THE COCKFIGHT is up, and I think it was a fight, at any rate Comerford and Tanbouli appear to be exhausted. From Sunday to the early hours of Thursday morning they not only drew and coloured vast sheets of paper hung on the wals, they opened the space to the public Thursday night, cool as cucumbers.
The results of the “experiment” are profound. They both broke through some barriers. Jonathan hadn’t done any large scale work like this in years, not really since he came to the UK from South Africa. He’s normally a printmaker: neat, precise, sharp, contained. Now he has reinterpreted his iconic shapes in a more splashed out, angry way. Passion comes with size and challenge. [http://www.hardgroundprintmakers.com]
And Nazir’s been drawing the Egyptian Revolution since last summer – before there was any inkling of it happening. (see http://nazirtanbouli.wordpress.com/2010/07/04/working-every-day/) How could he have known? He’s not exactly a political activist. He lives in the studio! He’s been drawing it in his sketchbooks for months now. But he wasn’t sure what do with the drawings. Then the Cockfight was the breakthrough. He said that putting himself through the brutality of such an intense challenging marathon in the studio allowed him to catch the spirit: “If they could stay there in the Square for weeks, I could certainly stay in the studio for days”.
THE COCKFIGHT is in the studio till about March 26, so if you’re in London pop by or email the studio and let us know you’re coming.
