European Contemporary Arts Practitioner

Mock Artist Talk +4

Q: A few weeks have passed since your debut solo show ‘Grandfather’ at Airspace Gallery from 25 January to 2 February. Where did the motivation to create the surprisingly different paintings featured in the show come from?

A: Most of the paintings with two exceptions were created in 5-minutes each over the two weeks before the exhibition, and like their debut in the aforementioned show, they were shown without hesitation, and with a long-awaited desire to just… paint. You always hear that expression “do not think too much” but you need to actually experience its message to understand it.

Q: With more colour and far-less abstract visual imagery, do the new paintings differentiate from your chosen themes of nationalism and/or identity?

A: No because much like the dictionary there are numerous definitions of the same word – much like different brands or styles of compasses all of which still lead you in the same direction. An example to examine is the painting ‘Polish Sausage (Kabanos)’ [see enclosed image] which includes a facial portrait made of eponymous sausages, topped with some Euro currency notes, and finished with a toxic looking puddle-of-a-smile. The chosen national icon of Poland (being half Polish myself) is the Kabanos which can at first look a tad pruney and skinny but is actually treated with almost as much respect as the farmers who harvest it, and the butchers who make it. Plus, there is a slightly non-realistic depiction of the Euro currency as a means to frame the narrative of the painting as not just being about sausages but also financial recession and a lack of culinary choice.

Q: There is a visual link with one of the paintings to Philip Guston [born 1913 died 1980] an American painter whom has been an influence on yours and many others’ practices for his abstract and figurative work that often transcended the cartoonish aesthetic. Was this intentional and where there other works that were made from an intended influence?

A: Well one other painting was almost a close gloss paint replica Francisco Goya [born 1746-1828] with “cartoonish” alteration that is well received, and not strictly speaking but the crown object in another painting was conceived from the famous ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ posters, and one featuring a snake, a cowboy hat and a blue jean leather bag seemed to very loosely originate from the Kings of Leon [American band, formed 1999] track ‘King of the Rodeo’ as symbols of the capitalist West (as a metaphor). Other than that, the paintings came from original intent, motivation and inspiration from items seen in everyday life that have a sense of pride bestowed on them like pub signs.

Q: From graduate to graduate artist-in-residence; what does the future hold for the practice?

A: Possibly applying for Masters studies or art courses in painting to increase knowledge of the medium, continue networking and developing the career prospects. There are ideas floating around for a self-organised group painting show in London because the time away from the capital was been lovely and it is terrific to return to the city that bore me and that I hope to exhibit in more often. Sculpture will likely not be continued again for a very long time due to lack of resoures, space and knowledge & comfortability with the medium to be able to craft it in this day and age. If there was a further education course to study in the future with a provided studio, tutors and mentors then sculpture might continue in the form of portable clay works that would act as forms for new paintings.

I Moustache You a Question About These Contemporary Paintings

Attached to this post are two images of sketches to new paintings that have yet to be produced physically.

The first image contains sketches of the proposed ‘moustache paintings’ (see post #21), and an ‘ivory painting’ that much like ‘Gold’ (2013, see image) would depict an object of greed and defective use repeatedly. As a possible symbol of nationalism and a good or bad memory to different communities, both gold and ivory have tantalised not just societies in the western hemisphere but across different continents, as these mere trinket inanimate items have the power to start and end wars. In this conversation, the proposed depiction of smoke-pipes into this practices visual palette would not necessarily replicate that of influential contemporary painters such as Ryan Mosley (b. 1980) working today, but rather continue the progress of representing this eccentricly iconic object in contemporary painting as one of many dinosaur bones in the Natural History Museum.

There are sketches of proposed paintings that include a rasping, sweating tuba on a sculpted pedestal; a cave mouth constructed from stalagmites and stalagtites; and a star being fired from a circus cannon.

Further sketches in the second image include a panel full of strangely hooded shopping carrier bags; moustaches; abstract clay sculptures; ideas for a portrait featuring an Amish hair style; a bearded skull; a socialist realist star sculpture; a gangsta bandana; boiled eggs; and a cut-out face portrait featuring a triangular nose and moon-shaped mouth. However many of these ideas will become a reality is yet to be established, though out of the sketches shown from the second image the most coherent seem to be: the moustaches, and the hooded shopping carrier bags.

What this means is that the practice has NOT and will NOT sell-out, suddenly changing visual styles and imagery just to grab a chance at becoming a profitable painter capable of selling work. This is not capitalistism, this is evolution.

Working men’s clubs and pubs

An unusual spot of influence to the visual imagery depicted in the contemporary paintings has come from the post’s eponymous title.

The recent exhibition visit to the UKs capital hubbub for culture and arts has invigorated the desire to paint with purpose and for pleasure. The main seismic force behind this revelation has been to continue the much-loved practice of painting, whilst continuing to search for the answers to questions relating to the medium such as “what is its place in the future?”, “how is it different today from the last decade?” and more. These queries are not necessarily the result of searching for further tutelage in the form of an extensive painting course or Masters further education, but predominantly from the mindset of choosing ones bed and laying in it.

In the eponymous posts venues there can be found multitudes of alcoholic beverage glasses, gambling machines, dart boards and much more down-to-earth working class icons that symbolise nostalgia and reality. In these locations the last remnants of the dinosaurs that once ruled the earth exist as mobile exhibits in museums that testify to their ancestors.

In this respect the paintings’ consistent theme of nationalism is always present and much like society today that has graduated from the Y2K scare, everything is constantly changing, and adapting. One day; and most of us hope it will not come; the dictionary will only be available electronically and several editions of paper publications will become the fabled tablets that have been introduced and slowly imposed upon this hemisphere.

Despite giving a mixed review of last year’s first film in a new teenie franchise THE HUNGER GAMES, directed and co-adapted by Gary Ross (SEABISCUIT, 2003 and PLEASANTVILLE, 1998 fame), the film was perhaps the most realistic portrayal of life in the future-to-be where technology culture and liberal fashions have become standard against morally upright behaviour. Unfortunately the film still missed key moments to contribute provoking thought to social climates and poltical engagements. However this is not a review blog or entry, and the films relation to this conversation’s topic is to present an example of the troubles that should be exhaled from our lungs, replaced by breathable culture and philosophic discussion.

It seems nostalgia is still the petrol which fuels this blogs alienation to the greater society we are living in today, and whether it deserves to be deemed a world fit to raise your children or start a family.

Luckily there are some aspects to culture and the arts that make the world not ending in 2012 sweet and charming such as the long-standing paintings of Old Masters like Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669), Fransisco Goya (1796-1828) and Modern Masters such as Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) and Philip Guston (1913-1980).

Just being surrounded by like-minded people in a friendly yet challenging environment with minimal violence but maximum competance like a pub allows one to appreciate their home-grown roots and current national identity.

These situations seem to produce revolutionary images of objects utilised to everyday means and becoming synonymous with status such as smoking pipes, moustaches, dart boards and more. With the passage of time, some of these idiosyncratic objects have entered the canvases of some of the best contemporary painters working today that serve as influence such as Ryan Mosley (b. 1980).

When it appears as though there are few reasons worth living in a time period where a nine year-old girl gives birth to a child whose father is seventeen years old, contemporary painting revitalises that feeling of imagination and a creative impulse that has beautifully crossed-over from previous centuries to the present day.

Let the arts no longer be liberal but belong to the left or the right, because you do not paint with your torso but your hand.

End of Graduate Residency

The conclusion of this 6-month Graduate Artist Residency here at AirSpace Gallery from September 2012 to February 2013 resulted in the cultivation of a debut solo show that will forever be listed on the curriculum vitae, and records.

The affectionately titled GRANDFATHER solo exhibition was (without displaying bias) a triumph of communal involvement. Along with the Residency programme, the time spent at Stoke-on-Trent’s premier venue for contemporary art has taught lessons in writing and achieving life goals that will hopefully carry into the future. With that in mind, regular submissions and art prizes previously avoided should be expecting another plus one applicant in attendance to their respective events.

Be it may a poster, or a gavel the trick to enforcing justice is a marketing tool that grabs attention. (tweet from twitter.com/adamkellyeu, 2013)

Response from visitors has been positive, with some feeling the work expresses unique qualities to contemporary painting, whilst others express a lukewarm invitation to the exhibit via the cloaked figure in the window [Survived Socialism #1 (version two) see image].

Based in the Hanley city centre of Stoke-on-Trent, AirSpace has a pleasant atmosphere as an ambassador to contemporary art, protected by SoT Police Station Headquarters (five minutes walk), critically evaluated by the City Central Library (five minutes walk), and historically aligned with the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery (two minutes walk).

Even without the studio and mentored support of AirSpace and its resident artists, the blog will carry on its course, noting interests, fascinations and updates in the world of contemporary art.

GRANDFATHER at AirSpace Gallery ends tomorrow, with impressive visitor numbers spanning it’s run from 25 January to 2 February, and becoming the organisation’s second exhibition of the new year.