A fascinating session with the Saturday Perspectives group this weekend followed into a relaxed and wide-ranging discussion in Thinking Aloud, sitting in the rooftop foyer looking out at the sparkling sea on a glorious Spring afternoon. The Pavilion really comes into its own on a day like that, full of light, and everybody spilling out onto the balconies and terraces.
We started our tour by looking for exemplar works of the two broad strands in the exhibition as articulated by Lutz Becker, namely the geometrical work , and the gestural, or more intuitive mark-making. We then went on to look at writing by Edwin Morgan, Alan Ginsberg, and Gertrude Stein, to try and answer the following question: can literature ever truly be gestural, Expressionist, in the way some of the exhibition pieces are?
An interesting point for me was when a member of the group spoke of the playfulness of the more geometrical work (in this instance the Lissitzky pieces). My personal preference is towards the Expressionist, and I never usually think of geometrical work as playful, so it was refreshing to examine it from that perspective. We discussed the potential for play within construction, and thought of it in terms of a child building things out of blocks and shapes, that impulse is definitely playful and highly geometrical.
Sunday, 18 April 2010
Friday, 9 April 2010
Saturday Perspectives 3 April 2010
Lutz Becker, the curator of ‘Modern Times’ talks about drawing in terms of time and motion and this of course is the link with film. I am thinking of drawing as a meeting place of intuition and thought. Thinking is intuitive. Intuition involves feeling. Thinking and intuition both involve language, some of which is verbal.
Choose a picture and spend some time with it. Let it speak to you. What does it say? Would you be able to tell in words what it is saying to you? Would you be able to communicate that to others? Or would it be best to make another drawing in order to let it speak through you?
A vital link between the two exhibitions, ‘Modern Times’ and Tony Bevan is F. X. Messerchmidt, the early 19th century German sculptor whose busts of people with extreme facial expressions look so contemporary and fresh to us still. German Romanticism re-asserted the importance of feeling after the Enlightenment’s mistrust of it.
When I spent an hour or so in ‘Modern Times’ on Saturday looking at the drawings with a group of people we noticed details, gestures, simple devices that created the illusion of depth, marks that looked like writing and words that looked like shapes, movement and vitality . . . barely scratching the surface of all those surface scratchings.
Susan Diab
Monday, 29 March 2010
Exciting new shows opening soon...
The work for our two new exhibitions is just starting to be installed and they're both going to look fantastic!
Modern Times: responding to chaos is selected by film-maker, painter and curator Lutz Becker. His exhibition will comprise drawings, prints and experimental films, and will explore the recurring tension between figuration and abstraction throughout the 20th century and the ways by which ideas and concepts evolve. Presented non-chronologically, it will encompass movements such as Russian Constructivism, Futurism and Vorticism, Abstract Expressionism and Minimalism, and comprise works by key artists, as well as works of artists who have been sidelined in the mainstream of art history. From Malevich and El Lissitky to Flavin and Judd, from Grosz and Dix to Pollock, Michaux and Kounellis, Becker anticipates two major strands of drawing emerging – the geometric and the gestural. The exhibition will also include films by Hans Richter, Fernand Léger and Viking Eggeling.
Tony Bevan is one of the most important painters working in Britain today. For his new painting installation at the De La Warr Pavilion Bevan has produced three colossal works specifically for Gallery 2. Inspired by his recent travels to China, in particular his experience of the Giant Buddah of Leshan, and his ongoing interest in the 'character heads' of the 18th century German-Austrian sculptor Fraz Xaver Messerschmidt, the new paintings continue Bevan's exploration of self-portraiture.
Both exhibitions open on 3 April until 13 June.
For a full list of talks and events accompanying the season see our website, http://www.dlwp.com/
Modern Times: responding to chaos is selected by film-maker, painter and curator Lutz Becker. His exhibition will comprise drawings, prints and experimental films, and will explore the recurring tension between figuration and abstraction throughout the 20th century and the ways by which ideas and concepts evolve. Presented non-chronologically, it will encompass movements such as Russian Constructivism, Futurism and Vorticism, Abstract Expressionism and Minimalism, and comprise works by key artists, as well as works of artists who have been sidelined in the mainstream of art history. From Malevich and El Lissitky to Flavin and Judd, from Grosz and Dix to Pollock, Michaux and Kounellis, Becker anticipates two major strands of drawing emerging – the geometric and the gestural. The exhibition will also include films by Hans Richter, Fernand Léger and Viking Eggeling.
Tony Bevan is one of the most important painters working in Britain today. For his new painting installation at the De La Warr Pavilion Bevan has produced three colossal works specifically for Gallery 2. Inspired by his recent travels to China, in particular his experience of the Giant Buddah of Leshan, and his ongoing interest in the 'character heads' of the 18th century German-Austrian sculptor Fraz Xaver Messerschmidt, the new paintings continue Bevan's exploration of self-portraiture.
Both exhibitions open on 3 April until 13 June.
For a full list of talks and events accompanying the season see our website, http://www.dlwp.com/
Saturday, 13 March 2010
LAST WEEKEND
A fond farewell to Richard Grayson and thanks for a really thought provoking show. It's impossible to recall the breadth of the discussions we've had both today and over the past weeks. To name but a few: truth, authenticity, belief, disbelief, uncertainty, country and western music, horoscopes, performance, portraiture, boring dinner party conversations, singing, ... and the many guises of the artist... as social commentator, thinker, enquirer, presenter of ideas, documentor, provocateur, someone who picks and probes at sticky problems without the imposition of offering answers...
To the MA group from the Slade who I MISSED meeting today - so sorry to have missed you - it would have been great to have had you at a Thinking Aloud session. Perhaps some other time...
To the MA group from the Slade who I MISSED meeting today - so sorry to have missed you - it would have been great to have had you at a Thinking Aloud session. Perhaps some other time...
GALLERY WALK AND TALK TODAY AT 2PM
Last chance! Hope you can join me for the last Saturday afternoon walk & talk around the Richard Grayson exhibition today. I'll be in the building all afternoon if you want to chat about the show. You can find me in the gallery between 2 and 3pm, and then upstairs in the 2nd floor foyer from about 3.15 if you want to join me for tea & chat in "Thinking Aloud". Hope to see you there.
Judith
Judith
Sunday, 28 February 2010
The artist's questions, and a first date
This week the Saturday discussions in the gallery were informed enormously by having Richard Grayson himself in to talk about the exhibition and answer questions. More on that shortly. Informal chats in the gallery beforehand with people viewing the work. As Bern has said in the previous post, it is very interesting how this work seems to open up discussion in some fairly revealing areas of people's lives and beliefs with very little preamble. My favourite anecdote however was from one couple I went up to speak to about the work. I introduced myself and asked how they were finding the exhibition, what they made of the work, and the young man looked at me and said, "We're actually on a first date, so to be honest I'm not really taking much of it in!" I decided that it probably wasn't the time to try and discuss art and left them to it. (I do hope the date went well - one of the many functions of art at work!) One couple I spoke to for some time raised the issue of compatibility of different belief systems, how an individual's belief system may have accommodate several others simultaneously. They were interested in the representations of astrology and Christianity, and in their own lives professed a belief in both. However they also knew people close to them who didn't feel that was tenable, and that astrology was un-Christian. Our discussion was focused on the ways in which all of us incorporate aspects of different systems, rituals and so on, into something that is coherent for us, and that for all of us there was a limit to how far we would go beyond our own comfort zone in having our beliefs challenged.
There is much I could write about Richard Grayson's Q&A (led by Andrew Brighton). Richard was warm, engaging, entertaining, and disarmingly open about his own lack of certainty around issues of belief. Although inspired in part by his concern that there seems to be a movement of specific religious beliefs back into the political sphere, he was keen to stress that he had no intention with the work to make fun of anyone's beliefs, nor to directly criticise, but rather to examine "belief in operation", "the functions of belief, rather than what the beliefs actually are."
He spoke at length about his problem with the (post-modern) idea of equivalence - the notion that one belief system offers exactly the same weight and validity as another - but he also struggles with any belief system that claims absolute truth and rightness. He described his own position as "fluttery" and that the work essentially is about examining rather than supporting or decrying the content of individuals' belief systems.
There is much else besides that was covered, and it made for an engaging walk and talk afterwards, although such was the level of engagement that the group never moved from beyond the beginning of the exhibition! All those taking part had seen the work previously and been present at Richard's talk, so the focus was on the questions raised by what they had seen and heard, rather than re-engaging with individual pieces. Questions that were raised included: how far is it one's responsibility when viewing work to be informed? This was in response to a reply from Richard to the effect that he presumed an audience for his work who understand the aesthetic - "a slightly art-geek audience". Some people in discussion felt it is the artist's responsibility to create work where the aesthetic engages the audience to get to grips with the ideas - others felt that the responsibility lies with the viewer, who on entering a gallery is engaging in a kind of unspoken contract to interrogate the work. This led on to a wider discussion of the relationship the DLWP has with the local community in Bexhill - which no doubt could have gone on for much longer! All those participating were Bexhill residents which is great.
A very full afternoon of thinking and discussion, which I could write ten times more about. This is a thought-provoking exhibition and the discussions have been fascinating.
There is much I could write about Richard Grayson's Q&A (led by Andrew Brighton). Richard was warm, engaging, entertaining, and disarmingly open about his own lack of certainty around issues of belief. Although inspired in part by his concern that there seems to be a movement of specific religious beliefs back into the political sphere, he was keen to stress that he had no intention with the work to make fun of anyone's beliefs, nor to directly criticise, but rather to examine "belief in operation", "the functions of belief, rather than what the beliefs actually are."
He spoke at length about his problem with the (post-modern) idea of equivalence - the notion that one belief system offers exactly the same weight and validity as another - but he also struggles with any belief system that claims absolute truth and rightness. He described his own position as "fluttery" and that the work essentially is about examining rather than supporting or decrying the content of individuals' belief systems.
There is much else besides that was covered, and it made for an engaging walk and talk afterwards, although such was the level of engagement that the group never moved from beyond the beginning of the exhibition! All those taking part had seen the work previously and been present at Richard's talk, so the focus was on the questions raised by what they had seen and heard, rather than re-engaging with individual pieces. Questions that were raised included: how far is it one's responsibility when viewing work to be informed? This was in response to a reply from Richard to the effect that he presumed an audience for his work who understand the aesthetic - "a slightly art-geek audience". Some people in discussion felt it is the artist's responsibility to create work where the aesthetic engages the audience to get to grips with the ideas - others felt that the responsibility lies with the viewer, who on entering a gallery is engaging in a kind of unspoken contract to interrogate the work. This led on to a wider discussion of the relationship the DLWP has with the local community in Bexhill - which no doubt could have gone on for much longer! All those participating were Bexhill residents which is great.
A very full afternoon of thinking and discussion, which I could write ten times more about. This is a thought-provoking exhibition and the discussions have been fascinating.
Tuesday, 23 February 2010
Questioning One's Point of View
Exhibition Discussion
Why and how we receive information were recurring themes this Saturday. In front of Ways the World Ends, we marveled at the ability humans have to create such far-fetched explanations and how fantastic the scientific theory sounds. That so many narratives can exist at one time makes me feel a little giddy. Their coexistence in the space overwhelmed me, mirroring the process some of us experience when making sense of our own beliefs: lots of thoughts vying for attention and not always being able to think clearly.
Moving over to Intelligence, our conversation turned to how sometimes people are looking to reinforce a set of beliefs already held, be they about personality, star sign, or in the case of Condoleezza Rice, gender. We talked of how seductive astrology can be, despite most of us knowing it isn't real. Where we find our information is crucial too, for example relying solely on the Media for your facts generally leads to inaccuracy and distorted reality.
One of the things I wanted to discuss with visitors was how different our view of the same thing can be. It's very easy to say I'm right and everyone else is mistaken, but how easy is it to take a step sideways and question our beliefs? A perfect opportunity to explore this arose when we looked at Messiah. Our Christian group member saw only benevolence and joy, ordinary men in humble surroundings celebrating the Word of The Lord, whereas others including myself admitted to finding it rather oppressive. Claire referenced Angel by Mark Wallinger when talking about the paradoxes she saw in the work. The atmosphere became a little charged as we discussed whether or not Christianity was just another way to interpret past, present and future. Most agreed with Judith that Grayson observes each belief system rather than sitting in judgment. Alice diffused the tension when she said how important it was to have such work displayed in order to discuss these difficult and important issues. I agree; walking round the show I have been amazed at how quickly people have been willing to talk candidly about very challenging topics.
Thinking Aloud
It felt like the openness in the gallery had paved the way for a very broad and enjoyable discussion over tea on the top floor. Here are just a few of the topics we touched on:
Why Richard Grayson had subtitles in Messiah and The Golden Space City of God - was it a play on the power of The Word?
Facebook and how once you have written words there, you lose power over them.
How important it is to have challenging exhibitions in the provinces, vibrant galleries along the South Coast and touring exhibitions such as Artist's Rooms. Claire told us how she was part of a group who were raising the profile of arts locally in Surrey.
The pressure some visitors feel to have the "right" response to an exhibition. Claire was particularly interested in the importance of language; how at times what is written about the work can seem elitist and confusing rather than communicate clearly.
Arthur Koestler, individual versus group needs, tribalism, cults, the need to belong.
Judith talked about the importance of (not) expressing an opinion and the value in being an observer.
How art is taught in schools and Universities and the unrealistic expectations of art graduates leaving college.
Comments that caught my eye at the back of the gallery:
Don't judge a man 'til you've walked a mile in his shoes. After that who cares? He's a mile away and you have his shoes...
Don't try to be a second version of someone else, be the first version of yourself.
Answer the question but question the answer.
The last word goes to Wendy, one of our Invigilators. She told me that despite all potential for controversy, the overwhelming response to the show from visitors has been "the importance of love, peace, sharing and humanity".
My thanks to everyone who took part and shared their ideas so generously. Apologies for any omissions or inaccuracies. Please feel free to add your own thoughts and comments
Why and how we receive information were recurring themes this Saturday. In front of Ways the World Ends, we marveled at the ability humans have to create such far-fetched explanations and how fantastic the scientific theory sounds. That so many narratives can exist at one time makes me feel a little giddy. Their coexistence in the space overwhelmed me, mirroring the process some of us experience when making sense of our own beliefs: lots of thoughts vying for attention and not always being able to think clearly.
Moving over to Intelligence, our conversation turned to how sometimes people are looking to reinforce a set of beliefs already held, be they about personality, star sign, or in the case of Condoleezza Rice, gender. We talked of how seductive astrology can be, despite most of us knowing it isn't real. Where we find our information is crucial too, for example relying solely on the Media for your facts generally leads to inaccuracy and distorted reality.
One of the things I wanted to discuss with visitors was how different our view of the same thing can be. It's very easy to say I'm right and everyone else is mistaken, but how easy is it to take a step sideways and question our beliefs? A perfect opportunity to explore this arose when we looked at Messiah. Our Christian group member saw only benevolence and joy, ordinary men in humble surroundings celebrating the Word of The Lord, whereas others including myself admitted to finding it rather oppressive. Claire referenced Angel by Mark Wallinger when talking about the paradoxes she saw in the work. The atmosphere became a little charged as we discussed whether or not Christianity was just another way to interpret past, present and future. Most agreed with Judith that Grayson observes each belief system rather than sitting in judgment. Alice diffused the tension when she said how important it was to have such work displayed in order to discuss these difficult and important issues. I agree; walking round the show I have been amazed at how quickly people have been willing to talk candidly about very challenging topics.
Thinking Aloud
It felt like the openness in the gallery had paved the way for a very broad and enjoyable discussion over tea on the top floor. Here are just a few of the topics we touched on:
Why Richard Grayson had subtitles in Messiah and The Golden Space City of God - was it a play on the power of The Word?
Facebook and how once you have written words there, you lose power over them.
How important it is to have challenging exhibitions in the provinces, vibrant galleries along the South Coast and touring exhibitions such as Artist's Rooms. Claire told us how she was part of a group who were raising the profile of arts locally in Surrey.
The pressure some visitors feel to have the "right" response to an exhibition. Claire was particularly interested in the importance of language; how at times what is written about the work can seem elitist and confusing rather than communicate clearly.
Arthur Koestler, individual versus group needs, tribalism, cults, the need to belong.
Judith talked about the importance of (not) expressing an opinion and the value in being an observer.
How art is taught in schools and Universities and the unrealistic expectations of art graduates leaving college.
Comments that caught my eye at the back of the gallery:
Don't judge a man 'til you've walked a mile in his shoes. After that who cares? He's a mile away and you have his shoes...
Don't try to be a second version of someone else, be the first version of yourself.
Answer the question but question the answer.
The last word goes to Wendy, one of our Invigilators. She told me that despite all potential for controversy, the overwhelming response to the show from visitors has been "the importance of love, peace, sharing and humanity".
My thanks to everyone who took part and shared their ideas so generously. Apologies for any omissions or inaccuracies. Please feel free to add your own thoughts and comments
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