Tuesday, 18 January 2011
Saturday, 15 January 2011
Thursday, 13 January 2011
Thursday, 30 September 2010
Two Months Later
I can't believe it's been two months since the last time I spouted my art nonsense all over the internet. There's been loads to write about! New exhibtions are popping up everywhere, and the Liverpool Biennial is on! Which is only the UK's best biennial!
It's also the Manchester Weekender, this weekend. I'm afraid I'll have to link you to a much better Arts blog than mine for news of that, as I can't be bothered paraphrasing a load of dates and times for no one's benefit.
Because you're worth it
It's also the Manchester Weekender, this weekend. I'm afraid I'll have to link you to a much better Arts blog than mine for news of that, as I can't be bothered paraphrasing a load of dates and times for no one's benefit.
Because you're worth it
Tuesday, 27 July 2010
A shock from the mains.
I'm sorry but I have no excuse for an absence of this length. It's not that there hasn't been any art to review, as there has. I went to see it, made copious notes, and never turned it into an article. I'm sorry, I hope you can forgive me, maybe we can give things another chance between us?
I hope so.
Groveling aside, there are a couple of good exhibitions on at the Whitworth at the moment. Intuition, is a fascinating, if slightly troubling exhibition of outsider art from the Musgrave Kinley Outsider Art Collection. I went to see it a few weeks ago and, well, had some personal issues with the work, and the exhibition. After this I spoke with my friends, who were very excited by the work on show. This made go back and, reappraise is the wrong word, but I went back and looked harder. I know I still have some strong opinions on outsider art, that run contrary to my peers, but I'm not sure what it is I'm basing them on. I made some notes and trying to decipher my scrawl isn't far from how I felt in the actual exhibition. Maybe I was looking "wrong", by attempting to "read" this work.
One of my thoughts on leaving the exhibition is how Outsider Art seems to be a truly modern phenomenon, in the art historical sense of that term. The work here is selected by an institution, the Musgrave Kinley Outsider Art Collection, and is placed in an art gallery, where it becomes part of the art institution of galleries, dealers and collectors. Something unintelligible to the "man in the street" becomes a feted object and symbol of intense creativity, in much the same way that abstract expressionism, and other radical art movements were. Outsider art couldn't exist without the myth of the creative genius, working alone and unanswerable to the world. The work of Henry Darger or Madge Gill exactly fits this bill.
Outsider art is presented in a similar way to the artifacts produced by foreign cultures. But instead of returning from uncharted geographic territory with trinkets and evidence of different ways of life, totems of different religions, primitive tools, etc., this work is the product of delving into unknown psychological landscapes and bringing back proof of their existence.
The work is presented without the back story of it’s creator, which has the effect of leveling the work, and allowing one to approach it without prejudice. For example, knowing that the artist had a religious intention when making something can colour ones own interpretation of it. With our own cultural markers stripped away we are forced into reacting to it. The information was provided to us in the form a little booklet, which meant you could pick and choose which artists you read about, or ignore it completely. It did have the effect of making the spectator an active participant in the exhibition, as along with the subdued lighting, having to refer to a little missal-like text to make sense of what was in front of you made the experience akin to that of a tourist in a foreign religious site. Very apt considering the work on display.
The very existence of Outsider Art and the unbridled creativity it represents and my inability to understand it, is probably reflected in my turgid and jejune writing when faced with the subject. I suppose my difficulty lies with the labeling this as Outsider Art, not with the artists or the artwork itself, though I’m not sure why. This is a fascinating glimpse into another world, which has stuck with me and made me rethink many of my preconceptions, surely the mark of an excellent and relevant exhibition.
Intuition, is at the Whitworth gallery until January 2011.
I hope so.
Groveling aside, there are a couple of good exhibitions on at the Whitworth at the moment. Intuition, is a fascinating, if slightly troubling exhibition of outsider art from the Musgrave Kinley Outsider Art Collection. I went to see it a few weeks ago and, well, had some personal issues with the work, and the exhibition. After this I spoke with my friends, who were very excited by the work on show. This made go back and, reappraise is the wrong word, but I went back and looked harder. I know I still have some strong opinions on outsider art, that run contrary to my peers, but I'm not sure what it is I'm basing them on. I made some notes and trying to decipher my scrawl isn't far from how I felt in the actual exhibition. Maybe I was looking "wrong", by attempting to "read" this work.
One of my thoughts on leaving the exhibition is how Outsider Art seems to be a truly modern phenomenon, in the art historical sense of that term. The work here is selected by an institution, the Musgrave Kinley Outsider Art Collection, and is placed in an art gallery, where it becomes part of the art institution of galleries, dealers and collectors. Something unintelligible to the "man in the street" becomes a feted object and symbol of intense creativity, in much the same way that abstract expressionism, and other radical art movements were. Outsider art couldn't exist without the myth of the creative genius, working alone and unanswerable to the world. The work of Henry Darger or Madge Gill exactly fits this bill.
Outsider art is presented in a similar way to the artifacts produced by foreign cultures. But instead of returning from uncharted geographic territory with trinkets and evidence of different ways of life, totems of different religions, primitive tools, etc., this work is the product of delving into unknown psychological landscapes and bringing back proof of their existence.
The work is presented without the back story of it’s creator, which has the effect of leveling the work, and allowing one to approach it without prejudice. For example, knowing that the artist had a religious intention when making something can colour ones own interpretation of it. With our own cultural markers stripped away we are forced into reacting to it. The information was provided to us in the form a little booklet, which meant you could pick and choose which artists you read about, or ignore it completely. It did have the effect of making the spectator an active participant in the exhibition, as along with the subdued lighting, having to refer to a little missal-like text to make sense of what was in front of you made the experience akin to that of a tourist in a foreign religious site. Very apt considering the work on display.
The very existence of Outsider Art and the unbridled creativity it represents and my inability to understand it, is probably reflected in my turgid and jejune writing when faced with the subject. I suppose my difficulty lies with the labeling this as Outsider Art, not with the artists or the artwork itself, though I’m not sure why. This is a fascinating glimpse into another world, which has stuck with me and made me rethink many of my preconceptions, surely the mark of an excellent and relevant exhibition.
Intuition, is at the Whitworth gallery until January 2011.
Tuesday, 13 April 2010
Art School Redux
Hey There! I know this blog is supposed to feature my musings on art and such, but I’m going to interrupt this with a little except from my personal life. I’ve recenty begun a life drawing class at my local college, which incidentally is where I happen to work. It’s also happens to be the most artistic thing I’ve done in months, ever since the TAA debacle, in which I thoroughly embarrassed myself by making shite art. Anywho, it was immensely enjoyable, despite my limited scrawling ability and my (admittedly meagre) skills blunted by my own indifference. But yeah I enjoyed it, and reflected back on how few opportunities to do life drawing at Universtiy. The class was 2 hours and it really flew by. Our model (Devina) also suggested we partake in Tunick’s project in Salford, which I mentioned last month. Ha.
So it felt like I was back at art school for the evening which brought back memories, and when I got home I tuned into Goldsmiths: But Is It Art? On BBC4 which brought back even more memories, as we watched a likeable group of M.A. students prepare for their degree show. I actually applied to study Fine Art at Goldsmiths, back in the day, and sadly didn’t get in, so the corridors and rooms were ever so slightly familiar. Even more familiar was the general goldsmiths experience that pretty much mirrored my own. I watched in fond remembrance as the students rollered the walls white, suffered the indignity of an uninterested crit-group, translated what their tutors said into advice and generally panicked about life after art school. The show wasn’t nearly as confrontational as it’s title suggested, offering very little in the way of opinions on the artists or their artwork, allowing them to explain themselves, for better or for worse. Some of the work was good, and some was confused, and some of it was just rubbish. Which is pretty much any degree show experience. The program was backed with a nice relaxing soundtrack, consisting of soft piano and post rock melodies. It doesn’t appear to be available on the iplayer, so you’ll have to actually tune in next week for the next part.
Speaking of Art school again, one of my tutors from Manchester Met, David Osbaldeston, has an opening on Thursday night at Castlefield gallery, Out of Time (The Light of Day / The Action of the Play). I’ve not seen his work in ages, but the billboard he had in Matt’s gallery a few years back (Your answer is mine, 2006) was really quite superb, and played with the representation of information and opinion, and the way it is presented. He was also an excellent tutor so you should go and check it out!
Oh wait hang on, that Goldsmith’s thing should be repeated on Sunday at 10PM on BBC4.
Links;
http://www.castlefieldgallery.co.uk/Default.asp?eKey=333&eP=1
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