Art & Abstraction - Faith & Lust

Work by Stephen Hodge. Image courtesy Flinders St Gallery

Currently showing at Flinders St Gallery (Flinders St near Taylor Square) is the Exhibition Faith and Lust. The exhibition features works by a number of established and not so established artists all producing work that explores various approaches to art through abstraction.

Some of the artists showing are Alex Lawler, Ron Adams, Tom Langlands, Christoph Bruckner and Stephen Hodge.

The exhibition includes both two and three-dimensional works.

I'm pretty sure it only runs til next weekend but it's worth checking out.

Details: Faith & Lust at Flinders St Gallery 61 Flinders Street Darlinghurst Wed - Sat 11am - 6pm

http://www.flindersstreetgallery.com

SPI Studio Theory

A REMINDER:

THIS IS SCULPTURE, PERFORMANCE AND INSTALLATION - STUDIO THEORY...

AS SUCH, I WOULD PREFER YOU FOCUS ON RELEVANT CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS WITHIN THIS STUDIO AREA!

jackson pollock

Physical art. Physical expression.

Jackson pollock could not master the traditional aesthetics of painting, but found refuge in  the physical act of expression. Utilizing rhythm and colour to allude subjectivity and emotion.

Pollocks works use rhythm and force to both draw the viewer in and push them away. The abstract formations are intangible, however they are capable of connecting to ones psyche. But yet, the forms and brushwork are free flowing, melodious. The sheer size of the work is also very confronting, the viewer becomes lost in the embellishing visuals. An overwhelming chaos.

Bronwyn Oliver

Bronwyn Oliver was schooled at COFA and lived and worked in the neighbouring suburb of Haberfield until tragically taking her own life. Her work can be found at the Botanic Gardens in Sydney.
Working primarily in woven copper wire with effects like patina her works consistently embody natural forms. She had a twenty exhibition stabling at Roslyn Oxley 9 and taught in the Eastern Suburbs.

ARTSPACE

Art and Abstraction

Mark Rothko is an abstract expressionist painter. This artist is concerned with emotions and colour as seen in this work below. I love this artists work due to his expressive use of colour and his technique, his great use of the brush strokes which create a subtle colour modulation. Contrasting colours are used, depicting different emotions within the works, creatnig an interesting piece that draws the viewers eye into the focal point, usually being the centre of the artwork. And as Rothko says, "There is no such thing as a painting about nothing."

sorry i couldnt get the image to work but take a look at his exhibiton at the tate modern gallery to see some of his work.

http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ViewWork?cgroupid=999999961&workid=12964&searchid=9194

Abstraction: Diana Al Hadid

Diana Al Hadid uses materials such as plaster, fiberglass, wax and paint to create hauntingly beautiful works that represent organic, abstract forms.
http://www.al-hadid.wsdia.com/9.html
(Sorry the image wouldn't post!)

Art and Abstraction: jennifer maestre

jennifer maestre's pencil sculptures are pretty wicked, they remind me of the durian fruit. 

Art & Abstraction - Al Munro

Al Munro

Last year a few friends and i visited the Brender May Gallery in Waterloo, which is a contemporary gallery for Australian atrists. Some of the recent works at Artspace reminded me of an exhibition in 2007 at the BMG, especially Between Site & Space:













Due to the maps and street photography, i thought of Al Munro who exhibited in 2007 with "Future Farming". Munro says he "continues investigations into the patterns and codes used to represent and ‘map’ the natural world. The works also refer to contemporary projects in mapping nature such as genetic profiling and Dolly the sheep.












Future Farming
Brenda May Gallery 2007


http://www.brendamaygallery.com.au/

Art & Abstraction: Richard Deacon

Richard Deacon is best known for creating abstract sculptures that allude to anatomical structures and organic forms using elements of engineering as a means of fabrication. Deacon sculptures are often constructed from everyday artefacts such as wood metal and sometimes plastic. Metals are riveted together in smooth shapes which imply both the inner and outer parts of human form, and wood is laminated, curved and twisted into organic shapes, and unlikely ribbons. His work explores the relationship between body and space, interior and exterior, self and other. And since the 1970’s Deacon’s work has further explored the relations between the literal and the metaphoric.

Deacon works on both a domestic and monumental scale. Many of his large-scale sculptures such as What Could Make Me Feel This Way ‘A’ or Like A Snail ‘B’ recall chassis or ribcages from the human body. These forms vary, as some loop and curve across the room, while others float across the floor like large drops of liquid.

His monumental public works range from sets of gates for cities, to sculptures situated in public squares and parks, to backdrops for performances. For example, in 1993 he collaborated with Hervu Robbe and Dominique Fabrigue to design the sets and costumes for a dance which was performed by La Ferme du Buisson from Paris. Deacon used to actively participate in his works, at the start of his career, but later saw there was no need for his physical presence. His large-scale works are complemented by smaller-scale works such as Art for Other People, an ongoing series which combined an extensive range of everyday industrial materials, which are shaped into sculptural forms. The Infinity series is another example, form the 1990’s which consisted of a number of stainless steel works with ‘pin cushion’ like surface which responded to the light bouncing off the high points and flickering across the surface as if it were liquid.

Richard Deacon has successfully been able to fashion abstract sculptures by using various materials, to create oragnic and anaomatical forms.

Book References:

- Eleanor Heartney, Art and Today. (London: Phaidon Press Limited, 2008).

- Jon Thompson, Pier Luigi Tazzi, Peter Schjeldahl, Penelope Curtis, Richard Deacon. (London: Phaidon Press Limited, 1995)

- Clarrie Wallis and Edmund de Waal, Richard Deacon: Out of Order (London: Tate Trustees 2005)

Web References:

http://www.richarddeacon.net/

http://www.publicartfund.org/pafweb/projects/05/deacon/deacon-05.html

http://www.phaidon.com/Default.aspx/Web/richard-deacon-9780714839493

Photos From:

http://www.richarddeacon.net/

Art & Abstraction - Andrew bell

Andrew bell is an American artist who creates illustrations, paintings, prints and sculptures.
while being a pop surrealist Andrew's work links to abstraction through it's aesthetic subject matter, this being the imaginary creatures he creates.

this is an example of one of his most recent work (made 3/02/09), accompanying this image is the caption "i’ve had my problems…" the abstraction lies in the characters hyperbolic features, the expanded eyes, bloated body, uselessly thin arms and oversized mouth. this creature resembles almost nothing we know in reality and comes solely from the artists mind.
many critics and artists in the past have rejected andrew's work saying it's more of a design and marketing program than real art because of it's apparent lack of meaning and skill. In response to this the artist revealed that the works are more for himself than anyone else as they represent for him aspects of his own life and reality.
(07/25/06)
this work for example sporting the caption "this has gone on too long…" was made while on a flight home from san diego, the meaning behind the artwork is quite obviously the frustration over being stuck on the plane. while the meaning is obvious in this piece alot of his works are left open to interpretation by the artist because they hold a personal meaning for only himself.
Andrew has also created a number of sculpture series usually sold as toys and models to fans.


"The Giver of Desease: Gangrene" (09/08/08) and "The Giver of War: Dead Zebra" (07/23/08)
Andrew bell is a rising artist, while he has had various solo exhibitions as well as many joint exhibitions his work is not well known to the public or the art world.
he can be found at http://www.creaturesinmyhead.com/which is a show case for his art to date and has info on upcoming and past events.

all images and information obtained from http://www.creaturesinmyhead.com/

Art and Abstraction

Another reference to my childhood memories of the National gallery of Aus in Canberra. The "Blue Poles"(1952) by Jackson Pollock. It is similar to other drip paintings by Pollock, with the addition of eight large vertical blue "poles" placed over the top. I remember visiting the gallery with my grandmother, who passed away some years ago. She bought a mounted poster of this abstract work and had it on her wall for many years. Inevitably, i inherited the picture and currently it sits in my room. So not only does this painting hold a significance in the current subject of art and abstraction, but it creates fond memories of my wonderful grandmother.

Art and Abstraction

After visiting Artspace last week I had a look into some of Alex Gawronski's previous work. I came across a piece called 'Switch'.  It is a twin cast of a telephone receiver connected and suspended from the ceiling.  When I first saw it I didn't realize what it was, it resembled some abstract, almost organic form.

http://www.ryszard.net/alex/defult2.html 

 (cut and past, sorry hyperlink didn't work)

Ross Bleckner - Art and Abstraction

Ross Bleckner, Dream and Do, 

1996, oil on linen, 84" X 72"

Ross Bleckner, Mysticism for Beginners, 

2001, oil on linen, 84" X 180"

In his many artworks, the artist Ross Bleckner exhibits an appeal that usually does not befit the generalised opinion of abstract art. His execution of colour is tender and delicate, warm and delicious; with themes which are abundantly repetitious.
His artworks leave you wanting, but what you want is questionable. Is it a ball or a bow? If not something visually present, what do the textures make you want? Do they make you hungry or want to open a gift?
In any case, we are left with aesthetically very pleasing artworks, which are in fact abstract.

http://www.rbleckner.com

Attila Csörg

Slanting Water, Attila Csörg.
1995, photograph.
Galerija Gregor Fodner, Ljuljana/Berlin, and collection Mark Cucek.

When I saw this photograph by Attila Csörg it instantly reminded me of the work I had seen by Alex Gawronski at Artspace on Tuesday. Gawronski’s installation was of two wooden boxes with a glass lid. They are hanging like a scale with different currencies of the same amount in each of them. Slanting Water is of two glasses of water on a turntable. When the glasses are spun around, the wind blows the water into abstract shapes. It looks like a city full of skyscrapers falling down. It’s surprising and entertaining to observe ordinary phenomena under extraordinary conditions.

"what Georgie said"

''Exchange-value''

I really liked this work also and on the same premise as Georgie. I liked the way it was still able to convey its message without the use of elaborate imagery or dense visualizations. It stood simply as uneven scales forced into an "equal" existence by the use of a tiny piece of wood wedged into the joining point from which both sides were balanced. The work, regardless of its simplicity of form, seemed to speak of power, strength and economy while also suggesting vulnerability and misguided values.  A poetic analogy of societies imposed ideas of equality.

Fortune, Told!

Art Space 31/03

Gail Priest's exciting concept took my attention and I pined for a moment alone with the piece, I asked the fundamental question about prosperity,"Will I be rich, Will I get 1 millon dollars?" but I was also barking away about my bleak outlook in general at present. The opportunity to ratify some concerns with a projection of my personal wants to explain, was impassable.

The runes (I also had become fascinated with builders, tilers glue marks) drew Substance, Health and Consumption. Not a million dolllars but crazily enough, provided some affirmation of the need for a more positive future.

The Chinese practice of I- Chiing utilizes the total possible combination of three coins in the random act of falling and landing to their face values, There are 64 combinations and each has a meaning.

Confucius, Emperor of China, had the practice banned, angry at the procrastinations the game brought.

Runes originated in Norse times, the symbols of specific Nordic, pictographic letters carved into water worn rock, with one being left blank to incorporate Odin's presence and that which is the great unknowable. One way to divine one's fortune is to shuffle the runes in an opaque bag, while asking yourself a question needing answers, the single rune drawn will have an answer.

Artspace

"Exchange Value"- Alex Gawronski

I thought this Piece was good. I remember someone asking (I can't remember who it was) whether it actually was physically balanced. When we were told it wasn't I thought about it some more and realised that the money in the wooden containers was equal in value but the pole was fixed there. I guess this could represent that things aren't really equal and that there is the potential for equality to occur but society has rigid rules and constructs that prevent this from occurring. Also what's equal in some ways isn't in others. Might be completely off but I found that the work could symbolise a lot. 

I also really liked the "Between  site and space" one with the video cams. Hours of entertainment looking into the camera and watching that guy on his computer!