Sabine Moritz.

I came across this particular artist whilst visiting Frieze in London. Sabine Moritz was born in 1969 in Quedlinburg which at the time was within the soviet controlled area of Germany. Her family did not move to west Germany until 1985 and the years before this heavily effected her as a young girl and this went on to reflect in her art work. Today she lives and works in Cologne in Germany. During her studies of art she took up a class with Gerhard Richter and she was in fact the last pupil to do so before Richter stopped teaching in 1994. Moritz began to appear in Richter's work and they went on to marry each other shortly after this period. Moritz did a great deal of drawing throughout her studies but afterwards she began to use other materials including; pencil, charcoal, water colour and oil as well as also beginning to producing paintings using oil and acrylic on canvas. Themes that run throughout her work are ones of architecture, urban planning, public and private spaces and also childhood. 

The painting I saw in Frieze was one of her most recent paintings 'Stalingrad' done in 2013 in oil on canvas. What I find most interesting about Moritz' work is her use of texture and application of paint to the canvas. Mark making appears to be a key ingredient to her work and I think that her use of marks create a strong atmosphere that helps to reflect the scene being depicted. Her paintings are slightly distorted due to this creating a blurred effect adding a sense of movement and life and in some cases an idea that it is raining. I feel inspired by this to try and produce movement in my paint work by applying the paint in a certain way to distort the image somehow or to add textures to my ideas. 

(Stalingrad, 2013, oil on canvas, 58 x 72 cm)

Gerhard Richter.

Born in 1932, Dresden, Germany, Gerhard Richter is a visual artist who has produced a wide variety of artwork ranging from; abstract, photo-realistic to glass and photography. He currently lives and works in Cologne. Richter is very much involved in contemporary art and is also involved in monochrome painting. Most of his work is abstract using acrylic and oil paint. In the 1970's he began a particular painting style that combined various styles together that he had previously developed. Richter believes that a 'core model' is constantly working, transforming every visible thing into a still image on a mirror. His work tries to show the fact of this photographic seeing into layers that are ready made. Paintings on a painting. Richter has since developed his won style 'photo painting' which has become very recognised. This style consists of pulling the paint across the damp surface using a wide rubber squeegee. He has refined this technique achieving a balance between structures and deliberate corrections. 

His paintings which have particularly inspired my print work is his series of 6 paintings done in 2006, currently showing at the Tate Modern in London, 'Cage'. Like his previous abstract paintings created using squeegees, the Cage paintings are the results of many layers of paint. Their surfaces are covered in lines where Richter has stopped the squeegee, left brush strokes, other scrapings and also areas where the oil paint has dried and rippled. The paintings remind me of reflections and water or hazy glows over a landscape causing the colours to blend with one another. Also in some of the paintings the texture created looks very coarse like a scratched wall. When creating this series of paintings, he was listening to the music of John Cage and this is why he names the series 'Cage'. Richter is particularly drawn to Cage's rejection of intuition as well as randomness, planning his paintings through structures and also by chance processes. What I am particularly attracted to within Richter's work is his use of and application of colour. I wish to further explore this in my print work looking more closely at how I can print the colour and create my colour pallet in different ways.

(The Cage painting no. 6, 2006, 300cm x 300cm, oil on canvas)

Print - Development

As well as learning the different processes and methods of print we are required to do work in our own time to develop our projects. After visiting the Tate Modern on the London trip I have been very much inspired by the work of Gerhard Richter to explore the use of colour and how it is applied and in this case printed with; the accumulation and dispersion of colour. My intentions are to use the mono-printing technique to capture this idea, but what I am doing could also be classed a process known as 'tonking'. This word originally refers to what painters do when they want to erase something without effecting the rest of the painting, so its the idea of taking something away and I am doing this by printing the pallet I produce. Do do this I have used the work surface as my pallet and create the colours and textures on that surface to then go onto print the patterns made. I focused mostly on the textures created by the ink and the direction in which the ink is moved.

(Untitled, printing ink, A4)

(Untitled, printing ink, A4, with zest-it)

(Untitled, printing ink, A4, after zest-it)

Throughout the process I have been looking at stages at which I can print my colour pallet; the first being the raw block colour and then continuing by distorting the colours using zest-it and fabric to create different textures and to also take away the ink in some places. I find this a very interesting method as it is showing the different colours that can be produced and also the different methods at which you can these. To create the prints shown above I simply placed down the different coloured inks onto the work surface and then using material I dragged the colours across the surface to force them to blend together and produce interesting textures. To create these textures I used the material called scrimp as it is slightly rough in its texture and helps to create interesting lines within the colours. As previously mentioned I then added a liquid called zest-it which waters down the ink eventually dissolving the colour if left long enough. I found that using zest-it forced the colours to blend and mix together in an interesting way producing contrasting textures against the ink that wasn't touched by it. As well as this I also looked at printing with different colours onto different materials as well as in different shapes to show different textures and applications of colour. 

(Untitled, printing ink, on canvas, using zest it)

(Untitled, printing ink, on acetate)

To create the prints shown above I applied a similar process to the one used for the prints spoken about previously. For the first print I created my pallet on the work surface and so that the canvas would pick up the colour more successfully I added a little bit of zest-it onto the canvas its self and then placed it onto the colour pallet. I found the outcome quite interesting but the colours were not as strong as I had hoped. However where the zest-it had picked up colour, they had blended together where as the remainder of the pallet did not mix or spread so created a dry texture on the canvas. The print below was created by placing a piece of acetate onto the pallet. This printed well creating thick texture. But what I did find, is that due to the printing material being completely none absorbent the ink took a long time to completely dry so when put up on the wall the colours dripped down into each other and in some places where the ink wasn't so thick it rippled creating great texture. 

CPS Group Presentations - Annie Kevans.

One of the tasks set for CPS as practice before our individual seminars was to get into groups of three and give a presentation on an artist found on the London trip. For my group we chose to research Annie Kevans whose work we saw in The Saatchi Gallery. Below is our presentation. 

Annie Kevans

Annie Kevans was born in 1972 and currently lives and works in  London. She graduated from Central St. Martins School of Art & Design in 2004 and has already had solo exhibitions in New York and Vienna as well as London. She has also been involved in many group exhibitions in the UK, Europe and also the US. 

Brief Biography 

•2004 ‘Boys’ - Saatchi bought 30 paintings from her BA Degree show

•2005 ‘One Child’ - Looks at China’s ‘one child’ policy

•2006 ‘Girls’ - Dealing with the media-led sexualisation of childholld

•2007 ‘Swans’ - The American dream

•2007 ‘Vamps and Innocents’ - 1920’s female move stars who were forced to play either the virgin or the whore

Annie Kevans’ first shows/ exhibitions were during the early 2000’s. This was when the War of Terror and War in Afghanistan broke out. This was also a time during which there were many terrorist attacks; twin towers 7/11/, 2004 bombings in Madrid and the 7/7 bombings in London.  During the early 2000’s she produced a series of paintings called ‘Boys’ depicting dictators and war criminals as children. This could relate to the current state of the wars in the East and the terrorist attacks happening at the time because those people involved would also have been innocent children at one point.

Her more recent works were produced from 2009 to present during which the global recession began. Instead of reflecting the more recent politics and cultures of today her work instead looks at past public figures often relating to American History. Her art looks at issues surrounding important conflicts in the US and also on going horrors of slavery. It was during this time that the US elected their first black president, Barack Obama. Kevans’ paints figures that she believes to be overlooked, exploited or objectified within the situation of history or contemporary culture. For example in her series of paintings made from 2006 to 2008 called ‘Girls’ and ‘Mouseketeers’ she has painted Lindsey Lohan, Britney Spears and the Olsen twins. Here she was looking at the continuing media-led sexual corruption of young celebrities. 

(Britney Spears with Ears, oil on paper, 2007, 75 x 50 cm)

(Lindsey Lohan, oil on paper, 2006)

(Olsen Twins, oil on paper, 2006)

Kenans' work reflects her personal interest in power, manipulation and the role of the individual. For our presentation we looked mostly at her series of paintings called 'Boys' created in 2004 as her final project.

(Adolf Hitler, oil on paper 50 x 40 cm, 2004)

(Hugo Banzer, oil on paper, 50 x 40 cm, 2004)

(Mao Zedong, oil on paper, 50 x 40 cm, 2004)

This was then bought in its entirety by The Saatchi Gallery, London. This series of oil paintings depicts the ideal of innocence; a bunch of doe eyed, rosy cheeked faces of young boys. It makes your heart melt until you see the names of the children being portrayed. They are the most evil dictators and terrorists in history. Some of the paintings are painted from real photos and others are invented faces. The way Kevans has painted them is deliberate to its subject matter; the colours are washed out and delicate, as though they have been applied with love. The eyes are the main focal point of the paintings making you as the viewer feel sympathetic towards them which goes on to contradict what you think when you read the titles of the paintings. Instead this make you think of 'evil' raising many questions; when why and how did this start? What turned these once innocent children into what they became? Or were they in fact destined to end up the way they did? 

In the exhibition of these paintings in the Saatchi, they have been mounted at eye level and are lined up as though they are boys at school. It felt quite strange standing in a room surrounded by boys who have grown up to collectively kill millions of people yet our initial thoughts at first glance are ones of sympathy. Sweet young children. Its a horrible and harsh contrast to what they actually grew up to become. 

Press & Reviews on her paintings 'Boys'.

-          Port Magazine 24/04/13, interview

http://www.anniekevans.com/anniekevans/Press/Entries/2013/7/24_Port_Magazine.html

Quotes from the writer: ‘Peering at the painted face of an infant Adolf Hitler,  there’s a spark of innocence in the soft oily hues of his eyes. No hint is present of the unspeakable evil that this man’

‘ It’s an uncomfortable discourse, one that challenges our political and social understanding of the world around us’

Quote from Kevan’s during the interview: ‘I first began working with the idea of painting ‘evil’ children, but I wasn’t happy with the results and considered using photography. However, I soon realised it involved finding children to pose for the photos and, strangely, the work wouldn’t have had the same ring of truth about it as the paintings do i.e. I would have had to create photos that looked like genuine ones, and this would have seemed deliberately deceitful.’

-          The Independent 27/11/09

‘They are portraits only in a loose sense. "I paint people," she corrects, her works being a composite of existing images, research and imagination. Having spent months looking for snapshots of infant autocrats at play, she eventually gave up. "I thought, 'Does it matter anyway if I make them up?' It caused quite a lot of debate." And interest, too: Charles Saatchi snapped up the degree show in its entirety’

Painting Task.

As well as collecting our own research in our self directed time, during one of the lessons we were set the task of producing a large scale painting using Fabiano paper and only black and white emulsion paint. For this I developed one of my sketches from London, depicting a view looking off a bridge at the Thames and London Eye. My idea was to show the idea of movement without using people as I had done previously in my beginning research. So instead the water was a key part to achieving this in my painting as the ripples in the water would add life to the landscape, rather than showing a horizon or stationary buildings. 

( Untitled, emulsion paint on fabiano paper)

To paint this I began by painting the majority of the page in white and then working on top of that with black. Emulsion paint doesn't dry too fast so it made it easier to add different tones to my work without pre mixing shades of grey. To paint this I used a set of decorating brushes which ranged in size so I could apply fine detail as well as large brush strokes allowing me to show different textures within the piece. I thoroughly enjoyed this task and I positive about my outcome which surprised me as working to a large scale felt a bit daunting. I loved being able to use big brush strokes to create more gestural marks as opposed to working on a smaller more confined scale. If I could improve on this I could reconsider the angle of the London Eye as I have not quite got the right ellipse to help show the correct position of the structure. As development I would like to produce some more larger scale paintings at some point, but next time introducing colour.

Dry Point, Collograph & Lino cuts.

Over the past few lessons we have been shown how to produce 3 more different types of prints using the workshop. 

The first was dry point. I already knew how to produce dry points due to studying my foundation course at DMU. However it was helpful to refresh my mind on the process. Dry Points can be created using various materials; metal plates, acetate and even thin cardboard sheets (takeaway pot covers are good for this). The first print was created using a small square metal plate which had to first be polished to give a fresh clean surface to work from and also it had to be sanded down to curve the sharp corners. If the corners were not smoothed out then they would tare the paper when sent through the roller machine. After preparing the metal plate you then scratch your design into the surface. Once you have finished this you then use blank ink to cover the whole plate making sure the ink has gone inside the lines you have created. After this, using a material called scrimp you rub off the ink which is not inside the small lines. After you have removed what you can you finally use some paper to get off any extra ink that wasn't taken off with the scrimp. Your plate is now ready to print with, however first you need to soak your paper. Once this has been done and the paper has been blotted you can send your print through the press. You can continue to print with the plate, you do not have to use black ink you can use any colour. 

(Untitled, dry Point using metal plate, black ink, 6cm x 6cm)

Like the metal sheet the same process applies with the other materials like acetate and card, however these surfaces do not need to be cleaned first. You can use many things to scratch into the surface like dry point and etching tools and also sand paper. With dry points after preparing your printing plate the key thing is to always remember to soak your paper before hand. This helps to pick up the ink from the scratches made. 

(Untitled, dry point using card board, coloured ink, approx A5)

This next print technique demonstrated to us was collographs. In its most simple definition collographs are a form of relief printing. They are created by either marking the surface or sticking things onto the surface (usually a piece of card). You can stick a variety of things onto the surface like sand, leaves, paper and fabric. Once you have created your  design you then seal the surface using either a varnish or form of lacquer. Once this has completely dried, like the dry point process you then ink up the surface and the remove the ink but this time instead of using scrimp you can use scrap fabric and gently rub off the ink, otherwise you may risk rubbing off some of your relief textures depending what they are and how well they have been glued down. You take off the excess ink until it is no longer shiny. Your collograph is now ready but again you must soak your paper first before printing. You can continue to use your print as many times as you wish. 

(Untitled, collograph, A5)

(Untitled, coloured collograph print, A5)

(Untitled, collograph print using only black ink, A5)

Next we were introduced to lino cut printing. This again is a form of print which involves you marking the surface you will print with. You begin by getting a piece of lino and drawing on your design firstly in pencil and then again in pen so that it wont rub off when you need to repeat the print. You then draw out a template of your piece of lino onto a plain piece of paper which will end up acting as your guide when it comes to printing. Once you have the design/ drawing you want and you have your guideline you then begin by cutting out the parts that you want to be left completely white, untouched by ink. The next stage involves you rolling out the colour you want to use for the first layer. With lino prints, the trick is to start with the lightest colours and get darker. Once the lino is ready and inked up you can send it through the pressing machine making sure you place it carefully onto the guideline you made previously. Below is my beginning print, as you can see the parts I have cut out are white and these will remain so throughout the process. 

(Untitled, print no.1 of my lino cut, A5)

After completing this first stage you wipe off the ink on the lino. You can then begin to cut out the next layer of the drawing which will remain as the first colour you used. Once ready you can now roll out your next colour that you wish to print with to form the second layer. Like before you then print with this making sure that you follow the guidelines so that you are printing on top of your previous print in the correct position. You can continue this process as many times as you wish, removing the next layer of lino and changing the colour, making sure to follow the guidelines of your template until your design is complete. This process is a very long one which involves a lot of patience. I found it quite enjoyable it was almost therapeutic.

(Untitled, print no.2, A5)

The print above appears blotchy and this is due to there not being enough presser applied when sending it through the machine. This can be solved by either sending it through again or asking for the technician to renew the paper used to apply the pressure. As you can see below, the third print is a lot stronger due to there being the correct amount of pressure in the press. 

(Untitled, print no.3, A5) 

Talk about curating and exhibiting work.

(5th November) 'The Thought of Stuff' curated by Leila Galloway & Andy Price May - June 2010

(Royal British Society of Sculpture - RSS)

Curating an exhibition consists of a lot of hard work, there are many points to consider and organise/  decide upon. The exhibition spoken about started off small with only a select few artists but it ended up being a lot bigger with more artists than anticipated. The artists involved were; Jonathan Callan, Adam Gillam, Wayne Lucas, Jack Strange, Esmerelda Valencia and Alison Wilding. Asking the artists can take a very long time to get answers and some will say no so you need plenty in case of rejection. To help advertise the show effectively they had help from a graphic artist who produced the website and invitations. It can become very frantic when curating a show to meet deadlines and make decisions. Leila and Andy were mostly interested in the way artists used/ related to the materials they use. As well as deciding on artists and the location you also have to produce a press releases, one for the RSS and one by De Montfort University. Another very important part of curating a show is money. For this show they had very little money so had to budget which is very important. They did gain some funding from the University and the RSS offered them the exhibition space for nothing which helped them a lot. The money for the show was sorted out roughly 7 months before the exhibition and due to not being ready they also had to postpone it by a few months. An other important part of curating a show is that the artwork you take requires insurance from its transportation to on the wall in the gallery. The artists will expect their work to be well treated and returned in the conditions to which it was sent out. For this particular exhibition it cost £800 to collect the work and another £800 to take the work back. 

I found this talk very interesting as curating a show and working in a gallery is something I would love to gain experience in in the future.