As I work in three distinct areas of art, studio production, writing and curating, I find my views have broadened. My position is no longer just that of an artist striving to create and exhibit work. The other two activities cause me to stand not just in one place as before, but to stand in relation, which is a far more interesting proposition. Writing stretches my criticality and curating allows me to explore through other artist’s work; it lets me develop an idea beyond the limits of my own work.
In my artwork, I’m still exploring the possibilities of melding late modernist gestural abstraction and conceptualist concerns of context to define a post conceptual view of self. There are dualities appearing such as inside/outside, perception/relation, movement in a static field, space/scale, presence/transience, cause & effect/intention; all of which I feel reflect some of the issues we face now.
When I first set out on this path I wasn’t sure whether I was onto something or completely barking up the wrong tree. I mean, I knew what I wanted to define but I wasn’t sure it was anything anyone else was even interested in. But in September when I co-curated the Core Gallery Open I discovered many of the artists chosen for the show were expressing and exploring some of the very same issues I was; I was greatly encouraged. It also meant, to some extent, the selectors had these concerns in mind too when choosing the work. It was a wonderful opportunity to see how these artists were treating these things in their work. The chance to look deeply into and consider these artists’ work has deepened my understanding and conception of post conceptual abstraction. There is a resurgence of abstract art happening and it is exciting. Interestingly many of these abstract artists express a desire not to relate to or be equated with what is considered the self-indulgence of late modernism. This is an interesting thing and I think the crux of the whole return to abstraction.
Self-indulgence was a bi-product of a changing society, especially in America where ‘the American consumer was praised as a patriotic citizen‘. After the war, there was a redefining of self and society taking place and psychoanalysis had a big influence, particularly on those iconic NY artists charged with being self-indulgent.[1] Perhaps what seems self-indulgent to us was instead a coming to grips with a changing world. But considering abstraction in relation only to post-war is a very narrow scope of time, if it is recognized, as Sebastian Egenhofer suggests in his essay, Figures of Defiguration: Four Theses on Abstraction, the ‘path of self-critique’ in abstract art was brought about by the invention of photography.[2] This makes the argument against ‘self-indulgent’ abstract art lose all steam in my opinion because technological advancements caused a shift in purpose in art, as it always has, rather than some notion of self-importance by artists themselves. So called ‘self-indulgent’ art was a product of its time and the natural progression of art creation in response to technology. Our world is changing too but in different ways and a self-centered attitude is not viewed favourably. We have learned how to ‘find’ ourselves, something they were just discovering how to do in the 40’s and 50’s, for us though the challenge has become finding ourselves in relation to everything else. They were trying to find themselves; we’re trying not to lose ourselves.
Abstraction isn’t self-indulgent. It is a means to look at the intangible and illusive emotions of a psychologized identity in a complex world.
Some of the artists from the Core Gallery Open[3] working with these issues:
Iain Andrews
Lindsey Bull
Johnny Williamson
Emma Cousins
Gabriella Lockwood
Alison Hand
Rachel Wilberforce
EJ Major
Joshua Uvieghara
Lisa Muten
[1] Bois, Yve-Alain, ‘The Publication of Possibilities in New York marks the coalescence of Abstract Expressionism as a movement’, art since 1900, Hal Foster, Rosalind Krauss, Yve-Alain, Benjamin Buchloh, Thames and Hudson, 2004, pp. 348-54.
[2] Egenhofer, Sebastian, ‘Figures of Defiguration: Four Theses on Abstraction’, Painting/Documents on Contemporary Art, ed Terry R. Meyers, Whitechapel Gallery and MIT Press, 2011, pp. 209-16.
[3] Purcell, Chantelle, Core Gallery Open Catalogue, 2011, found at: http://issuu.com/chantellemay/docs/coregalleryopencataloguefinal1