EXHIBITION TIME!

Its one of our favourite times of the year so we are going to celebrate with an exhibition full of some seriously good looking paintings......

See you all Thursday!

The Fragmentary State

I take an auto-ethnographic approach to Contemporary Art Practice at Porthmeor Studios in St Ives, Cornwall where I am based.  As a phenomenological site of specific interest to my reflexive studio practice is the patina of paint found on the floors, walls and doors formed by weathering, light and occupancy - the fishermen and the artists.  I use the studio as both an instrument and a conceptual framework to develop my inquiry into the notion of fragment as generative phenomena.       

What makes the loci of place?  Art making perhaps, or physical histories and cultural products whose temporal presence is often cyclical, mirrored in the drawings on paper, their material agency embedded in the building itself – unfinished and infolding. 

The painted image evokes the notion of fragment and is the fragment at the same moment.  In this place the painting operates as both a singular process and from the patina a source of many authors, a hinge, from artist to artist.  “It is the fragment and fragmentary state that are the enduring and normative; conversely, it is the whole that’s ephemeral, and the state of wholeness that is transitory.” (Tronzo, William. 2009)  

Clare Wardman, 2012

'Tatuitpo', oil on canvas, by Clare Wardman.

It's All a Matter of Paint

Hello everyone

"I make easel-sized paintings. The matter of paint is where my process begins and ends. I want to be surprised by the last mark as much as I am deflated by the first. I value the facts that a decision on the size and the way the canvas is prepared influences the whole nature of the object while not impeding its possibilities. It is an environment where chance and accidents come into play offering unexpected solutions and illusionistic qualities.
As a sequence, the paintings are uneasily defined. Sometimes reacting to each other incoherently. To me figuration and abstraction are not separate ideologies, simply facts of painting. So my paintings are about the act itself. Still, I find that the historical weight of painting is forever interrupting the act like a reminder that as practitioner one has a responsibility to understand and react to the past and consequently assume a position.
Another preoccupation is to try and understand the utility of painting and it’s relation to design and craft. Through installation, framing and wood carving I explore this relation."
Zara Idelson, July 2012.

 

'Boconnoc', acrylic and pigment on canvas, by Zara Idelson.

Happy Snaps II

Hello everyone

Greetings to our new blog follower Peter (& Fly the dog!) who's adventures you can read about here:

http://pedsoutdoordiary.blogspot.co.uk/

I thought I'd just share a few more shots of the Mark Of Beauty, MOB, opening from 07.08.12 as they are bright and colourful and make me smile:

John McLean's 'Acrobat' glows in the evening sun.

Artist Trevor Jones with his latest paintings and charming gallery visitor.

The lovely artist Iain Robertson in front of his painting, 'One'.
And leaving you with this as it really makes me smile:

Abstract giant John Mclean leaves handy tips on how to hang his painting.
Well, you can't be too careful can you!

Speak soon x

No Preconceptions Here....

"My aim when I start a painting is to create a colour composition, which is only complete when my original ideas and pre-conceptions have been replaced by a purely impulsive conclusion, which surprises and satisfies me.

The work must contain an illusion of the third dimension giving a sense of some colours projecting forward from the picture plane and others appearing to recede.

The whole must have a felt continuity across the entire picture surface and not appear broken by a too deep recessive space which is the result of poor colour relationships."

Fred Pollock, 2012

'Etna', acrylic on canvas, by Fred Pollock.

Something Abstract and really special for a Monday morning

  

'Acrobat', acrylic on canvas, by John McLean.

"My pictures have no hidden meaning.  To understand, all you have to do is look.  I work in terms of the feelings I can elicit with drawing, colour and surface.  Instinct and spontaneity are crucial.  Thought goes into it too, in the same way that it does in singing and dancing."

John McLean, 2012

Surely the perfect description of truly abstract art?

Speak soon.

Happy Snaps

A few photos from the MOB opening 07.08.12

The crowds start gathering......

The paintings start to radiate.

A happy chappy.
Lovely UG visitor Chris enjoying a splash of colour.

Crowd control continues!

Artist Trevor Jones enjoying the evening.

And leaving you with this....

Yup. That is a REAL smile!

Have a bright and beautiful weekend all :)