WSA Degree show 2013! Part 2

Here are some more highlights from the Fine Art part of the WSA Degree Show 2013.

Matilda Skelton Mace

Matilda's work is always visually interesting, she says of her work "I work with the building blocks of reality- space, light, and geometric form. I am interested in the dissonance between real and virtual space and the way we perceive it."

See more of Matilda's work here: www.belikeotherpeople.co.uk

Dermot Gibson

Dermot's paintings are the kind that you look at and realise that every element holds them together. They have a balance to them which makes me feel as if one part was missing the painting would be incomplete. Find out more here: www.dermotgibson.tumblr.com

Donna Vokes

Donna creates playful and unexpected sculptures and works with a variety of media to explore colour and shape. Find more of her work here: www.donnavokes.com

All of these artists and more will be showing their work at SQUIEZE 2013 

http://www.squiezeshow.co.uk/

 

Searching, always

I recently got back some pictures I took at an art show. The problem with film photography is that by the time I get round to getting the pictures developed, it is long after the events took place. It's interesting, we expect everything to be so instant now, show reviews to be up the instant a private view has taken place, easily accessed on the internet, which only makes us less and less patient. Anyway, on to the show.

 I went to see 'Searching, always' (a group show by arjeea21 artists at Gallery 49, Bracknell) in February 2013. It was an incredibly cold day, and although some of the work was on display in the windows, I didn't want to stay outside for too long to see it and spent most of my time inside the gallery. 

The work was really varied, under the loose theme of 'Searching, Always' the artists went in completely different directions, often taking transient objects or moments and giving them a permanence, from portraits, to everyday objects, to prints of a leaf.

As usual I took pictures of my favourite pieces and was particularly drawn to many of the pieces that came with a sense of mystery. Hopefully I will see more work from this group in the future.

 

 

Above - Work by Peter Driver

Above: Work by Roxana Tohaneanu-Shields

Chuck Close Prints: Process and Collaboration at the White Cube

I have always admired the work of Chuck Close, but have mainly known him from his paintings. When I read about his exhibition of Prints at the White Cube, I had to go. I'd never seen his work in person before and really wanted to get a sense of the scale and a look up close at the detail of some of his works.

The exhibition was definitely not a disappointment. Two things that really struck me were colour and technique. Close really understands colour in a way I don't feel I ever could. I imagine it's something which comes from years of work and dedication. Close knows how to add layer upon layer of colour to make a photo realistic print. It's truly amazing to see.

As for technique, Close's work is very logical and methodical. Each piece is planned out before hand. The exhibition showcased charts, plans and diagrams created by Close before completing each piece, as well as showing the stages of some pieces and the woodblocks used for a series of woodcuts. This gave me a serious insight into the way the pieces were achieved.

 This is a tapestry! I believe it is machine made, however the work involved in planning the piece and colours must have been great.

 

The details of this series were amazing, up close you can see every separate colour, like pixels. Standing back, the colours are spot on.

 

This series showed the build up of colours used to make the final print. 

This frame was a kind of metal stencil used to plan the grey paper pulp piece below. There were tiny numbers on the frame to indicate different shades of grey.

 This painting has now been produced as a woodcut!

Another tapestry

Chuck Close Prints: Process and Collaboration was at the White Cube, Bermondsy from 6th March - 21st April

Artifact: Andover Museum

I recently saw an exhibition called Artifact, at Andover museum. The exhibition showcased the work of five contemporary artists. A lot of the work was related to the idea of the museum and the artefacts in a museum.

 Kimvi Nguyen - Label Series 
This was one of those interesting pieces which changes depending on your perspective. The idea seems to be increasing in popularity, although I haven't seen it done like this before. This piece was also amazing to touch, very soft.

Louisa Minkin - Blazen for the Wasteland & Looking at Art

Louisa was my tutor during university and the first piece is exactly what I would expect from her. The series: 'Looking at Art' was understated yet beautifully executed and reminded me of visits to the Natural History Museum.

Tom Mortimer - Head collection
(This photo really doesn't do the work justice)
I've not seen much of Tom's work before, but enjoyed looking at all of the heads, displayed like museum pieces. They very much give you the impression that they would be interesting to touch and yet you can't lay a finger on them.

Jeff Phegley - Celestial Ground Theory
This installation was amazing and extremely surreal, the shadows which the wall piece made added another dimension. In truth I had no idea what to make of it all.

Gerhard Richter: Panorama

On Saturday I went to see Gerhard Richter: Panorama at the Tate Modern.
I have to say, it was one of the most interesting exhibitions of painting I have ever seen, Richter really tests the medium of paint, from painting freely and abstractly to painting highly detailed photographic imitations, like that above.

Richter uses photographs to paint from, but unlike many other artists, he paints them as photographs, keeping the focusing point of the original focus. This works well as it draws your focus to the main subject within the painting, however you can tell it was painted from a photograph. Richter likes to use photography in his work, painting over photographs as well as painting from them.

I think the fact that some of the paintings were from photographs creates more of a narrative, it makes them fact and it makes them a memory, a static slice of a life. He is looking at his personal history and choosing significant moments from it to paint. Because of this some of his work can be compared to that of Emin, whose work is hugely biographical. The difference is that Emin's work is about herself and is hugely open, whereas Richters work is more private, like stolen moments we never seem to get to know the whole story.

I enjoyed the show but I wish I could have seen more of the process of his work, where everything came from. I guess that's the danger of seeing an art exhibition as an artist, you really want to get inside their mind and find out what their process is.