Bacon In Australia

Oh my gosh it's been SO long since I've last blogged, not having a secure internet connection and constantly searching for a job/work experience whilst also tanning really takes up a lot of time. I have been keeping up to date though, last week I went to see the Francis Bacon exhibition at the Art Gallery of NSW. 

RIGHT so, anyone who knows me knows that Francis Bacon is my all time fave person in the world, he is the messiah of the art world, I love everything about him and everything he ever does. When I first discovered I liked art in year 10 and I had to research a new artist, I had no idea what to do or any artist that wasn't Picasso, so I vividly remember looking through an ELLE magazine and finding a piece of Francis Bacon and literally falling in love. I thought I'd like discovered him (he's actually been dead for years), and when I did my project on him I thought 'God, my art teacher is going to be like, 'who is this guy?''. Turns out everyone already knew who he was, but from then on wards I've always had a little art crush. 

I was on the plane to Sydney, reading the in flight magazine and I saw that Francis Bacon had an exhibition going on and I almost died. After 5 weeks of being here I finally go and see it and it met all my expectations. And more. 

The curator insights next to the paintings were so amazing, they made me look at his work in such a different way. His Pope series has reoccurring themes, like the boxed in pope who appears to be screaming, but the open mouth may show suffocating instead, as they're trapped behind the curtain/box and it feels claustrophobic instead of terrifying like many people believe. 

Bacon clearly has a fascination with the human body, and the exhibition really shows this. His paintings of Heads are animalistic and distorted, they are almost identical to the Study of a Baboon Head. He studied the human body in great depth, with Michelangelo and Muybridge being big influences. The definition of the bodies he paints, and the muscles, is obviously reminiscent of Michelangelo, and the cabinet of 'influential material' found in his studio is very interesting into seeing how Bacon's mind worked. 

'Picasso is the reason why I paint. He is the father figure, who gave me the wish to paint.' - Picasso is a great influence on Bacon. The pieces where I can see this influence the most are the brightly colored large paintings with dissolving pink bodies in the middle of them, best seen in Studies of a Human Body (1970), where the  lilac backgrounds contrast with the mess of flesh in the middle. These paintings, to me, are beautiful. 

It's easy to understand why Bacon has been described as a 'violent' artist - his thickly applied, raw painting technique, dark colours and ambiguous images are often seen as dark, however very little of his paintings actually have violent imagery in them. When knowing the context of Bacon's life (abused as a teenager, being gay and unaccepted, involvement with petty criminals, the death of two of his lovers on the eve of his art shows) it's not difficult to see why the content of Bacon's art may be of a disturbed nature. 

It was actually amazing getting to see my favourite artists work. I've been waiting 5 years to see all his work in one place, and finally it's happened. I would literally recommend it to anyone

Branching out at the Bluecoat

I feel like I should be making more of an effort to enjoy Chinese art due to the fact I'm going to Australia and Chinese art is a big thing out there. As part of Liverpool Biennial, the Bluecoat has several exhibitions going on and I was glad to be forced into some oriental themed art and it wasn't actually that bad! There was a really interesting exhibition on the top floor by Sun Xun, where still images were mixed with moving, repeated videos and the effect was amazing. Photos couldn't really do it justice but even the pictures of the still work look great - the work looks textured which makes the work feel rustic and raw, especially with the overlapping strips of paper.

To me, Chinese art just felt like a lot of drawings of blue waves, birds and foliage, occasionally being painted on a pot, and after today I can't really say I was wrong. Waves featured quite a lot in the art work but it wasn't as boring as I thought. The repeated patterns were actually quite therapeutic and delicate on the wall, along with the paper hangings of birds. The colours that Chinese art uses is so calming (not boring), and whilst the art isn't the most eye-catching, controversial or interesting, there needs to be some nice, peaceful and beautiful work for us to look at after we've had enough of being interested.

Whilst there was a lot of Chinese work there, I fell in LOVE  with an artist called Jakob Kolding who had a really distinctive technique that I'm a massive fan of. Cutting and pasting images is so easy but just looks so good, very John Stezaker, and I just love it.

The Bluecoat has been gifted with having a beautiful building and 2 courtyard areas, and these are effectively used for the Biennial. The huge instillation in the front of the building looks like a revolving door that doesn't revolve. The reflective material used on the outside draws me in, and really all it is is a non revolving door.
I'm glad I'm starting to like Chinese art, hopefully I'll appreciate it more when I get to Sydney.

Bombed Church Liverpool

Today I went to the beaaaauuuutiful St Luke's bombed out church as part of the Liverpool Independents Biennial. It. Was. Amazing. Firstly the artists whose work was there definitely got the best venue kn the whole of Liverpool - the building has such a sad history due to the bombing in the Blitz, and my favourite work in the venue is heavily linked to this. Secondly, as well as the history the building has, it's got amazing architecture  I can't believe how the walls of this building are still standing after the bomb, and the walls are even still charred.

I must admit that although I was very very excited to go into the church, my first impressions weren't the best. Yes, it does look a bit like a gypsy camp/jumble sale/abandoned garden, but when you actually explore it, it's very interesting. There is an interactive table with white wooden tiles, paint and paint brushes which invites you to create your own art (which is something I love about the Biennial - there are so many activities to do), there are very menacing looking black charred spikes, obviously symbolic of the bombing, as well as ironic 'no smoking' and 'fire exit' signs hanging from the walls all over the place, along with the placement of two fire extinguishers tied to a plywood sign which says fire stuff.

My fave piece though was an instillation, a little hut which was made of shards of wood, and written on the walls inside were stories about bombings in the war, which then invited you to write your own stories and memories of the bombings. Being a history lover, I read a whole load of them, and they were so moving. One of them told of a bomb coming in through the window and hitting the wardrobe and their nan picked it up and through it out of the window to avoid the whole family dying. It's a really dramatic piece of art and the involvement of real stories makes it even more touching.


I have never been anywhere like this before and I really was an amazing day, I would recommend it to everyone. It did feel a bit dishevelled inside but I think that this is meant to suggest the chaos that was here before - the rubbish that they've used such as the insides of wheels and old signs all has a reason (the inside of the wheels were used as the sound of bells - it was amaze).

Es Baluard Palma

Whilst on holiday I visited the modern art gallery Es Baluard and before I even went inside I spent about 20 minutes just walking around the outside of the building and climbing onto the roof to see amazing views of the port and the cathedral and even Bellver castle. Its one of the most interesting galleries I've been to just from it's layout alone - the outside has so many staircases and slopes that climb onto the roofs, as well as having loads of instillation work on the grounds too. Even when you're walking towards the gallery, there are countless pieces of art in the surrounding area, including trees with jumpers on (which felt very similar to those in Liverpool outside the FACT gallery) and giant pigeons.


Whilst it is definitely one of the most interesting buildings I've been to, the content didn't disappoint. If you look at any of the famous Spanish artists - Dalí, Miró, Picasso - you'll see colour, abstract-ism  surrealism, and overall bright work. Almost all the work in this gallery follows the same genre, and almost all the work catched my attention. The paintings were great, with some of my favourites below. Also, having 3 giant needles with fluorescent thread through them tower over you when you first enter is just setting up expectations of what to expect whilst you're there.


Talking of Picasso, Es Baluard has an interesting collection of Picasso ceramimics. It was really interesting to see these as I had no idea that he made these, but when you see them all you can see is Picasso! His ceramics are as colourful as his paintings, some are funny, some are intricate, but they're all so Spanish and so Picasso, just showing what a great artist he is - his work is transferable and recognisable whatever the median.

As I said earlier, the installations around and on top of the building are amazing too. I think the addition of being able to go on the roof is such a bonus, and one of the best things to see is the view! Another interesting architectural aspect of Es Baluard is the underground water tanker that is now empty and a huge space. You can still faintly smell aged water, and imagining the room full with water is crazy.

Miró - Es Baluard Palma

Alot of people see art and think 'a 5 year old could do that'. This is what many people think of Spanish artist Joan Miró's work. I went to the Baluard art gallery in Palma and there was a large collection of Miró's work there, and while it is understandable that people think his work is childish, colourful and easy, to me it seems inspired, imaginative, and expressive. Reading about the history behind his work is even more interesting and also further shows his imagination, as he wrote books based around his character 'Ubú', as well as later collaborating on a play.

This is what really makes Miró an interesting artist - his use of different medians, from sculpture to painting to written work, show him to be an accomplished artist instead of a '5 year old'. I found myself easy engaged with the art, the strong use of primary colours and surrealism reminding me of his fellow Spanish artist's Dalí and Picasso. It seems that the Spanish have a theme when it comes to post 1900 art - colour and nonsense.

Miró's art is friendly, it invites you to hang around infront of it for a little longer than normal. The fact that his works were all presented together also added to this as there was so much to take in in just one place. Before this exhibition I didnt really know much about Miró, but it turns out he was a great influence on art - both surrealism and expressionism, and when you look around the rest of the gallery you can see how his work has influenced others.

New and Old, better together?

After reading Jonathan Jones' article about the Met displaying modern art and old art together, and this becoming a recurring thing in other museums in Britain, I have to say I agree. When I went to see the Turner Monet Twombly exhibition, I was in awe of how well these different time periods fitted together, and I think that its undeniable that modern artists are influenced by older, established artists, if not for their technique but for their subject matter. 

Putting together a range of time periods will also broaden peoples knowledge of artists and further their appreciation. People regularly get into comfort zones, as they do with anything else in life, and showing a range of art can be seen as refreshing. The argument comes in when you start to discuss whether 'group exhibitions' are a good idea. It's all well and good having mixed art in a private collection but when it comes to exhibitions, some artists aren't happy. Rothko says that he feels 'that they only detracted from the concentrated power of his work displayed in its own company' and this is a very valid point - an artists work, solely together, has a much more powerful impact, as it can be collected thematically or chronologically, and this shows the progress and technique of an artist. Sometimes art and artists seem to get lost if they are placed with other artists, especially if there work is the least hard-hitting. 

As I have said before, people do favourite certain areas, and this can also lead certain artists who are in the same exhibition to be bypassed. Modern art is normally brighter, more graphic, whereas older art is darker and it's content is normally more obvious, meaning less time spent observing as there is with modern art. 

However, with the Turner Monet Twombly exhibition, I felt that all the work in fact added to the impact of the exhibition instead of detracting from it, and this is something that artists should consider. 

Blog vs Critical Writing

Today I was looking through creativetourist.com for some writing about the Liverpool Biennial to see what I should check out in a couple of weeks and I came across an article about a talk called 'The Medium is the Medium' about art criticism, or the lack of it, now that there is an increase in blogging. You can read the article here

I personally agree with some of the points that were bought up. The first point of 'online writers don't know how to write', is debatable. It is true that there are a vast majority of online writers who struggle to get their point across in an engaging way, mainly because they're young and inexperienced (I am both of these things), but in order for a person to grow they have to start SOMEWHERE. It's a good idea for young people to start blogging, start using twitter to network and get their posts out there, start reading other, more accomplished blogs such as the FACT blog, the guardian online or Creative Tourist. Unfortunately everyone can't be born an art critic, but they can grow into one.

Another point I agree with is that 'criticism' is becoming diluted. For bloggers, who are young and want to gain fans instead of offending every artist or curator they've ever seen, find it difficult to actually criticise anything. It is a fact that you can't please everyone, and sometimes you just need to say what you've got to say, but people forget this in a bid to become popular. This leads people to believe that you can't ever be an art critic ect ect ect. It's all a bit depressing for bloggers...

But wait! You then get the bloggers who are overly critical, in a way to make themselves stand out to the professionals, 'look, I can critique!!!'. Normally these overly critical blog posts gain a lost of backlash - people argue that you have taken the art out of context, you have not looked at the history behind the art, the artists life history and lifestyle have been neglected by the blogger. Can a blogger ever win?

I say all this now, but if I ever did become a big wig art critic that gets printed left right and center that I too would be pessimistic when it comes to bloggers. There is some real talent on the internet by people who just haven't been the given the opportunity, but most bloggers do try and keep their head above water by pleasing the masses until they realise that no one is ever happy anymore.

Is that critical enough?

John Moores Painting Prize 2012

On Friday I visited the John Moores Painting Prize exhibition and I was impressed with a lot of the work on show. My favourite pieces (pictured below), were pieces that had movement, detail, colour, or variation, and   in my eyes these pieces were the winners. Hutcheson's piece was probably my favourite one - the smallest of my favourites but I loved the use of the running paint and the tonal blues covering over the head of the man in his gown, making the painting ambiguous.

I loved the feeling of movement in David Dipré's art work. The splashes of colour are intense and jagged and beautiful, and I would actually love to have this piece in my home. Sometimes I think painting can be unsuccessful  as it is relatively difficult to achieve perfection and for that reason you can either get amazing detailed works (see Peter Liversidge's work below, a painting of a letter), or amazing abstract works....or rough and undetailed painting works that almost look amateurish. 

The size of Pat O'Connor's work was impressive - it took up a whole wall on it's own and had so many parts to it that it was the one piece of work I really stood and looked at for a long while. There were so many aspects to catch my attention and a vast range of painting, from thin doodles, to intricate designs, to still lifes. It showed the skill that O'Connor has when it comes to painting and O'Connor deserved to win. 

The Winner?

The winner was Sarah Pickstone with 'Stevie Smith and the Willow', however I'm still undecided as to how I feel about this. After seeing the other artists exhibiting, I have to disagree that Pickstone's work was the best. There was a high level of  intricately detailed pieces that could have been more deserving of fully showing painting skills, and on the other hand there were some absolutely beautiful abstract works, but Pickstone's seemed to just be somewhere in the middle. I'm sure their was a justifiable reason for her win, but when I saw some of the runners up too...I'm not so sure. One runner up was just the plain letter 'M' painted onto a white canvas by Ian Law, and unfortunately for me I don't think that warrants a deserving place as a Painting Prize Runner Up. 

In the next couple of weeks I'm going to be going to some talks at the Walker Gallery regarding the John Moores Painting Prize, so maybe there I will hear some reasons as to why the winners won and also get some insight into the works. I'll let you know 

Dipré

Holland

Hutcheson

Liversidge

O'Connor

Biennial Galleries....so far!

FACT

I am not the biggest fan of interactive art work because I always feel nervous about 'getting involved', however I think I actually fell in love with Pedro Reyes interactive work at FACT. Playing 'Melodrama and Other Games' was such a great way to get people involved without feeling intrusive or out of the ordinary. 'Melodrama' was easy to follow, a lot like snakes and ladders but with hilarious and very true fact of relationships instead of a plain square grid. Me and my boyfriend loved it. And I won. Not only could you get involved but you could also take a print of his art work home, making it all the more memorable, and the work itself was beautiful anyway.

Akram Zaatari's work was located in a dark room and at first I felt pretty disorientated  but when I saw the work I found is quite funny. The pictures of babies in their innocence, with their trousers round their ankles, or lying naked on a pillow, or even just playing around with toys seemed so normal and actually cute, but then when the same pictures were reenacted by both female and male adults, it felt disturbing. Just shows what babies can get away with. 

Walker Art Gallery 

I was really really excited to go and see Enrico David's work at the Walker Art Gallery after seeing a picture of one of his etchings. I am such a fan of etchings I can't even take it!!! I love Goya, I now love Kubin, I just love the darkness and grainyness and everything. I did enjoy Enrico's, I thought they were nice and chalky and I loved how you could see the lines of the charcoal. 

Whilst I was there I also had a nice long look around the John Moores Painting Prize..I'll do a write up on that soon! 

Liverpool Biennial - Installations

Installation 

I went to Liverpool this Friday and managed to visit a couple of the Biennial venues (not many though!), and I also managed to view some of the outdoor installation work which was very impressive to say the least. The theme of this years Biennial is 'the Unexpected Guest', so a lot of the works question hospitality  belonging, society, secrecy and acceptance. All the outdoor installation work was very eye-catching and beautiful, my favourite being the outdoor colourful pigeons by Patrick Murphy (pictured), which questioned the theme of belonging, as pigeons are often unwanted and have no real environment  yet these colourful birds seem inviting and entertaining and therefore WANTED, but unfortunately their garish and loud presence isn't in necessarily what it takes it 'belong'.

Other outdoor installation pieces include the VIP door by Elmgreen and Dragset which is placed in Liverpool ONE, and consists of a VIP door that can never fully open enough for someone to get through - no one is a VIP. Another installation in the Liverpool ONE is a lift that breaks through the floor, looking like a futuristic wreckage, playing on the 'unexpected' of the Unexpected Guest theme.

Questioning society and culture, José Ángel Vincench uses five trailers that spell out the world 'EXILE' for people who have to flee their home country for political reasons. I think the use of trailers was an excellent touch as it shows the ever moving state of immigrants who have had to escape their country.

One of the final installation pieces that I saw whilst in Liverpool was called 'I Love You' by Jiri Kovanda, hanging from the walls of Lime Street Station was a huge sign saying 'I Love You'. When I first saw it I literally didn't have a clue what was going on, I though maybe someone was proposing in a weird way like some people do, but then I found it was a piece of art. It really did feel like the Unexpected Guest because it was very unexpected.

Politics and Art

After reading this months frieze magazine, I found my eyes were opened more to how interconnecting art and politics have found themselves to be over the years. Many of the articles in frieze showed HOW art has changed things, such as the demonstrations by AIDS group ACT UP, and how their art managed to achieve something that politics alone couldn't. Art has always been allowed a manner of outrageous-ness, controversy, and the affect this has on people is somewhat more impressive than the affect politics has, as politicians themselves have limits, and to go beyond those as a politician themselves would result in an uproar of 'bigotry'

Other articles in the magazine however show how politics and governments themselves are AWARE of the affect art has, as art is restricted and censored. This happens in Burma, where people can get jailed for their art if it is viewed anti-government. This feels to me very reminiscent of Hitler and Stalin's censorship of art, and, interestingly, their use of propaganda. Whilst these governments were on completely different scopes of the political scale, from far right Fascism to far left Communism, both leaders knew the power of art in causing a rebellion. 

Whilst govenments restrict art as a way of stopping the spread of anti-government ideas and rebellion, the fact that governments use propaganda in their campaigns is an example of how powerful art can be within politics, and how governments use this to their advantage. When I was in Pamplona for San Fermin, the poster of choice for 2012 was by artist David Alegría, who took inspiration from the 1917 posters that encouraged men into war in America, showing the timeless effect art has. 

Art has also been used by artists to show the flaws of political systems, such as the Dada movement in Germany which stemmed from the loss of political beliefs after the first world war, and adapted a more liberal art technique.

It's clear that both politicians and artists are both aware of the effect that art has on peoples views and ideas, and this is why there is more of a struggle between the two than a harmony. In today's modern era, you would think that the two could have a mutual support, but the strength of art and demonstration against the strength of the law and political systems is a battle that can not yet be won. 

Turner Monet Twombly - Tate Liverpool

Yesterday I went to see the Turner Monet Twombly exhibition at the Liverpool Tate and I have to say it was one of the most beautiful exhibitions I have ever been too. All the pieces complimented each other more than I imagined they would, and the amount of influence Turner had on both Monet and Twombly was surprising.

In the first part of the exhibition the two pieces that caught my eye were both Turner's and Twombly's 'Hero and Leandro' - both artists were depicting the same thing but both emitted a different emotion. Turner's work was nostalgic, sad, whereas Twombly's piece felt more alive, more distressing in depicting the tragedy of Hero and Leandro with it's wave like paint strikes and dark colours intertwined with vivid pink.

I never realised how beautiful some of Turner's work was. The faded ages of this work and foggy images feel dream like, or even a little distressing, especially in Peace Burial at Sea, where the painting is dark and faded but the bright spark in the centre of the painting catches your attention...until you realise the depressing story behind it of Turner's friend who died at sea and was subsequently buried at sea.

Whilst Monet is probably one of the better known artists of the three, I didn't find his work as appealing as the others. Obviously his work is iconic and his water lilies are well known all around the world. His impact on the French Impressionist movement is indisputable, but unfortunately it just isn't for me. The colours are muted, the technique is distracting with it's tiny brush strokes almost distorting the image up close. I found the mystery of Turner's work move moving and impressive and the activeness of Twombly's work, the movement, the colour, is incredibly appealing to the eye.

Putting these three artists together though was an amazing idea. I was genuinely engrossed in the exhibition, not even realising anyone was around me or how much time I spent in the exhibition. Sometimes I wouldn't even know what artist I was looking at because they all reflect aspects of each other in their paintings, all are inspired by similar themes and all are beautiful in their different ways.