Incorporating reviews of the following exhibitions:
“Unofficial War Artist” (Peter Kennard, Imperial War Museum, London)
“Freedom of Assembly” (Theaster Gates, White Cube Gallery, London)
(Both visited on 16
May 2015)
In Part 1 I discussed how I
derive inspiration for my photographic work from many different areas of the
art world, how the paintings of Salvador Dali have influenced and inspired me
far more than the work of any photographer, living or dead, and how the
aesthetic appeal (a very subjective value) of any work of art plays a part in
influencing my photographic output. I have always struggled to elucidate how
the work of artists seen in exhibitions, books and films has influenced my own
work or state of mind. This document provides a practical example, concerning a
recent visit to two very different exhibitions on the same afternoon, which
influenced my thinking and may provide me with material for future photographic
work.
“Unofficial War Artist” (Peter Kennard)
Peter Kennard has, for nearly 40
years, been a strong and vocal pacifist voice. His work (Image 1 is a typical
example) uses photomontage to denounce war and call for nuclear disarmament.
His montages have appeared regularly on banners, fly posters and t-shirts at
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and Amnesty International events. Student demonstrations
have featured his work, as have many “left of centre” publications, including
“The Guardian”.
Image 1: “Protect and
Survive” (Peter Kennard)
Kennard’s work could not afford
to be too subtle. It had to be consumed and understood by the general public,
members of whom could then appreciate and use his art work to express their feelings.
The work shown in Image 1 was produced shortly after the British Government’s public
information booklet, “Protect and Survive” (1980), suggesting measures to be
taken in the event of an imminent nuclear war, had been published. The meaning
is obvious. Arguably Kennard’s most famous montage, a “reproduction” of
Constable’s “The Hay Wain”, in which the hay has been replaced by cruise
missiles (made at the time of the Greenham Common protests) is represented
here. Another more recent “Photoshop” montage, in which Tony Blair is taking a
“selfie” at the time of the Iraq War, with a background of oil well fireballs
and explosions, is not here but can be seen in publicity material about the
event. Amongst his most poignant material is the “Decoration” series of mixed
media (a mixture of digital printing and oil paint) canvases displaying war
medals with frayed ribbons, each “medal” displaying unpalatable aspects of the
Iraq war such as the number of kills by an American sniper unit (see Image 2).
Image 2: “Decoration”
(Peter Kennard)
I have long held a fascination
for photomontage work and Kennard’s is some of the best. His motifs are
hard-hitting and, in many cases, imbued with a pleasing aesthetic quality which
somehow seems to contradict the dirty businesses of war and the nuclear arms
race. Furthermore, he was doing this work long before the advent of digital
made it that much easier to manipulate and falsify images. In the final room,
Kennard pulls many of his works together with a series of numerical facts (e.g.
the explosive power of the nuclear weapons carried on each of the four British
Trident submarines is equal to 320
Hiroshima bombs). I congratulate the Imperial War Museum, of all places, on bravely
putting on this exhibition of Pacifist art.
Influence and Inspiration
This exhibition was “right up my
street” for three reasons. Firstly, I love the idea of producing photo-montage
(and photo-collage) work that has intent and purpose. I’ve dabbled in this work
in the past and it was a pleasure to see the work of a master craftsman of the
genre. Perhaps the art of Peter Kennard will be a significant influence on my
work in the future.
Secondly, Kennard’s use of
statistics to back up his montages and further demonstrate the futility of war
relates to my current major project work and the views I hold about how and why
man is damaging the environment. Perhaps he is too forceful, perhaps he is
preaching to the converted but the use of statistics to back up his arguments,
whilst it may not be art, is certainly effective. The sad fact is that the vast
majority of us will agree with his anti-war sentiments, but we can do nothing
about it. The few politicians who do have the power to change things may well
also agree in private with his sentiments but will also do nothing to change
the current status quo, such as unilaterally getting rid of nuclear weapons.
The same is true with my views about the environment, but I have a voice and
Kennard shows me one way in which I can use it.
Thirdly, Kennard’s work is full
of ideas and imagination. I was particularly impressed by his use of a
magnifying glass to explore cause (the image in the glass) and effect (the
linked image surrounding it) or, as in Image 3, to contrast wealth with poverty
(“the richest 85 people in
the world own the same amount of wealth as the poorest half of humanity, 3,500,000,000 people). Can I use
this type of concept in my future work? I believe that I can.
Image 3 (Peter
Kennard)
I found this exhibition to be both influential and
inspirational. The very act of writing this review has further cemented the
ideas contained within – I hope that I can return to those ideas in the future.
“Freedom of
Assembly” (Theaster Gates)
Trained as a potter and an urban planner, Theaster Gates has
been making a name for himself on the (poor) south side of Chicago by buying or
otherwise procuring abandoned or run-down properties, renovating them and using
them as community centres. He uses his art works to fund his projects and has
established quite a reputation within the art world.
I was tempted to this exhibition by my partner, for whom
Gates’ work holds greater resonance. The new work on display here features
sculptures in various media, elements obtained from a hardware store,
sections of flooring from a school gymnasium (with a series of markings
depicting the various sports that were played on the floor) and a series of tar
paintings, using materials that his father would have employed in his job as a
roofer, before he retired and handed over his materials to Gates.
I found that Gates’ individual works generally lacked appeal
and their combination was somewhat discordant. Some of the tar paintings
provided a sombre atmosphere and the sections of gymnasium floor worked well as
“discovered” abstract art objects, but the sculptures left me cold and
uninterested. However, all was not lost. Unusually for an art exhibition, photography
was allowed. Whilst the works themselves held little photographic interest I
became fascinated by the way in which they interacted, both with their
surroundings and with exhibition visitors, in the main gallery of the “White
Cube”. I also photographed some close up details of the tar paintings, trying
to create art from art.
Interaction between
the Exhibits and the Gallery
Images 4 and 5 demonstrate aspects of the interaction
between Gates’ exhibits and the gallery space. In Image 4 one of his tar
paintings runs into the gallery wall, whilst in image 5 a sculpture and a tar
painting are shown against the plain white background of the gallery walls and
the gallery floor.
Image 4 (Theaster Gates / White Cube)
Image 5 (Theaster Gates / White Cube)
Interactions between
the Exhibits and People
Images 6 and 7 are a couple of the many photographs that I
took of the interactions of people with the exhibits. Here, the images are less
“Deadpan” and more “Tableau” than Images 4 and 5. They could be left or added to in
order to create a narrative.
Image 6 (Theaster Gates / White Cube)
Image 7 (Theaster Gates / White Cube)
Art Detail
Image 8 depicts a detail from one of Gates’ tar paintings
Image 8 (Theaster Gates / White Cube)
Influence and Inspiration
In this exhibition I was
influenced not by the exhibits but by the way that they interacted with their
surroundings. With its plain, bright, white rooms and lack of distracting décor,
the White Cube is an excellent venue for displaying art, particularly when it
is not just attached to the walls of the exhibition rooms. Here, the freedom to
photograph anything and everything allowed me to experiment and create images
with a range of styles: my favourites are the (to my eyes) interesting
tableaux.
I am interested in (un-posed)
street photography and the tableaux may inspire me to do some more work in this
genre, perhaps concentrating on onlookers interacting with an outdoor statue or
sculpture. If I can combine this work with on-going projects (such as “feeding
the birds”, which is essentially street photography) then so much the better.
Is there a link between the two exhibitions?
In their own, very different ways
both exhibitions provided me with ideas and inspiration which, by recording my
critique of the work, I can recall and perhaps incorporate in my own work.
Sometimes there is an obvious link between exhibitions of the work of different
photographers, but here I struggle. Perhaps I could use a tableau such as Image
7 and, using “Photoshop”, replace the tar painting with a mirror or a window
(related to the Kennard magnifying glass: see Image 3), with a view that
connects in some way to the rest of the image. Alternatively I could create my
own tableau, incorporating people, a white wall and a connected “exhibit” in the form of
a picture, mirror or window.
Conclusions
Exhibitions, books, films and
magazines all have an influence, to a greater or lesser extent, on my thought
processes and on the art that I produce. Sometimes it is difficult to quantify
that influence, as I have tried to do in this review. Inspiration largely
depends on state of mind. Sitting at my computer I invariably struggle to find
inspiration from any source. However vising an exhibition, in different and
possibly new surroundings, can provide a setting from which ideas and
inspiration can flow. If the featured art resonates with what I am trying to do
in my own work it can have a significant influence. Memory then plays an
important part, so by writing down my thoughts relating to the exhibition (or
book, or magazine, or film) work, as I am doing here, I can return to sources
of inspiration and use them again, at a time when they may be required.
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