A Mistep on the path

Time to correct a serious  but perhaps understandable misuse of terminology which is exactly what I was talking about when upbraiding the overuse of artspeak.

I defended the need for technical terms when describing art as opposed to the pretentious use of language designed to exclude those not 'inside the  tent'.

Anyway , I fell prey to the misuse of terms myself - mea culpa, mea culpa (oh, now who is being pretentious) when I described what I was doing as collage.  Well, I suppose it is, but rather more exactly it is in fact photomontage, as it is the manipulation of photo images.

For the present that is what I will continue with, but perhaps other materials my be introduced later. I had already been thinking about patterned wrapping paper and card but we will see. What I am really interested in is how to transmute these ideas into printmaking.


For instance, this

 

What is possible?

 

This, maybe

 

.....or variations

The Path warms up once more

Well here we are almost ready to recommence. Its only been three weeks but so much has happened that it seems a deal longer and I feel I need to get back into the atmosphere of school again.
 I have begun a new project with a similar name to this and when it is somewhat more developed I will expatitiate on it.

In the meantime, you remember all those books I metioned  at the end of last semester: well I have done a good bit of work with them and here are some pics from them.

From The Sound I Saw

Art Blakey

Miles Davis

Elvin Jones

 

Teriffic b/w images from the jazz scene and around in 50s & 60s New York

 

From Cut with the Kitchen Knfe  - Hannah Hoch :

 

 

Deutsches Madchen  - photomontage 1930

 

 

Marlene - photomontage - 1930

 

Equilibrium - photomontage - 1930

 

Indische Tanzierin - photomontage - 1925

 

From John Heartfield :

 

 

Rationalisation is on the March   -  photomontage - 1927

 

 

"Choir of the Arms Industry: 'A Miighty Fortress is Our Geneva'"  - photomontage -1934

 

 

From: Dispatches from an Unofficial War Artist - Peter Kennard

 

 Some more from this book together with a painting I did a while back before I ever saw these:

 

Defended to Death - photomontage -1983

Newspaper 8 /1994 - charcoal, carbon toner, and pastel on newspaper

 

Recession - oil on canvas - 2010 ( FR)

 

The last two seem to be related to similar economic situations at different times

 

The other book I went into was the Laura Mulvey one on film ,and particularly her essay 'Visual Pleasure and  the Narrative Cinema'. There is a lot more reading in this book.

 

So it goes....

Its been a few days and a cynic might even express relief that all the hype is over and that real life can recommence.......your correspondent would never say anything like that of course. ..

What we are at here is art, n'est ce pas?

Images are therefore important so here are some images to chew over for a bit:

 

  

 

OK? feasted your eyes?

 

Well the first two originate here:

 

 

A dead whale on Keele Beach in Achill two days ago;

the second two are from sculptures by Berlinde de Bruyckere from the book I mentioned earlier.

 

Here are another couple of comparisons: 

 

 

 I will leave you to figure out which is which

Meanwhile here are a few more from the whale:

 

The interesting thing here is that the colours on the side of the whale are completely accurate -no enhancement whatsoever - poor sad undignified animal.

I have quite a few more which are strange but I won't put them up for now as I intend to use them as image sources in the future.

 

As I am talking about Achill I will show you some public art work from there:

 

 

Achillhenge - I am afraid it has to stay now, despite lending credibility to a person whose motives are very suspect.

 

Back to Berlinde de Bruyckere's book; it is in fact a record of an event (installation, happening, exhibition called 'Berlinde de Bruyckere in Dialogue with Cranach and Pasolini ' and involves the use of her sculptures, Cranach's paintings and film work by Pasolini and I think a quote from Pasolini that is on the back cover is quite apposite to the whole project:

 

 

The book and the project will require further study because of the joining of different media to reach a conclusion

 

The path is a little smoother

First I would like to put in a picture  I took last Thursday night on my way to the station after the Print-off - I am really sorry not to have posted it  then because Eoin Barry has a much better and admittedly later shot of the same project on his Facebook page -he also explains what it is about; I couldn't agree with him more - go and see it and be cheered up and maybe a little more optimistic about the coming culture year in Limerick;

 

As I have already said elsewhere - Ed Ruscha eat your heart out!

 

Was in Dublin on Wednesday and did a bit of visiting -first to Graphic Studios for their Winter show -as always very impressive  -here are a few images:

 

 

I Phone 5 - Packaging  : Screenprint  -  Raymond Henshaw

 

I particularly liked this one and notably there were very few sceenprints the very vast majority being etchings of one sort or another ( A lot of aquatint, I would have thought)

 

Up the Dubs   - Linocut  -  Constance Short

 

Simple and straightforward - really nice - a lot of cutting.

 

There were 74 pieces and of these  51 were etchings  -   interesting.

 

Onward to IMMA for my first visit since it reopened and great to see it back in business with some terrific art on show.

The main exhibition is a retrospective on the Irish architect and designer; this is long-overdue as hitherto there has been a small feature on her in the National Museum in Collins' Barracks. Admittedly she spent most of her working life in France and she has been feted there with a major exhibition in Centre Pompidou, nonetheless we do not have so many top artists in Ireland that we can afford to ignore one such as Ms Gray.

It is an excellent show and a timely reminder that we can produce great designers here even if they have to go further afield to bloom fully:

 

 

Cork Screen

 

Chairs

 

Collage

Again, collage

 



 

Screen

 

Furniture

Standard Lamp

 

Another artist was Klara Liden and I loved these 'posters':

 

 

 

Another exhibition is One Foot in the Real World and here is a quote about it:

 



"Drawing on IMMA’s Collection, One Foot in the Real World, includes works that explore the urban environment, the everyday or the domestic. Elements of architecture and design recur as points of departure in the works; such as bricks; the keyhole; the window; the door and the table."

 

Some pieces:

 

 

Antony Gormley

 

Max Bill - Doublement

 

Picture does not do this justice

 

I also liked this piece of writing contrary to my ongoing tirade against artspeak:

 

Didn't get to see Leonora Carrington, but maybe again

 

Just in case you all think I was just swanning around art shows while sitting in my daughters house I came across an old friend fro an earlier course and couldn't resist a portrait:

 

 

 

 

 

Finally these are for you Aoife -  they made it to their destination despite various difficulties which I put in their way (more another time)

 

 Thanks again