Artist Research Part 2

City Landscape Mitchell

Hemlock 1956 Mitchell

Big Wow 2007 Moran

Volestere 2007 Moran

Nature Boy 2007 Moran

160cm Line Sierra

160cm Line Sierra

160cm Line Sierra

250cm Line Sierra

Calavera Huertista 1910 Posada

Gran_calavera_eléctrica_Posada_19001913

La Catrina Posada

The Skeleton Painter 1896 Ensor

Skeletons Fighting over a Pickled Herring 1891

From Laughter to Tears 1908 Ensor

Nulli Secundus 1964 Hofmann

Pompeii 1959 Hofmann

The Wind 1942 Hofmann

Joan Mitchell

Mitchell is known for the compositional rhythms, bold colouration and sweeping gestural brushstrokes of her large and often multi-panelled paintings. Inspired by landscape, nature and poetry, her intent was not to create a recognizable image, but to convey emotions. She often referred to herself as the ‘last abstract expressionist’. Inspired by the gestural painting of Willem de Kooning and Franz Kline, Mitchells mature work comprised a highly abstract, richly coloured, calligraphic manner, which balanced elements of constructed composition with a mood of wild improvisation. Mitchell rejected the emphasis on flatness and the ‘all-over’ approach to composition that were prevalent among many leading abstract expressionists. Instead, she preferred to retain a more traditional sense of figure and ground in her pictures, and she often composed them in ways that evoked impressions of landscape. Mitchell’s abrasive personality has been a key factor in interpretations of her paintings, which critics often read as expressions of rage and violence.

‘City Landscape (1955)’ informed by urban energy, this piece is an iconic example of Mitchell’s early work. The tension between the horizontal brushstrokes of vibrant colour in the centre with the surroundings whites exemplifies her use of the figure and ground relationship. The work also demonstrates her debt to Philip Guston, whose abstract expressionist work, often likened to Impressionism.

‘Hemlock (1956)’ – Mitchell’s paintings are striking in their sheer physicality. She used bold and active strokes of paint on large canvases. In ‘Hemlock’, her use of cool whites interplays with the horizontal lines of green and black and gives the sense of an evergreen in winter.

Despite there not being a subject matter, I rather like Mitchell’s paintings. To me, it seems like there is almost some thought and organising in this chaos, much like my large abstract tattoo designs. I might attempt to make one of my paintings come across as raw, like some of Mitchell’s work.

Katy Moran

Although Katy Moran’s gestural and highly evocative paintings may appear to be abstract, the artist herself is invariably concerned with the figurative. For her, ideas arise out of the process of painting. She works with paint, consciously and subconsciously preserving and rejecting marks until she sees they’re alive with energy and power that she considers right. Moran remains constantly alert to the unconscious opportunities of chance and time, which she tempers with conscious control, skill and knowledge to make paintings that are intensely rich and powerful. Her earlier paintings tend to be more loosely gestural with dynamic brushstrokes alive with painted energy and subtly rich colour. Later works, through more constructed and detailed, often with added elements of collage, nonetheless, abound with the ‘energy’ she demands of all her marks. Then there is the pleasure of seeking out the figurative imagery so tantalizingly hinted at in the intriguing tiles.

Moran appears to work very hard at creating just the right mark. With my work, especially my painting, I attempt to spontaneously create a mark and if it’s not perfect then that’s okay, it just adds something else to the work. I do really like the tones she tends to use in her work, earthy, faded, neutral colours, however for my work I think I’ll stick to bright/dark colours. I feel like my work needs them to give its full impact.

Santiago Sierra

‘160cm line tattooed on 4 people’

160 cm Line Tattooed on 4 People ... is a video documenting an action that took place at El Gallo Arte Contemporáneo in Salamanca, Spain in December 2000. The artist’s text explains: ‘Four prostitutes addicted to heroin were hired for the price of a shot of heroin to give their consent to be tattooed. Normally they charge 2,000 or 3,000 pesetas, between 15 and 17 dollars, for fellatio, while the price of a shot of heroin is around 12,000 pesetas, about 67 dollars.’ (Quoted from the artist’s text accompanying the video.) The single-channel colour video constitutes an informal record of the event in which the four participating women allow their backs to be used for the tattoo. It shows the women – two blonde and two dark haired – arrive in the space and take up positions, naked from the waist up and with their backs towards the camera, straddling black bentwood chairs. During the action they move constantly, chatting, laughing, smoking, turning to look behind them, curiously watching the female tattoo artist and commenting on her processes until, finally, she cleans their wounds and covers them with bandage. Appropriately, she wears a bright red top, providing a dramatic burst of colour related to the shedding of blood. During the film, two men in dark clothes pass in and out of the frame, holding a tape measure over the bared backs for the initial measurement and taking photographs of the process as it develops.

This is Sierra’s 3rd action involving tattooing, ‘Line of 30cm tattooed on a Remunerated Person’, the artist looked for someone who did not have any tattoos or intensions of getting any, but due to a need for money, would agree to have a mark on their skin for life. The 2nd, ‘250cm Line tattooed on 6 paid people’, in which 6 unemployed young men were hired for $30 in exchange for being tattooed. Sierra’s works emphasise the tension between the choice of the participants to undertake the tasks for a wage, and their lack of choice owing to their economic situation and neglected medical conditions. The actions he instigates are metaphors for all the poorly paid jobs backing the structure of the global market economy.

To me, this piece of work is very powerful. It’s quite sad to think that people need money/drugs so badly they’ll allow someone to mark their skin for life. It makes you realise how big or little impact/meaning a tattoo can have for someone.

Jose Posada

Considered by scholars to be the father of Mexican Modern Art. The origins of the Day of the Dead can be traced back 3000 years to the Aztecs, but the satirical skeletons of its present day iconography bear the strong influence of Jose Posada. Posada’s interest centred on such fantastic and unsavoury aspects of life like murders, robberies, bullfights, political scandals and illicit love affairs. Despite their humble purpose, Posada’s engravings were a major influence on the development of 20th century Mexican art. Octavio Paz described his technique as ‘a minimum of lines and a maximum of expression’.

The style of Posada’s work reminds me of a traditional tattooing style. When I experiment with lino cutting, I think my prints will have a similar feel to them, especially those done in a more traditional style like the vampire lady. The subject matter is also quite similar. A lot of the mythical/supernatural creatures I have drawn are linked to death/macabre.

James Ensor

Ensor is not only an exceptionally talented colourist, but also one of the great 19th century realists. Ensor exerted considerable influence on the development of expressionism. He rebelled against the conservative art techniques of the late 19th century, drawn instead to the avant-garde where his radical creative vision could thrive. The imagery of masks and carnivals run through much of his work, from vibrant colours and flamboyant costumes to an ever-present sense of drama and satire.

I quite like how creepy Ensor’s paintings are, but instead he used light rather than darkness to amplify it, I’ve never seen that done before. It perhaps might be the facial expressions of the figures which add to this, the gaunt eyes, often looking at the viewer. However, I don’t think I will be adding creepy into my mythical aesthetic.

Hans Hofmann

Hofmann is one of the most important figures in post-war American Art. Celebrated for his exuberant, colour-filled canvases. Hofmann played a pivotal role in the development of abstract expressionism. Powerfully influenced by Matisse’s use of colour and Cubism’s displacement of form, developed into an artistic approach and theory he called ‘push and pull’, which he described as interdependent relationships between form, colour and space. Hofmann continued to create boldly experimental colour combinations and formal contrast that transcended genre and style, throughout his life. He believed that the modern artist must remain faithful to the flatness of the canvas support. Nature was the origin of art, he believed, and no matter how abstract his pictures seemed to become, he always sought to maintain in them a link to the world of objects. Even when his canvases seemed to be only collections of forms and colours, Hofmann argued that they still contained the suggestion of movement – and movement was the pulse of nature. Although renowned for his ideas, Hofmann once said that painters must speak through paint, not through words.

I find Hofmann’s work very eye-catching due to the bright block colours. Despite being an interesting artist, I don’t think Hofmann is very relevant to my work. The only common connections we have is the use of vibrant colours.