Saturday 27 October 2012
Monday 22 October 2012
National Gallery of Ireland
In the National Gallery of Ireland I forst decided to have a quick look around the European paintings part of the
Then I made my way to the exhibition of Irish painting and sculpture. The first that i saw were highly detailed portraiture of the aristocracy typical of the 16th, 17th and 18th century by artists like Morphy, Jervas, Latham, Lowry and Hamilton. One that really attracted me was of an old woman. It was called "The Fisherman's Mother" by Helen Mabel Trevor
I learned from the audio guide that this artist was from my locality near Banbridge which added an extra interest to it. The piercing gaze of the woman in the painting is very daunting.
Others that grabbed my attention were "A Clown by Candlelight" by Mary Swanzy
and "A Family" by Louis Le Brocquy
I walked into a sideroom display by Jack B Yeats and was completely awestruck by this completely different style such as
Myself as a relatively new painter of just over 15 months now have, so far developed my style that is leaning toward a photo-realism as its been called. J.B Yeats is completely different, completely painterly, using thick swirls of oil paints layed on with a pallette knife to give half form to a portrayed image in whatever mix of clours suited his passion in that moment.
This was a mighty inspiration to me, a looseness and freedom taken to its limit of perfection. And to be honest I looked foward to getting back to the canvas and experiment in that style in my own way.
At home I looked up Jack B Yeats and found this quote from him which i copied out for the front of my art foundation book.
"There is only one art and that is the art of living. Painting is an occupation that’s in that art, and that occupation is the freest of all the occupations of living. There is no alphabet, no grammar. No rules whatever. Many hopeful sports
Then I made my way to the exhibition of Irish painting and sculpture. The first that i saw were highly detailed portraiture of the aristocracy typical of the 16th, 17th and 18th century by artists like Morphy, Jervas, Latham, Lowry and Hamilton. One that really attracted me was of an old woman. It was called "The Fisherman's Mother" by Helen Mabel Trevor
I learned from the audio guide that this artist was from my locality near Banbridge which added an extra interest to it. The piercing gaze of the woman in the painting is very daunting.
Others that grabbed my attention were "A Clown by Candlelight" by Mary Swanzy
I walked into a sideroom display by Jack B Yeats and was completely awestruck by this completely different style such as
About to write a letter
Men of Destiny
This was a mighty inspiration to me, a looseness and freedom taken to its limit of perfection. And to be honest I looked foward to getting back to the canvas and experiment in that style in my own way.
At home I looked up Jack B Yeats and found this quote from him which i copied out for the front of my art foundation book.
"There is only one art and that is the art of living. Painting is an occupation that’s in that art, and that occupation is the freest of all the occupations of living. There is no alphabet, no grammar. No rules whatever. Many hopeful sports
men
have tried to invent rules and have always failed. Any person or group
of persons who try to live life with rules do a disservice to this
occupation of living. They forget that painting is tactics and not
strategy. It is carried out in the face of the enemy.” Jack B Yeats
Nina Canell, The Douglas Hyde Gallery, Trinity College, Dublin
My second visit that day was to this gallery and to be honest I was very disappointed with the contents and the presentation.
Basically there were a few plumbers pipes in a stand on the middle of the floor and I was left wondering was this a finished or unfinished art piece or some workman's station.
On the wall were 3 pictures and on close inspection they simply had rows of watermelon seeds glued to the inside of the glass. Whatever she was trying to convey went right over my head. I looked around and seen another 20 or so of similar pieces on the longer walls and I had a look at these but they were pretty much the same as the 3 previous pieces.
There was a small slide show in an adjacent room which showed pictures of everyday objects and on the walls were a set of small pictures some even using sweetie papers.
I was disappointed with this exhibition. In my opinion there was little passion or technical ability. The impetus to be quirky or unique didn't go far enough.
Basically there were a few plumbers pipes in a stand on the middle of the floor and I was left wondering was this a finished or unfinished art piece or some workman's station.
On the wall were 3 pictures and on close inspection they simply had rows of watermelon seeds glued to the inside of the glass. Whatever she was trying to convey went right over my head. I looked around and seen another 20 or so of similar pieces on the longer walls and I had a look at these but they were pretty much the same as the 3 previous pieces.
There was a small slide show in an adjacent room which showed pictures of everyday objects and on the walls were a set of small pictures some even using sweetie papers.
I was disappointed with this exhibition. In my opinion there was little passion or technical ability. The impetus to be quirky or unique didn't go far enough.
Sunday 21 October 2012
"Becoming" Exhibition by Alice Maher -Irish Museum of Modern Art
Alice Maher, I would describe as a very organic artist, or in the words of Louis Le Brocquy, she is a folk artist. This would be due to her abundant use of natural materials she finds in the hedgerows and fields. The first piece we encountered was a bowl made from snail shells. Then there were three sculptures on display made from wild rose thorns placed side by side and completely covering the surface. An intriguing example was a set of three stairs measuring around eighteen inches and placed on a wall. Other similiar sculptures were two 10 inch thorn domes. I imagine there must have been some sore fingers making these jaggy creations.
Another hedgerow and thorny item was a large four foot globe made completely from long hedge briars interwoven into each other in response to the function of Kilmainham jail (1796-1924) now a museum.
Then there were the three hedgerow facemasks, one of sticks and leaves, another a head dress made of green moss and lastly beside it a face cover of wild rose thorns. Carrying on this folk art theme was a small childs cotton dress stiffened with stach and covered in blackberries. At the time of its release the first of the roman catholic priests abusing children scandals was coming into the news and the public related this piece to that. Oher items included an ostrich egg etched with fine black ink.
Alices use of conventional artistic materials like charcoal, paper, calaco and chalk was still impressed with her deeply organic style and covered themes of such as long flowing hair, even using a twenty foot loose mass of flax beside a large board with a small painting of a girl with long hair that hung straight up.
I was impressed with her figurative art using charoal and chalk covering various theme of hair, child developement and the human form.
The second part of Alice's exhibition was a videp entitled "Casandra's Necklace". There were two opposing screens in the threatre, each one showing a variation of the film. The scene was a underworld cave with various random acts, some even a bit grotesque and accompanied by earie sounds.
Personally I got very absorbed into the mood and feeling of the film. For me it was Alice expressing her inspiration by portraying the deep dark well of her mind. It was her sub/un-conscious shown vaguely with a series of primal images in a silent enclave. Being and Becoming
Another hedgerow and thorny item was a large four foot globe made completely from long hedge briars interwoven into each other in response to the function of Kilmainham jail (1796-1924) now a museum.
Then there were the three hedgerow facemasks, one of sticks and leaves, another a head dress made of green moss and lastly beside it a face cover of wild rose thorns. Carrying on this folk art theme was a small childs cotton dress stiffened with stach and covered in blackberries. At the time of its release the first of the roman catholic priests abusing children scandals was coming into the news and the public related this piece to that. Oher items included an ostrich egg etched with fine black ink.
Alices use of conventional artistic materials like charcoal, paper, calaco and chalk was still impressed with her deeply organic style and covered themes of such as long flowing hair, even using a twenty foot loose mass of flax beside a large board with a small painting of a girl with long hair that hung straight up.
I was impressed with her figurative art using charoal and chalk covering various theme of hair, child developement and the human form.
The second part of Alice's exhibition was a videp entitled "Casandra's Necklace". There were two opposing screens in the threatre, each one showing a variation of the film. The scene was a underworld cave with various random acts, some even a bit grotesque and accompanied by earie sounds.
Personally I got very absorbed into the mood and feeling of the film. For me it was Alice expressing her inspiration by portraying the deep dark well of her mind. It was her sub/un-conscious shown vaguely with a series of primal images in a silent enclave. Being and Becoming
Friday 19 October 2012
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