First Shaun Project Space Crit of Semester 2: Myself, Andy Parkin and Beth Jackson - 02/03/17
Having previously shown pieces of my work in the Shaun Project Space that that was made from Vinyl Tape and expressed a more hard edge style, this time I wanted to show the more expressive mark making pieces that I have recently been working on. Within my studio space I had only been able to see these four pieces close together on one of my studio walls so I really wanted to experiment and see what they would look like within a white wall gallery context. Taking into consideration what Beth Jackson and Andrew Parkin were showing within the space I decided that the pieces worked well across the longest wall in the composition of a series. As well as that I thought that as the four pieces are being shown as Portrait (vertical), then positioning them across the wall horizontally, it would subtly relate to the types of mark making that each piece includes and express to its viewing audience.
The paint choices that I had chosen that consists of mostly primary colours, black and white, therefore allowed all four pieces of work to really stand out and contrast the white walls behind them. This subsequently allowed all the horizontal, vertical and diagonal marks to be seen clearly from both close-up and from a distance.
Taking into account that I had positioned the other four of my expressive marking pieces in a series, I thought I would also show my other two abstract pieces in a landscape orientation to stay with the way they were created. However unlike the other pieces, these Two pieces of artwork only consist of vertical marks so by placing them in a horizontal composition across the opposite wall it subtly stuck to my idea of working with repetitive horizontal and vertical lines.
When I was setting up and curating my work within the space I noticed that both Beth and Andy weren't using the two small plinths that were standing in the Shaun Project Space. I therefore decided that I would also put two of my Digital drawing dog portraits that I have being experimenting with, as a way of seeing what people's reaction and opinions would be towards them. These dog portraits are very different to my usual and preferred abstract way of working but I thought it would be a good way to diversify the artwork on show and to also get people wondering why I had decided to put these into the group showing. This approach to showing A4 sized artwork was something I hadn't previously thought about using before, but the at in which the artwork could be seen from various viewpoints in relation to the other surrounding pieces was something that I found really interesting. Also as the plinths are only roughly waist heist it gave the viewer the ability to look down on the two drawings which would be possible if I had shown them placed on a wall surface.
All the pieces that I decided to show within this Shaun Project Crit was well received bymy fellow students and the only piece of constructive criticism that I received was to consider using a more wider selection of colours rather than just the primary colours. This is something that I have noticed myself within my work and is definitely something that will be beneficial towards my future studio work.
Beth's contribution to the group showing/ crit was two varied sized canvases (Physical Context) which showed her experimentation towards scale. The work really blended well within the space I thought as a result of her use of negative space and her chosen colour palette which consists of more pasteli colours in comparison to my own. The way in which the white negative space of the canvas' allow the express colour marks to be the main focus it therefore communicates the importance that it has in relation to the actual marks.
These chosen expressive stroke/ splatters and the way she has allowed them to drip vertically creates a sense of kinetic movement and playful process. Within each of her pieces she had included illustrative imagery which due to the individual placement of each one, interacted well with the expressive marks. Looking at the piece as a whole it gives an abstract representation of a natural landscape setting.
The smaller painted canvas with illustrative pen drawn birds I feel is more successful in terms of creating a sense of interaction between the chosen animals ( birds). This is made possible I think as a result of the central grey section of background which looks to be a large subtle splatter as it focus your eyes towards the centre of the canvas. Then as the positioning of the birds seem to be surrounding and looking towards this area of the canvas it increases the idea of interaction. Also the expressive golden stokes in relation to the birds gives the impression that they could be an abstract representation of tree branches.
Andy's contribution to the Shaun Project Crit was more of an interactive and installation piece which was a representation of a prison cell. This was created in the studio spaces of the building and required us to take the crit upstairs into the studios.
Andy's artwork is always his way of communicating his interest in the British underworld and the well-known associates to this aspect of British history. During this Crit he wanted to get critical feedback about his recent move into installation art and the painted representation of a prison cell he's been working on. This physical change in context and use of materials I found was a great opportunity to bring more a contextual link to the subject matter that he has been using within his prior pieces of work. His prior work has included portrait imagery of the Kray Twins, Charles Bronson, Frankie Frazer, Alan Lord, Lenny Mclean and other related people that have been related the British underworld and HMP justice system.
Within the top right hand corner of this photo taken of one of the walls of the installation, there is a poster which is advertises a boxing event called The Road To Spain which is arranged to be held in London on the 1st of April 2017. Andy has been in regular contact with the promoter linked to this event and has managed to arrange for his collection of artwork to be exhibited (Strangeways to Art) within the venue of this boxing event. By putting this poster up on the wall of the representational cell it brings more social context to his overall practice and also links to the lifestyle and interest of boxing/ fighting associated with British gangsters.
A part of the Crit that Andy was keen to put forward to other fellow students was the chance to write stuff on the walls of the installation. This interactive and first-hand ability to add to the overall piece was his way of connecting others to his work and also connecting it to real-life graffiti that inmates would participate in when incarcerated within HMP.
I found this to be the best direction that Andy's work has been taking within his practice as it brings a lot of overall context to his work in terms of Physical, Social, Subject matter. It also allowed him to use his usual Acrylic Paints and Prior casted Bronson head alongside found objects (Radio, Bed and a light fitting) to produce a representive atmosphere
On reflection I found this Crit to be very beneficial towards my art practice and how I could possibly exhibit future pieces of work in the way linking the context of my works subject/ idea with the architectural space that's being used to exhibit my work. I also thought that all of our work complimented each other well although communicating different ideas.
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