Look for information about the subject, and use that to refine the context from (1) and (2);
4. Work out from this how to approach the question;
5. Do the work, refining understanding and context as you go;
6. Reflect of what you’ve achieved and what now.

Action Art

Considering Rachael Evans blog [http://rachelevansart.blogspot.co.uk/, URL Viewed 11/06/2016] there is a lot about the art being in the making process  as much as the result. Art as Theatre almost.I struggle to see the end result therefore as being valuable if I’m honest.