Liverpool Visit: John Moores Painting Prize 2016, Merseyside Maritime Museum, Tate Liverpool.
First held in 1957, the John Moores Painting Prize is the UK's best-known painting competition and is named after Sir John Moores (1896 - 1993), the founder of the prize. The competition culminates in an exhibition held at the Walker Art Gallery every two years, which forms a key strand of the Liverpool Biennial.
The John Moores exhibition is held in partnership with the John Moores Liverpool Exhibition Trust, and although the appearance of each exhibition changes, the principles remain constant: to support artists and to bring to Liverpool the best contemporary painting from across the UK.
The exhibition this year included 54 different pieces of work that had been selected from more than 2,500 entries and each piece communicated a different source of inspiration. This diverse approach to painting allowed for a varied and wide-ranging collection of pieces that utilised and communicated a range of painting methods.
One, The Side-ness of In-Out (2015) by Selma Parlour. (Left Image)
Untitled (2015) by Nancy Milner. (Right Image)
From the wide selection of pieces on show I feel these two pieces captured my interest the most. The way in which each piece utilises the use of line to dissect and create areas of colour is what appeals to me mostly. This method is one that I like to use within my own practice so its an aspect I'm instantly drawn to when looking at new artwork and sources of inspiration. The combination of colours included within each piece allow for aspects of vibrancy and contrast to be achieved and this enhances the segmented quality of each composition. This therefore offers up a sense of space in Selma Parlour's piece which communicates a dimensional quality. Nancy Milner's piece on the other hand uses the change in colour to show repetition between the strips of colour and as a way to guide your focus. As a result of seeing these two pieces I have gained two new sources of inspiration to refer back to and also two new artists to follow for future influence towards my own projects.
Artist Websites:-
The Merseyside Maritime Museum is based in the Albert Dock at Liverpool and contains a variety of objects associated with the social and commercial history of the port of Liverpool. These include ship models, maritime paintings, colourful posters from the golden age of liners and even some full sized vessels.
My reasoning behind visiting the Merseyside Maritime Museum was to look at and photograph a painting showing a realistic representation of a dazzle ship from WW1. This subject of ship camouflage is one I've touched upon within my studio practice and was the bases of an abstract Vinyl Tape piece I recently produced.
This was an opportunity for me to see a physical painting of one of these dazzle ship paintings instead of on my computer/phone screen. The painting named Mauretania in dazzle paint was a piece by Burnell Poole and was created in 1919. Its painted using Oil on canvas and shows a visual representation of the Mauretania in full dazzle camouflage out at sea.
(The image isn't the best quality, was taken in a hurry as my phone battery was on the verge of 0%.....)
Website:-
Tate Liverpool is the most popular gallery of modern and contemporary art outside of London, as well as being the home of the National Collection of Modern Art in the north. Located in one of Albert Dock’s bright, former warehouses, Tate Liverpool has four floors of galleries which are open to the public.
The Work on display is provided from both the Tate collection and special exhibitions, which bring together painting, photography, sculpture and installations from national and international assemblages.
The Exhibitions on show and that I visited during my time in Liverpool were:-
Tracey Emin and William Blake in focus.
Cecile B. Evans.
At the heart of the First Exhibition was one of Britain’s most renowned artworks of the past 20 years, Tracey Emin’s (b.1963) My Bed 1998. This was the first time My Bed had been displayed in the north of England and as titled featured Emin’s old bed. The unflinching self-portrait and insight into her life and experiences were clearly communicated, however the visual of the piece keep the artist herself absent.
My Bed was shown alongside drawings by Emin as part of the Tate collection and were on show with those of the visionary British poet and artist, William Blake (1757–1827).
Personally when viewing My Bed I didn't see any influential aspects that would benefit my own practice, but to be honest I didn't really expect to. My sole intention behind wanting to see this piece was so I could have the knowledge of seeing it for myself and that I'd had the opportunity to physically walk around it. As it's one of the most well known contemporary artworks from the past 20 years it was a chance for me to determine my own opinion about it.
Cecile B. Evans.
Featuring two humanoid robots and a robot dog, Sprung a Leak 2016 is a brand new work by artist Cécile B. Evans
Sprung a Leak 2016 explores the movement of data, artificial intelligence, and the relationship between humans and machines. This brand new installation examines the increasing influence that new technologies have on how we feel and act.
Sprung a Leak 2016 draws on research in the fields of science, technology, film and theatre. Visitors are invited into a narrative loop that unfolds across multiple screens, robots, a fountain and other sculptural elements. Through conversations between the robots and human performers appearing on the digital screens, a story will unfold exploring our emotions and vulnerabilities in an ever evolving, digital world.
During my time in this Exhibition I found it hard to keep up with the narrative of the piece. I found my focus was purely on the movement of the Humanoid Robots and I found myself fascinated by the way in which they moved around the space and interacted with one another. The impression of communication between the two and to human like interaction was what kept my focus throughout. The TV screens positioned around the room just seemed to be overlooked though. Although I don't share this interest in technology in regards to my studio practice I feel my interest with these Humanoid Robots was based upon the fact that in real life they're something you don't really come across. The overall experience of the exhibition kind of brought out my inner-child, due to the way in which my interest was on the robots, similar to the relation I would of the had with the motion of remote-controlled cars/ toys.