As a group final visit we when to the Edinburgh Gallery of Modern Art.
Here is my thoughts and indeed my own feelings on the place and the artworks I seen.....
I must add that I'm conscious of my own awareness and the JUDGEMENT I unfortunately express in these times of viewing and learning. Firstly, my thoughts and feelings hold no right or wrong in the bigger picture of feelings and at the time it was very much a sense of MYSELF as I wandered around laying judgement down. Who I'm I to judge right!!
As a group I thought we would wander as a whole, discussing our thoughts or interests of the works we were about to see, looking back I'm glad it wasn't the case. I'm glad because while seeing I realised the SELF within me and I feel this can only add to the knowledge and understanding of one's own self......
Norah Neilson Gray
Mother and Child
For me this work was the first work that I enjoyed viewing. It was different in the way it used tone and shadow to create the final work.. Mother and child of old were mostly, from my point of view religious and of an renaissance time and period. This contrast in colour, light and tone gave it anew feel without losing the sentimentally of the bond between mother and child.
Beatrice Huntington
Th models Artist
This one was another I could appreciate because of the closeness to cubism (I think) and the palette of colour. Its composition and the way her eyes are gazing beyond..
Sounds a little weird but I felt that while I was looking at her, she was kind of inviting me to see the bigger picture.......What is the bigger picture? Are we really seeing or do we just think we know something because we view it?
Colour need I say more;! Again another contrast in colour...
On the way around I wrote down my feelings and thoughts. I was told off for taking photo's in this part of the gallery as some of the works were from a private collection.
I had felt that the work of Joan Miro, Head of a Calalan Peasant and most of her works didn't do anything for me. I had however wondered about the meaning of the set outlines that you can see through the translucent wash of blue oil paint.
I had wrote at one point that I didn't get the more abstract stuff and how I didn't enjoy viewing this type of work as it seemed to take up to much energy and I couldn't be bothered analysing it to the point of understanding it.
Something I had thought about on the way around was the contrast in colour and the bold shapes. The likeness of male and female identity. Something about the intensiveness of metallic colours, gold and bronze for instance.
Phoebe Anna Traquair painted in enamel in the work called 'The Awakening' I did like the vibrate colours and warmth and happiness reflected on this.
Frottage and Grattage
Grattage is a surrealist painting technique that involves laying a canvas prepared with a layer of oil paint over a textured object and then scraping the paint off to create an interesting and unexpected surface.
This excites me and I seem to enjoy working in mixed media. My mind is so full all the time that I feel the mixed media represents the velocity and speed of my mapping in abundance. The surrealist colleges I did like viewing. Picasso I haven't spoke of and while his work was there, and bloody good all the same I do like the idea of mixing monoprints /etchings with grattage. I do think that to work as an artist at this time must of been full of fun, mischief and creative intention,
I have been trying to slow my thoughts and ideas down, but maybe I should stop living in judgement of myself and others and just create. Easier said than done!
If you follow my blog over the past year of my life you will see the struggles and searching for my self, the anxiety, mental health, acceptance and in truth the limited vision I have had growing up! This course has let me, look beyond myself and enter a surreal virtual vortex.
So now I entered the work of Surrealism...........
Surreal Encounters
I will explain my own surreal encounter. While sitting in the cafe, having my Carrot and Coriander soup, I sat next to two females dining.
I wrote down my thoughts here, as I reviewed my time at the gallery thus far
Shut the fuck up was what I wrote, Shut up from talking you mundane pair of fuck up's! God give me strength to endure this trash and piss, I THIS , I THAT, ME,ME,ME!!
The two women in they fancy get up, in all honestly with nothing interesting to say!! I'd rather be in my own mind, that pretend to exist in a world than exists in they pretentious world. I would of liked to create an image of them sitting here right now!! BUT stop that's me judging! Yeah the conversation was boring and I do think they were talking to be heard or they liked the sound of thy own voices! But they also may have been talking crap to forget about something more worrying for them or to forget! The truth is I don't know, yet without realising I was happy to judge or show my annoyance in words! Its hard not to judge!
Surreal indeed. I felt a moment of overwhelming happiness! understanding in my mind! I worry that I have some kind mental illness with anxiety or that I'm weak. In truth I'm stronger than many as I know my weakness and I endure my own need for growth and understanding! Some people never have to look or care about one's own self the way I do.......When you look at the history of great artist's many have troubles! While I can't compare myself to them in greatness of work I can relate to passion and need to be more. A higher power or tranquil placid existence. I can connect with surrealism because of all this.
Max Ernst
Pietà or Revolution by Night
The painting replaces the traditional scene of Mary clasping the body of Christ with an image of the artist himself, held by his father. A staunch Catholic, Ernst's father had denounced his son's work
I liked the understanding and feeling the image gave me, the colours for me speak with the emotions, I also liked the outline of the hands holding the figure. The shadows that is cast adds to the realism of the work. Is it about acceptance or more of a defiance against his father and his own beliefs.
Salvador Dali
Espangne
Well what can I say! I loved viewing this work, The viewpoint and set up of the women/scene is incredible, I belief the painting was about the Spanish Civil War and the women was to be the ghost of mother Spain viewing the war and destruction. It was in truth one of the best works I've seen that really captured or questioned what I was seeing before me.
Dali couple with the head full of clouds was another of Dali's works I liked! It was fresh and the set up was one of fun yet upon viewing it I sensed loneliness or wanting. Some kind of abandonment. Maybe because of the detachment of the couple, the dark clouds and the open desert.
Impressions of Africa
The self portrait style of this work was and interesting way of working. Putting himself in the scene, along with memories of African he'd had without even being there. His hand is a good example of foreshortening and I like the collage type feel to the work. again I was drawn to the mixed media. The colours on this work were so intense and it had a 3 dimensional feel to it.
I have been questioning the details of what makes a good artist and have felt that while I can never produce a work at the moment for public consumption, The one thing that all artist have is the ability to actually paint..... I wonder if I will ever will be able to paint a work to be proud of! I'm learning and I realise that, but I never do any painting. I need to draw more and also think about the relationship of colours together and the feelings they can create! I really do think that I need a strong solid base so that in the future my works can be the best they can be and I have the knowledge and understanding to back my work up. Does this comes with time! At 33 do I have time? Then do I really wanna do art or do I want to go down a different route, fashion, interiors and furniture design.....New technology excites me, like the fact I was reading about science is taking the cocoons and threads of the silk worms and creating pins that can be put into bones to aid fractures. furniture and technology together. Amazing stuff, but I need to come back to reality. For now I will have to just keep expanding my knowledge. Im in no hurry really! (sorry when off on some kind of path there)
Magritte - Real
So life like. The work for me again was another talent, as to the meaning I'm unsure. The composition I thought took you into the picture. Interesting and I like the light and contrast of the wall in the mirror.
Wilhelmina Barns-Graham
Wilhelmina Barns-Graham was born in 1912 in St Andrews, Fife. She studied at Edinburgh College of Art from 1931 and became a pioneer of British Abstraction.
Barns-Graham made prints at intervals throughout her career, producing just over 100 prints between the early 1940s and her death in 2004. However it was in the last decade of her long, varied and prolific career that printmaking techniques became integral to her practice. She collaborated with master printmakers to investigate new techniques, but focused latterly on screen printing as her preferred printing medium.
For these I wrote my interest in the screen prints and the colour relationship and the feelings they can express.
This was a work called Scorpio 1.....This excited me. The technique is called Sugar Lift Ectching on Aquatint paper, this creates a brush mark effect. For me I started thinking of the possibilities that could be used to crate work with this effect. That and the frottage. The colours and set up. Different pieces together to make a whole. Cubist or 3 dimensional....I have spoke of the wanting to create the likeness of nature, the colours and textures. All of these are things I will intend to study more into in the months to come!
This type of abstract art again was the first time I actually felt a liking for the bold shapes and lines that can come for abstract work.
Great read!!
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