I found last night’s “Where is Modern Art Now?”, on the BBC, heartening. Gus Casely-Hayford (GC-H) explored the position of the current art scene during the recession and post YBA celebrity bling.
He asked: ‘Where do you go when being provocative is old-hat?’. Whilst viewing a show in a Peckham car-park of work by recent graduates, he was shocked at not being shocked.
He interviewed Michael Landy whose work has dramatically changed since ‘Breakdown’ which involved destroying all his possessions. After publicly destroying himself, what direction could his work take? He started to make delicate etchings of weeds and has recently been drawing portraits. He has turned to quieter pieces. Apparently even Damien Hirst is painting in oils again (isn’t that a bit messy for him?).
On attending the Goldsmiths MA show GC-H was underwhelmed. He thought it was work you could definitely hang on your dining room wall, modest and institutionalised. He stated: “I’m disappointed with this show, ambitions have been stunted by the recession … this is in the shadow of the all-powerful YBAs. The market should come to the artist not the other way round.”
I was particularly struck by the work and philosophy of Whitney McVeigh who at 40 is only now being recognised. Her work is governed by process rather than the ‘big idea’, she explained: “It’s about arriving at a point which has gathered itself over a long period of time.” (Which sounded like me talking.) To GC-H she is ” … a quiet voice after a noisy decade.”
The process of making is clearly admired these days. Grayson Perry’s astute comments distinguished between the making of ‘art’ with that of ‘craft’. He explained: “you can teach craft …’ One remark which made me laugh: “Jackson Pollock was very good at dripping, whereas in the field of painting, he was rubbish”. So ‘technical ability’ is important to Grayson – maybe a throw-away comment because Pollock developed his complex technique over a long period. This is something I’ve had to deal with as I’m dripping a lot recently …
Whilst talking of visual pleasure, Grayson said: “I want to titillate the neurones … we undervalue the visual.” His pots are beautiful; thankfully these days it seems that the term is not used in a derogatory way.
GC-H concluded: “The art scene is alive and well. Artists think about technique and history … artists are less brash than their predecessors … they like the idea of practice … I want art to produce challenges, not be just another form of entertainment … and back in touch with materials. “
He ended with an appraisal of the work of Tom Price – beautiful miniature busts of heads, alluding to anthropological images regarding race. The aspect that appealed to GC-H was that his work required real thought, you don’t get it instantly.
I am now fully inspired to get back to messing about in my studio with materials and encouraging beautiful surfaces to evolve.
