Holly Ward - touching on Relational Aesthetics

Holly Ward was born in the seventies and studied art in Nova Scotia and Ontario. She currently lives in Vancouver and her work has been exhibited in group and solo exhibitions across North America and Europe.
Ward is an interdisciplinary artist, who works with drawings, sculpture and multimedia installation. In her work, she is constantly questioning accepted notions, whether they are concerned with social progress and political power, or the transformational aspects of materials. Island (2005) consists of a mound of dirt heaped on the floor of the Gallery. This mound is moved around by staff and volunteers on a regular basis, leaving a trail of dirt in its wake. Ward is challenging the conventional notion of an art object as static and contained. Her drifting pile of dirt is constantly seen in relation to new works of art, and the viewer is asked to consider this ever-changing set of visual relationships.
from the VAG Teacher's Guide to the exhibition, "How Soon is Now"

Another RCA painter – James Bowyer

Another RCA painter – James Bowyer

Light will be entering the top floor studio space from above for one more year before the Stevens Building and the Painting department it contains moves to the new Battersea site this summer. Design is popular at the RCA, and brings in big foreign-student rates, so the building will be refurbished to allow that programme to expand.
But I digress. This light, usually thinned during my visit by cold winter rain and snow, I share with James Boyer, one wall west of me. James seems to live in the studio; in there early, leaves late. He looks to the whole Leipzig/ Neo-romantic stuff for inspiration, and individual artists like Jules de Balencourt.
Industrial decay he takes as a subject, but it is the paint that really dictates his direction. Works get painted all the time, then buried under a new work, much the way a factory may see many businesses before one finds success and sticks: remnants of the failures remain as an obscured base upon which a winner is finally constructed.

The paintings are not titled. The last few works are quite small.












need more? Other works of James' can be found here, in the monster Saatchi site.

Artist Talks - Robin Footit

installed - title unknown


installed - title unknown


The snowday a few weeks back has out the second years at the Royal College of Art behind on their artist talks. I managed to sit through two of four before deciding to go write about Robin Footit's work while his talk is still fresh in my mind.

Footit began his talk with a Rene Lalou film, "How Wang-fo was Saved", introducing the audience to a King raised in complete seclusion, his only contact with the world outside being his father and a large number of scroll paintings, done by the famous artist, Wang-fo. On his 16th birthday, he was released from his prison, only to discover that the real world did not measure up to the one presented in the works of art he had grown up with. He could never come to enjoy this world, and the disappointment it brought to his eyes at every turn. For this he planned to blind the Wang-fo, and cut off his hands, so that he too would exist in a world he could not enjoy.
Footit's work is all about what we see, how we see, and how to make us aware of our visual process. Footit's work typically consists of multiple images arranged in a space. He begins by making images - typically they are a collage of all sorts of things - that find meaning through the relationships found with other works. Self-curation to highlight visual connections usually comes long after a work is completed. Typically multiple works hang on his studio wall for some time before connections are made, or before future works are completed that highlight certain connections. The result completed works are commonly individual works hanging in pairs, situated among a larger installation. Also of concern at this final hanging stage would be how much space is a work given that invites the viewer to occupy the space.

Typical of his working process, not all work are successes, and not all failures are discarded. His attempt to turn a texture into an object is a good example: in the attempt, a bowling ball ended up cast in plaster, but could not be easily removed. The carcass of the experiment, a busted-up cast, still found a place in the work, leaning against the wall, on the floor below the paintings, highlighting a traditional artistic hierarchy of aesthetics and medium.
An example of the sort of visual trickery Footit is interested in is exemplified in the 1965 film by Richard Quinte, "How to Murder your Wife". There is a scene in this film where the main actor (look at about 2:13 of this clip), Jack Lemmon, is eyeing a dancing girl high on goof-balls, played by Virini Lisi. Behind him is a Caravaggio(esque?) painting of a young boy looking in the same direction, with the very same dreamy looking on its face. These two “looks” highlight many things, such as the Romantic idea of irony, remind the viewer that this is a production, and not real, question who is looking, and who is being looked at. This multiple read is further being expanded by Footit’s reproduction of a reproduction of a reproduction.

possibly titled, "How to Murder Your Wife".



His investigation into visual manipulation has also branched out to include how to influence a viewer's time spent in front of a work. To do this he teamed up with a group of sound artists to create a work consisting of a still image and a four-minute audio component. It is a work that benefits from having this extra time to ponder over it. What the viewer first becomes aware of is the depth of the work, and how that is often cancelled out by the odd shapes and handling of the medium that flatten space back out, reinforcing its actual two-dimensionality. After staring at the work for a couple minutes, it can become evident that there is a geometrical framework that also underlies the work, as illustrated in the sketchbook plan.

"Less Hope", minus the great soundtrack, which is approximately three and a half minutes.


“The Dark eyes of London” is one of Footit’s newer works. In it, he is hoping to create the feeling of looking through the work, as if the surface is a translucent veil that requires visual penetration. This work, in a way, reveals itself over time – a continuation of some of the concerns about duration that Footit has played with in previous works.

"The Dark Eyes of London". Spend some time looking at this work or you'll miss it!



Footit finished the presentation with footage of Wang-fo's escape from the vengeful King. Before subjecting Wang-fo to his punishment, the King kills Wang-fo's loyal aide and commands the artist to finish a scroll painting of a seashore he had left incomplete. While seeing to this task, the sea floods out of the painting and brings Wang-fo, undetected by those all around, into his painting, where he remains undetected by those that cannot really see what is right in front of them.

White cube shows - Georg Baselitz and Rosson Crow

While I have been here, I have found two shows quite exciting for their handling of paint. Both are hosted in White Cube Galleries. In White Cube Hoxton, in the main space, is the work of Rosson Crow. A Texan of only 27, she paints large, powerful works that invite the viewer in with the idea of depth, then flatten with drips and arcing swipes that bars the way into the painted space. The show, titled Texas Crude indulges in the myths of the West - Cowboy country, big banquets, hunting, and the ever-present oil well. The work comes across as confident and proud, reflective of the artist, who has shown up at previous openings in full cabaret costume.

Georg Baselitz may be an old man, but that does not seem to prevent him from putting up a killer show. Over a dozen works comfortably fill what is one of the nicest galleries I have ever been in - White Cube Mason's Yard. The exhibition,
Mrs Lenin and the Nightingale, is simple in its imagery - Two figures sit on a couch, but, in typical fashion, are portrayed upside-down. An unpainted band greets the viewer at the bottom of the work. The image is blocked in first with colour - usually a very limited palette. The figures are loosely defined with black paint, which is applied with a thin brush overtop of the colour. This is how all the works are constructed, yet there never is a feeling of repetition. Each work stands on its own, offering intriguing and, again, confident handling of the medium. Baselitz is, I believe, plays up to his strengths. His painting is incredible, and he fits himself in to the history of painting with his cheeky titles - "Tracey looks behind the sofa where she finds his drawing, or rather, what Bob had left of it", "Sunning and mooning in the house of Jeff and Damien", etc. He seems aware that he is not about to change the world, but still has something to offer of himself. Tracey Emin was at the show. She casually glanced at the work that bore her name, but spent most of the time looking bothered and unappoachable. But when you're Tracey Emin, you can get away with that.

No images on the 'net, so you'll have to go to the White Cube website to see stuff.

David Rayson - Professor lecture series, RCA, Wednesday, February 4th, 2009

Burning Sausage, 2008. Archival ink on paper. 51 by 64 cm. All images from Marlborough Fine Art, where Rayson's The Everyday Fantastic wraps up on February 7th, 2009.





From the Spread Eagle to the Queens,2008. Archival ink on paper. 51 by 64 cm.



The vast selection of drawings are snapshots of a typical day lived by Rayson. As straightforward as the day begins, the ordinary soon gives way to reveal a schizophrenic mash of idleness in the pub, off-license purchases, black and white T.V. movies and the always-present curbside litter. The works themselves are the conglomeration of these everyday objects and experiences. Often working intuitively, Rayson sits down in his studio and responds to his environment. Often what is present in the house alone, or viewable out the window, is enough to get the ball rolling. Throughout his presentation, Rayson showed pictures he had taken of the fanciful constructions his children produce out of their collection of toys. It is from this model of working with what is right in front of you that Rayson constructs all 100 of the works in his latest show.

The tongue-in-cheek approach Rayson takes to life in the suburbs is humourous and lighthearted to some, unsettling to others. When he interrupts an insightful commentary about a group of his work to make false, roughly–stitched together narratives involving Tesco shoppers, trash TV stories of cheaters, and cooking shows, some cannot but feel that he may be mocking a lifestyle some in the audience strive for, if not already comfortably enjoy.

These stories he describes as cyclical. Everyday presents new possiblities; new realities, even. As such, his works are not planned out, but directionless and fed whatever is available until the work is complete. The next day is as unpredictable and alchemical as his work, and dark days, it appears, are as natural as innocent ones. The occasional BBQ fire, common birdlife, and ever-present empty beercans, can sometimes become clouded by a more sinister side of suburbia. Rayson made a point to mention that, try as you may, sometimes you fish all day without a bite. This reality is illustrated in the work, Fishing the Coalhole. In it, a fisherman sits surrounded by an awkwardly high-contrast environment clouded by gloom and pollution. It is doubtful that, even if the hunt were successful, landing a catch would be anything but a revolting reward anyway. Luckily, each morning presents new possiblities - plastic bags dancing in trees, commercials full of exotic holiday destinations, and all other constant and unpredictable inhabitants of the suburbs.


Fishing the Coalhole, 2008. Archival ink on paper. 51 by 64 cm.


Flight 747, 2008. Archival ink on paper. 51 by 64 cm.




Music for Neighbours, 2008. Archival ink on paper. 51 by 64 cm

Artists from the RCA

I should begin by stating that all can be kind of hesistant to talk about their work. They always have the opportunity to not tell the truth about their work, or to skip a question, or to choose which images are shown or not shown.

Anna M. R. Freeman




Her favourite colour is green.
Anna was asked to identify an inspiring artist. She recommended Machael Borremans.
Anna deals with ideas of nostalgia, memory, longing, and anxiety, and how spaces provoke such ideas. The works are meant to be viewed in relation to each other - these works would commonly be displayed as part of an installation. Works typically display a lack of grounding, resulting in a vertiginous space.


Gareth Cadwallader.

His favourite colour is blue
Gareth identified Neo Rauch as an inspiring artist.
Gareth's work is about a lot of stuff. It is quite often autobiographical, resulting in a deliberate, mostly personal collection of signs and symbols. People are allowed to read what they want.








The works are all small and intimate, worked up entirely in oil. Lots of effort is put in to the source material: they are not images all photshopped together, but constructed like a set and photographed.

Richard Diebenkorn. Oldie but a goodie.

Whenever I really like something these days, It is either really contemporary, or from the 60's or earlier. This Diebenkorn caught my eye the other day - I had never seen this one before - and I figured I would throw up a couple images to remind myself of all the terrific, straightforward, and kinda passe yet undeniably interesting, art he has pumped out.

Albuquerque, 1951
Oil on canvas, 40 x 50 in. (101.6 x 127 cm)
Purchase, Washington Gallery of Modern Art Collection, 1968.



and representative of his best-known work...
Cityscape I (Landscape No. 1)
1963
Oil on canvas
60 1/4 x 50 1/2 in
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

Qiu Zhijie. An artist I'd like to learn more about

An Asian Studies conference is coming up in Colorado. I am presenting on the changing definition of appropriation, and how Asian artists are, in their own way, modifying notions of cultural appropriation through their art. With all the political baggage that goes along with Chinese artists, though, I am having a hard time finding Chinese artists that comfortably fit in with what I am going to talk about. Basically, I am looking for artists who demonstrate a proficient understanding of Eastern and Western art and culture, and use that understanding to enrich their art. Understandin Chinese art and artists is complicated by Tianamen Square/ dissidents/ anti-academic/ communism/ etc. Someone may consider themselves Chinese, but have not exhibited or lived in Chinese since getting the boot in 1989. Are they making Chinese art?
This does not seem to be an issue with most, just some of the most publicized "Chinese artists". With Qiu Zhijie, it is not an issue. I hope to fit him in, but he does not seem to have what I am looking for. All the same, his work is worth a gander.

Allegory (one of three, may also be referred to as Bridge. from artists' website (see link above). This does not typify his work, though, so do not stop here.

Nothing should be simple, right? Here is a video of Qui at work. It is in Spanish, and he speaks Mandrin. He does give english a go in the middle there, though.

Kim Joon. tats 'n ass

Tattoos mean different things to different people. Who's sporting tattoos in North America? Everybody, it seems. WW2 vets of the Atlantic campaign have those faded blue anchors: their ship name and number blurred beyond recognition. Thirty-somethings, and younger seem to have had a thing for twisty, abstract lines, celtic flourishes, and intertwining barbed wire-type designs. The men have them around their all-too-often soft arms, while the ladies bare the rear runway peeking out just above the low beltline. Then there are the individuals who really saw tattoos as art - faces mix into romantic landscapes, meet up with animals of all sorts, the names of lost loved-ones (with dates like a living memorial) and people they admire. A friend of mine recently got flowers under each of her arms, filling up the little space left that has not been inked, her face and hands aside. basically, for a few generations, tattoos have been visible and commonplace. The fringe, the rebels, the outsiders, the hard-core fight society through new forms of body art (new to my culture, anyway) - scarring, branding, plastic bumps and ridges inserted under the skin. For body "high art", search for Orlan. IF you get grossed out easy, have a garbage can at the ready. She goes to some crazy lengths when she uses her own physical body as a canvas.

To sum up... Western culture has a history with tattoos.
Asia, on the other hand, has a much different history. When you see a person with a far-out ink job in Korea, it means a completely different thing than it does here. Tattoos in Korea (likely most of asia) mean gangster. And there is nothing typically subtle about gangster tattoos. Typically multicoloured figures and animals swirl all down the back, letting everyone know that the bearer is not the type of dude that should be messed with. If a korean gangster movie is to be believed, the pain control associated with spending hundreds of hours getting inked makes elaborate tattoos a badge of honour of sorts. "Normal" people simply don't get tattoos. Bad boys and other such rebels? maybe. Is this changing? of course it is, but it have decades to do before it is even close to mainstream

With that in mind, the work of Kim Joon seems quite a trip. How different the interpretation of his work must be to those of his homeland. Do Koreans even see it as a tattoo; something that is under the skin and permanent, or are they immediately seeing it as a covering - a costume of a different culture?
Tattoos to us, if I may speak for North Americans, are permanent things. They are a part of you - they make up or express parts of an identity. There is no going back from a tattoo - even if someone does got one of those new removal procedures, ther is still a remnant of that old person (like if a friend loses, or more frequently, gains a lot of weight. You cannot help but recall what once was there. It is still there, in a way). The idea of inking the name of a lost relative or friend onto the body takes on such a profound meaning if you think about it in this way: they may be gone, but their trace still exists. They have left an indelible mark, personified in ink.

Henna, i would say, is more common in South Korea. A week of rebellion right after freshman exams - Cool! Suntanning has only in the last couple of years become ACCEPTABLE in Korea, as has the bikini. Dark or blemished skin was left behind when Korea became the first class nation it has become. Peasants and country folk get tanned, civilized people do not. Or something like that.

With all that in mind, i associate the advertising angle in some of Kim's works with looking at his own culture for inspiration. Going back to the comment I made about koreans seeing tattoos as skins or layers (a gangster outfit), rather than a true identity, this could be seen as, as we in the West use tattoos to present elements of ourselves to others, Koreans do this through other means - one of the most popular being fashion.


party-prada
c-print
120cm x 120cm (cm)
2007


bird land-swarovski
90cm x90cm c-print 2008
All the images are taken fromKim Joon's website, where yo ucan also find lots more images.

Li Wei

For ten years, the art world has been going nuts for "Chinese art". As a result, demand has soared, leading to the pool of genius becoming rather thinned with third-rate individuals from China looking to cash in on the lucrative market. Li Wei is not one of the hoard: he creates snazzy, interesting, and fun art that has some substance behind the playful veneer. Most iteresting to me is his awareness of Western art principles and art history, and his use of such information in his work.


Let's slide off-topic for a bit

A question I always toy with is, What makes a work of art specific to a place or people or whatever? This unsettlingly, leads to an ever-increasing range of further questions..
Just what the hell is Chinese art, or Western art, or Islamic art? What makes Chinese art different from other forms of art?
In this day and age, of interconnectivity, of a global village, of an internatinal art scene, is there such a thing as appropriation? Just what am I entitled to call my own, my identity? Am I able to add to this personal identity through education and experience?

The artists being looked at this week hopefully address these questions through their art. Comments will be placed, seemingly out-of-place, demonstrating how these works of art answer the questions listed above. This blog is not so much for others, but more as a visual diary of what is feeding my papers, and inspiring my art production.


Back to Li Wei.
Believe it or not, Li Wei asserts that the images he produces are executed without the aid of digital mainpuation: he uses mirrors and wires to hide his tricks. It seems that every article makes a big deal out of this - the fact that he doesn't use photoshop. If someone can tell me why this is important, please let me know.
The images themsleves are wonderful. A lot of contemporary art produced in China comes off as grand, hard, either very soft or very sharp. Lots of people. Cai Guo-Qiang drawing with gunpowder. Gu Dexin with rotting fruit and vaginas in the back of heads. Song Dong licking everything. Cao Fei's ambitious factory workers. This follows in that vein, without the grandiose-(and obvious)-in-your-face-ness found in the works of Sui Jianguo and, the granddaddy of them all, Wang Guangyi.

Li Wei's works often offer up someting legible to both an Eastern and a Western audience. The link to kung-fu-type movies is easily discernable. the "tricks" are accomplished using camera tricks and wires, giving the individuals who appear in the images the grace and poise of superhuman powers. Have you noticed that difference before, between hollywood and HK movies? There is nothing graceful to be found in the abilities of the Hulk or Spiderman: they still possess a weight that allows our mind to better buy in to the fakery. Superpowers of the East, if I may call it that, extend to balance and weight and focus, allowing for such a picuture as that directly above.

So, the top picture.. .. to what are you relating it? Yves Kline's jump from a second story window, maybe? Has 9/11 ruined your eyes, and all you see are world trade center jumpers? Do you see a perceive a population drunk on the vertigo of a society growing at an unbelievable pace, sometimes stumbling, sometimes stumbling to their deaths?
"My artistic language is universal and deals with themes about contemporary politics and society using symbols understood by everyone in every part of the world." says Li Wei, as quoted from the dailymail.co.uk

Other elements of the work also put it on the fence, as to which tradition it is following. The works are a mix of both performance and photography. This blurring of medium is traditionally found in Western works, though have become quite commonly found in the employ of Chinese artists who use video (think of Xu Zhen, and his fake expedition to Everset. In fact, think of all his video work, which is very performance-driven).

These images seem amateur and grand at the same time, and offer a lighthearted and understandable look at Chinese society of the early 21st century.



Li Wei's homepage

Buddha's Birthday...

..is just around the corner.

I hate how blogs are all about the writer

how self-indulgent blogs are - my opinions, my stuff, through my eyes. I promise it will all be about you-you-you when I get back. Here are some of my finished pieces. One of my professors gave me his opinion. In the first work he liked ONE LINE. But it is a pretty kickass line.. The line is on the left side of the pants. It goes thick, streaky/strong/thin, then thick again. I think he would have liked it if I cut it out and threw the rest away, because we hurried onto the next one, which he preferred for its varied handling of the ink and the composed handling of the various handling's.. this doesn't make a lot of sense unless you are looking at the work, i guess. (for those of you who do not know, you can click on the images to see a larger version)

Jump #2 (the one that got the thumbs up)







Jump #1(the one in which there is only a single effective line)












a sketch. One of many












One of my classes that I take (undergrad classes) is all about drawing with a brush. The weather is nice, so we tend to go on these far-flung day trips for some outdoor sketching. Typically following at least an hour on the subwayI emerge from the underground with a small group of fellow students to some small mountain or park, where we will draw whatever we are told to sketch. Last Tuesday we were told to draw pine tree branches. The following day I get a text message (everyone has a cell phone in korea, so profs will sometimes communicate by text message - COOL!) saying that there is a homework assignment - we have to do up our sketch in the studio. The somewhat appealing sketch is followed by the painstakingly finished work. Basically, my technique is pitiful, as I have not been taught any tricks, and I have never really practiced ink painting before. Grad students with whom I share a studio with will often walk up, sorta snicker, and then demonstrate some little trick to do this or that. All in all it has been a successful way for me to learn - try, fail, be humbled, tutored, encouraged (often at this spot i return to the beginning) and finally find success.