Art allows me to give this brain and heart a voice
Annamaria Pennazzi, collage and film artist once told me she used to dream in frames… When you’re constantly looking at film every day, your language develops as a film language so…Yeah I guess it creeps into the sub-conscious.
This is how Annamaria kicks off her interview with Smoor, she’s sitting at her desk in her new studio, which has sketches beneath her elbows and her work leaning up against its lemon yellow walls… Collage is putting the pieces together, just like in editing, it’s also the perfect off screen activity. Sometimes it’s great to come home after spending 12hrs of the day looking at 5 screens.
From the looks of things her art work isn’t so dreamy when it comes to her collages, as she usually begins with an organ in mind: It might be the brain or the heart lets say, and I try to dig inside to find the feeling from that specific body organ. This kind of exploration of anatomical emotion fascinates me, she explains that she wants to get what’s inside out, but what does that mean…
You really wanna know, it’s scary sometimes; we both laugh at what might be swirling around in her head. But before long, my attention is brought back to the collection of sketches dotted around, pink and yellow fluorescent postits clamber the wall all with scribbles on them, magazine cut outs pricked with drawing pins…and as I eye some of her work on display I see a gradient of colour drawing my eye down and across the collages. Does colour matter to her…. It’s very important to me that the colours match, and the feeling that that colour brings to the work. Yes. Annamaria certainly has a way of capturing the mood; her careful consideration where things are placed on a blank page seem purposeful -even if by explorative means. Seeing a tower of magazines stacked on the floor, I wonder what or who inspires her…
Leonora Carrington is a big inspiration, I read various books…sometimes I have an image in mind but no collage pieces, I use scientific resources from the internet, erm pornographic magazines, like Penthouse because the advertising is so interesting and I usually pick up magazines when I travel.
Is there a correlation between the film work and the art, or are they separate mediums for you… Oh definitely…. the short film I’m working on at the moment is called ‘The anatomy of anxiety’ and it’s about panic attacks, the protagonist of the film is made up of the organs of the human body.
Annamaria goes on to speak about how she’s suffered from her own panic attacks, anxiety and depression. I decided I wanted to make a comedy about it, I was also interested in looking at how each organ reacts when you have a panic attack, but in a comedic way.
With silence, fear and stigma that can surround mental health it’s a great way to break down some of those barriers, the more we talk, the more we learn, and like many pieces of art that has made an impact with others, can provoke tough conversations that aren’t being had; like abstract expressionist artist Rothko’s black and grey series, who famously suffered from depression. The Guerrilla girls who asked in 1989 ‘If all women had to be naked to get into the Met’ a feminist art collab exposing gender bias’s, the infamous Frida Kahlo, drew herself not only in her beauty but also in her pain…The list is endless. You can find beauty in something unconventional and a bit dark, which is what I like.
I can tell this film holds a lot of significance for Annamaria, I’m intrigued to see it once it hits our screens.
Next, I just have to ask about the deck of Tarot cards on her desk, it has been the elephant in the room for this entire interview … Oh yeah, I use the cards sometimes when I’m stuck. She gives me an example with some cut out pieces of brain, and clouds etc, with each decision she makes she asks the cards, it reminds me of a technique Merce Cunningham, a contemporary dance choreographer, sometimes used called chance choreography -I-ching- to decide on anything from the steps, speed, direction etc.
I’ve never heard of Tarot being used in this way for art but it must be liberating to give the power to the cards, when there’s a boulder in the way clouding your brain.
But what if the cards are wrong, is she afraid of making mistakes? I’m very wonky and clumsy and I love that this shows in my art work, she says of a bigger collage I’ve picked up in its frame. I don’t like perfection because nothing is perfect, that’s what I like to portray in my films too, I don’t mind mistakes…I know they bother some people.
Can you tell me more about the piece I’m holding?
I find it hard to talk about my stuff… but in this piece at the time, there was a lot going on in my love life, because my brain is close to where my vagina is – meaning I believe all of our organs are connected in some way and the vagina can interpret reality the same way a brain does (laughs). But I think there’s happiness and love in this piece and I think I was trying to make sense of what was going on at the time.
With all the things we’ve touched upon I’m excited to see what her exhibition ‘A taste and the aftertaste: Immersive journey into Annamaria Pennazzi’s art’ has in store. However, what I do know is that she’s not keen on the barriers a conventional exhibition provides. I’d love to make art and film that people can interact with, I want people to touch it to feel it I want people to create a discussion around it…I want people to get involved and feel like they can make it their own, it’s not just mine, it’s for the world to enjoy.
If you’d like to see more of Annamaria’s work, her exhibitionwill be on At Odyssey- Hoxton, 6-9:30pm, 28th November 2024.
Maybe I’ll see you there, or not, let me see what the cards have to say first.
Abfillage and self-expression: the art of Aluu Prosper
Aluu Prosper is a 24 year old Nigerian Painter and figurative artist, producing strikingly bold works which not only challenge the neutral colour palette, but also the figurative perspective with verve and energy. To hear more about the man behind the canvas I had to ask a few more questions…
Can you describe your studio to our Smoor readers?
My studio is quite a mix of different states. Most times organised and sometimes in a mess. Because of the style of art I do which is a fusion of collage, abstract and figurative art, when it’s time to cut newspapers and glue it to the canvas, everywhere becomes disoriented as well as during the abstract coloration. But it’s a beautiful place.
What does art mean to you, and how do you know when it’s good?
I always tell people, art is self-expression. There is no bad art. If someone chooses to express himself or herself in whatever way they can, then it’s art. It is a personal choice. What you see as a bad art, someone could see as a masterpiece.
How would you describe the art that you make for someone who’s not familiar with your work?
I call it Abfillage. I indirectly relay messages on newspapers to my viewers without making it so obvious, while painting my story and expressing myself in figurative form. It’s a fusion of abstract, figurative and collage hence the name Abfillage.
Do you have a dream place you’d like to exhibit and why?
There are a lot of places, definitely. Like the Guggenheim, The Tate, The National portrait gallery, and maybe the Louvre in Paris and so on. In terms of why I think it’s already obvious why I want to show there.
Influences, inspiration? Talk to me….
Erm, I would pick Picasso first of all, not because of his style of art but because of his relentless personality. I learnt a lot from his lifestyle (not the bad side???). But his zeal and willingness to succeed, and in terms of how I paint, it’s influenced by Njideka Akunyili Crosby and Kadir Nelson and myself too.
How much sketching do you do beforehand? is it necessary?
In the kind of art I do, I sketch on the canvas directly because I work from reference images I took myself or from my past, so I don’t do preliminary sketches in rough books or sketchpads, but it’s essential I sketch before I paint the figurative part of my work because I wouldn’t want paints going into places they are not supposed to go into at all.
You use newspaper as a base for your work. Is there a reason for this?
Yes there is. Just like Mahatma Gandhi said, In order to preserve culture, you must continue to create it. The social, economic and political stories in newspapers are part of our culture, our way of life, and society plays a huge role in our individual lives. I preserve these stories not by stacking the papers but by using them to create art. It’s like turning what could have been a waste into gold.
I know when I’m writing I sometimes use music to help concentrate -let’s just say a particular Max Richter song has got me through a lot-. Do you listen to music while painting?
I can literally do little without music. Everything could feel boring. Music initiates and invites a certain energy into the room and the work. I only turn it off when I’m done. You know I write too. I don’t use music when I write my poems, because I need full concentration. Words collide in my head if I use music to write.
Why is challenging the perspective of the human form such a big feature in your work?
Well, I would also ask you, why would I want to paint what already ‘is’ when I have the power to create my own universe on my canvas? God chose to make us the way he wanted to because he has the power to. I challenge the normal narrative but mostly the head because it’s the seat of wisdom.
There’s a parrot in the mural ‘Garden of Eden’ that you’ve painted showing a woman braiding another woman’s hair, in another piece a dove sits on top the oversized head of a young boy entitled ‘What do you believe in’ can you talk more about the use of birds, and your signature crown motif?
Well, as for the birds, it was contextual. Picasso was the first to use a dove to signify peace. The crowns dignify my subjects, it simply means they are special.
How does your Nigerian heritage influence your work, how important is it to acknowledge that part of yourself?
To be sincere with you, I’m not really proud at this moment to be a Nigerian because of the state of the nation. But there is nothing I can do about it because that’s who I am and I have to express myself and tell my stories in my works. The newspapers speak for themselves. As an artist living in Nigeria, there are more than enough things to talk about or express.
Did you know many black painters when you were growing up?
I was just a comic artist at a young age. I didn’t know about most famous black painters. I knew I got the talent from my dad. When I grew older, I started to know them one by one and get inspired by what they’ve done.
You’re becoming quite an established artist, making beautiful, memorable work. What would you say to other artists burrowing away in their bedrooms making art and wanting a piece of the creative pie?
Well, I am like every other artist out there too. But I would say to them, art is self-expression, make something unique, find a niche. You don’t need to go too far to find it, it’s within you. The beginning isn’t easy but with time you’ll be happy you never stopped.
Lucy Evans's paintings turns wounds into wisdom
I’m a Ukrainian artist born in Kyiv. I already understood in my childhood that I wanted to be an artist. When I write works I breathe. I graduated from the National Academy of Fine Arts and architecture in 2019 and currently studied in Beaux Arts de Paris.
Art for me is a search, freedom, is an opportunity to speak frankly with the world. In my works, I convey the vulnerability, fragility and at the same time the inner strength of a person. In my work, the soul is the main thing. My paintings often show strength precisely through fragility. I depict a sensitive, tender, fragile, difficult and mysterious world. A person can learn to turn wounds into wisdom, keeping beauty and tenderness in their heart, I think most of my works are about that.
I use different materials but I’m mostly working with oil on canvas.The technique is also very important to me, I’ve been mastering it for a long time, and I still do it, because it’s an endless path of search, which is an integral part of the work.
Being an artist for me is to live a life that is truly authentic to who you are.
Benjamin Murphy has a new show in London: Iconoclasm
British artist Benjamin Murphy presents his latest work at UNION gallery in London. And we couldn't be more excited about it! We’ve known Benjamin since around the time our project ROOMS was being born; he’s always been so passionate about art and the artist community. We’re loving his new work and very much enjoying following his artistic journey.
Benjamin’s current work revolves around the use of charcoal on raw canvas, its challenges and unpredictability. His fascination for this medium is central to his work. And though houseplants and cut flowers are the pictorial protagonists, they are only the medium to explore deeper questions on the limited freedom and controlled existence of these green companions. Faithful to his monochromatic distinctive style, his pieces embrace beauty and chaos, contradictions. But it's their subtle darkness which keeps us as enthralled as unsettled.
We took this opportunity to interview Benjamin and find out more about him.
What made you become an artist? When and how did you decide you wanted to be one?
It was a real accident. I studied art out of a reluctance to join the real world. I enjoyed the freedom from responsibility that art college allowed, and so I went to university in search of more of the same. I then moved to London on a whim and got an unpaid internship at a gallery/events space in Hoxton. It was a perfect combination of that reluctance to get a 'career' and the recklessness needed to forego stability (and money - because this pursuit necessitates many, many years of living in absolute penury). I lived in the gallery and ate poorly, getting used to the discomfort that's unavoidable when you start out on a journey such as this.
I was making work obsessively and I started getting asked to be in small DIY shows around East London. Things just snowballed from there really. It was never the plan.
What does actually being an artist mean to you?
Freedom. Not only the freedom to make what I want to make (which is great), but also the ability to choose how I spend my own time, unbeholden to anyone. That is the greatest thing in the world. I may not be a millionaire in monetary terms, but I am in time. To me that is much more valuable.
As an artist, what do you worry about? Do you ever feel like saying ‘fuck this shit!’?
I've never been a worrier, but artistic block makes me feel under pressure, distressed, and overwhelmed at times. I'm fortunate that I have a few different creative outlets though, so if the artwork just isn't flowing I move on for a while and do some writing or something instead of trying to force it.
I don't think I could ever fully go "fuck this shit" and walk away from it all no. To me it's an obsession that is so linked to my very being that I wouldn't be able to abandon it. It would be like cutting off a limb.
Tell us about the kind of work you are currently doing?
At the moment I'm working in charcoal on raw canvas, embracing the chaos that such a medium presents. The works explore contradictions; delicate flowers with violent mark-making, beauty and chaos, yin and yang etc.
How important are the art materials you use? Are you picky about brands, qualities, etc, or you adapt rather easily to whatever is available?
I use a variation of charcoals. Willow for the sketching out and the edges, compressed charcoal for all the dense black areas, and charcoal pencils for working on paper.
I've been recently making my own charcoal though. Experimenting with different types of woods and different burn durations etc. I'm yet to really nail the process, so I've yet to really use it in my work but it's getting there. Once I've nailed that I'm going to make my own paper too and use the charcoal on it.
Who has been a major influence to you, as a person and artist?
Here's a list: Leo Tolstoy, Marina Abramović, Edvard Munch, Tracey Emin, Damien Hirst, Marcel Proust, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Cornelia Parker, Mona Hatoum.
What makes your creative juices flow?
ADHD.
Which artist would you like to go out for dinner with tonight?
I've been out for dinner with Ant Hamlyn, Oli Epp, Peter Doyle, and Conor Murgatroyd a lot in the last year, so maybe I'd just have them all together, ideally somewhere with chilli margaritas.
Is there an artist you’d very much like to read their interview?
Marina Abramović - if you're reading this drop me a line on MSN Messenger and let's plan that two person retrospective.
Baptiste Pauthe: Beach flavoured paintings with a street-art edge
Grew up with surfing in front of the ocean, in the Landes between Hossegor and Seignosse. After graduating as an architect in Bordeaux. After a few experiences in an architectural agency, he leaves time to deepen his creation and make his painting travel in Spain, France, Belgium and recently in California.
Visual art is his means of expression, he develops his creations from painting to drawing, from illustration to video. In an intimate and sincere quest, he expresses himself out of personal need. In a refuge full of love that he insults and full of sorrow that he praises, his brain is regenerated through colors and texts that tell his stories.
The story of painting rascal Ide André
“Everyone can say what they want, but I do hope that my work comes across as fresh, dirty, firm, crispy, dirty, clean, fast, strong, smooth, messy, sleek and of course cocky.”
“Everyone can say what they want, but I do hope that my work comes across as fresh, dirty, firm, crispy, dirty, clean, fast, strong, smooth, messy, sleek and of course cocky.” – Ide André
Somewhere between the concrete walls of the Institute of the Arts in Arnhem, a talented kid with a big mouth and an urge to paint was bound to challenge perspectives. Years later, he found himself rumbling in his atelier, experimenting with ideas and creating things out of chaotic settings. With a determined attitude and an open mind, he managed to turn everything into a form of art. Some people liked his work, some people questioned it; either way it got attention. Right now, he’s working on several projects all exploring the relationship between painting and everyday life with the carpet (yes, the carpet, I told you this guy can turn anything into art piece) as main subject. His work is a reflection of his personality: bold, impulsive, fun and with a fair amount of attitude. He however likes to use a couple more words when describing his own work. This is the short version of his biography, the end of my version of his story. If you prefer a more authentic one here’s the story in the artist’s words:
I once saw a show of Elsworth Kelly when I was a child. The enormous series of two-toned monograms clearly made a big impression on me. I remember staring with my mouth wide open at the big coloured surfaces. I’m not that much of a romantic soul to say that it all started right there, but it did leave an impact on me. I actually developed my love for painting at ArtEZ. I started out working with installation art and printing techniques, but I was always drawn to the work of contemporary, mostly abstract painters, until I actually became fascinated about my fascination with abstract painting. Because, let’s be honest here, sometimes it seems quite bizarre to worry about some splotches of colour on a canvas. Even though painting has been declared dead many times over, loads of people carry on working with this medium no matter what; from a headstrong choice, commitment or just because they can’t help it. I am clearly one of those people, and that fact still manages to fascinate me.
At ArtEZ you talk so much to your fellow students, teachers and guest artists, little by little you kind of construct your own vision on art. And that’s a good thing! All this time you get bombarded with numerous opinions, ideas and assignments, some of them (as stubborn as we are) that seemed useless to us and weren’t easily put on top of our to-do-list. Until there is that moment you realise that you have to filter everything and twist and turn it in your own way. Then there is that epiphany moment. That moment you realize you can actually make everything your own. I think that’s the most important thing I’ve learned during University: giving everything your own twist and constantly questioning what you are doing, subsequently always struggling a little bit but still continue until the end. Like an everyday routine.
I’m not going to enounce myself about the definition of art. That would be the same thing as wondering what great music is or good food. I think it’s something everyone can determine for themselves. I do think it is interesting to ask myself how an artwork can function and what it can evoke. There is this exciting paradoxical element within art. On the one hand we pretend that art should be something that belongs to humanity, something that is from the people, for the people; on the other hand is the fact that art has its own world, its own domain where it can live safely, on its own autonomous rules, and it doesn’t have to be bothered by this cold, always speculating world. There are pros and cons about both sides, and I think it’s impossible to make a work of art that solely belongs to one of the two worlds. As Jan Verwoert, Dutch art critic and writer, words it: “Art as a cellophane curtain”. Without getting too much into it (otherwise I’m afraid I’ll never finish this story), there is this see-through curtain between the two worlds. The artist is looking at the outside world through his work, and the outside world looks at the artist through his work. That’s how I see art and how I approach it.
My work often comes about in various places, with my studio as a start and end point. I buy my fabric at the market and from there the creative process really starts. I print on them, light fireworks on them with my friends, or sew them together with my mother at the kitchen table in my childhood home. I try to treat all these actions as painting related actions. Like a runner that goes to the running track on his bike; we could ask ourselves: is he already exercising running? On an average atelier day, I toil with my stressed and unstressed fabrics, chaotically studded around the room. Usually I don’t have a fixed plan. My process is semi-impulsive and comes from an urge. Often this causes little and mostly unforeseen mistakes, these ‘mistakes’ often prove to be an asset in the next project.
As for the future, (Lucky for me) I don’t own a crystal ball, so I wouldn’t dare to make predictions. And quite frankly I wouldn’t want to know. Young collectives, initiatives and galleries keep popping up and I think we continue to grow more and more self-sufficient. Of course there is that itch of our generation to always learn more, do more; an urge that I believe will never disappear, also not within myself. I will stubbornly continue to work on the things I believe in. Not because it offers me some sort of security (most of the time it’s the opposite) but because I just can’t help it.
TIAF London
The Independent Art Fair London will be blowing us away again this year with 80 contemporary independent creatives from all over the world.
When? October 14th-18th
Where? Rag Factory, London
The Independent Art Fair London will be blowing us away again this year with 80 contemporary independent creatives from all over the world. Offering new talent as well as established artists the opportunity to showcase their work amongst others forms an inspiring environment full of photography, installation, video, painting, sculpture and every other way creativity can take form. The exhibition takes place in the heart of Brick Lane, in the eminent Rag Factory.
Liggers & Dreamers : a new book by Josie Demuth
Artists are doing it for themselves – or are they?... Tales from the London Art Scene
IT’S EXHAUSTING! Keeping up with three very resourceful artists at the same time for a Q&A session. Three of the creative arts' liveliest talents. First, Josie Demuth; a prolific author and the founding editor of La Bouche Zine. Second, Jason Gibilaro; a contemporaneous artist and the cover artist of Josie Demuth's new book; Liggers and Dreamers. And our third musketeer is illustrator extraordinaire Ian Wright whose visual art work has spanned four decades.
Liggers and Dreamers by Josie Demuth, Cover artwork by Jason Gibilaro
Unusual combinations often produce the most interesting read, as you’ll see in this article. Now, we are gathered in the basement of the famed unconventional Vout-O-Reenees Art Club and gallery The Stash, to share their unique insights on preparing for their major test yet, of their life’s work and more importantly to talk about Demuth’s manic short story book titled Liggers & Dreamers; Tales from the London Art Scene. To complement, and celebrate, the book launch, there is an exhibition of Liggers and Dreamers art by Jason Gibilaro, and Ian Wright’s photos from his collection of Arts Herbert’s on show at The Stash Gallery. Josie Demuth’s new book is innovative with no time for baloney. She goes for the jugular. A very tongue in cheek, tickling and fiercely observed manuscript on an extraordinary scale about liggers (derrière -licking persons) and dreamers (groupies & sycophants) of the London art world. A well written story on how they make their way through London’s elite art scene as well as the ruthless behaviour of a gang of intriguing and flamboyant personalities, as they diligently make their way all around London’s most fashionable gallery private views and bashes for the sole purpose of freeloading on champagne, decent wine and canapés “like a flock of seagulls”. Josie alleges that there are these individuals, “uninvited freeloading party goers”; for who it’s the art of being seen and accepted at art exhibitions rather than a passion for the often hollow modern art on show.
Demuth said: “We are having the unveiling of Liggers & Dreamers on a Friday so that all the liggers can come, after all there wouldn’t be a book and exhibition without them”. In harmony with Demuth, the proprietor of Vout-O-Reenees Art Club Sophie Parkin affirmed: “I will be making extra canapés knowing how Liggers swoop in on any free food and drinks”. Liggers & Dreamers is a fascinating work of creative writing by someone with tremendous imagination. However, some very identifiable famous individuals from the worlds of music and art also make an appearance in the novel. J. D. disputes strongly that any similarity is thoroughly accidental. Yeah right! We believe you Josie Demuth. Also, there’s a wry, shrewd narrative to her story that throws-up constant parallels with pale imitation celebrities and thespians, who regularly gate crash occasions for that chance to take a selfie and share via social media to prove that they have arrived...
Now welcome to the discussion with the three musketeers – oh yes, artists.
This is a very audacious and highly speculative book with some mischievous narrative, which could easily attract extreme dislike towards you. Why was it important that you write this book?
Josie Demuth: Whoa! That is severe. It is not an attack on freedom of expression. It is important for me to write this novel because it focuses on some very interesting characters. And being somebody that has been gallery hopping myself in the last few years, I found these characters to be very worthy of note in the gallery world. I felt and believe they must be documented. I initially started by writing short stories about them in The International Times, then when the list got produced in Cork Street gallery in a covert operation to blacklist these liggers – I thought right away this will be a great narrative for a novel. And my novel only focuses on about a dozen liggers for now. There are a lot more characters that I might report on in another book. A ligger is a freeloader. They go to parties and functions or corporate events with the view of getting freebies. I think everybody loves a freebie. But then again, liggers come in categories; there are some mild liggers and there are chronic liggers and there’re some arch liggers too. In my book you will find all sorts. And yeah, there are those who do gallery hopping that have substance, no doubt about that. So I don’t see how anyone would direct any hate towards me.
I love Charlie by Jason Gibilaro. Acrylic on canvas, 118cm x 153cm, 200
Jason Gibilaro is the book cover artist of Liggers and Dreamers. How did that come about?
Jason Gibilaro: let me answer that. I met Josie way back at an exhibition I staged and I am very interested in the team of liggers and dreamers. I did a small experimental drawing piece and sent it to a mate of mine and he ended-up sending it to Josie and others, and everyone liked it. One thing led to another and Josie liked the drawing and it ended up as the cover of the book. I am very proud of the cover.
Collaboration can be a tad tricky. Was it easy working with Josie or would you rather not work with her again?
Jason Gibilaro: Oh yes, she was nightmarish. (Just kidding!). I will work with her again if the opportunity arises. The final drawing on the cover was a consensus. Yes, we had several meetings with others, but at the end everybody decided that my painting was the one for the book. Initially I was for the image I did for the I love Charlie thing, but what the heck? This cover is very artistic. I am an artist in my own right and it’s just a coincidence to work with an author. It’s an opportunity to do some exploring and add to my repertoire. I see Josie as an artist who personally engages.
Is Josie Demuth shrouding as one of the characters in this book?
Josie Demuth: Yes someplace. The book mirrors and captures the spirit that I believe in. I have been gallery hopping myself for years, so I am in there somewhere and I have witnessed these sort of quirky little scenario situations, so to tell this sort of story, I have to be a part of the story. I implicate myself in things I do. For Liggers & Dreamers, there was no way I could have written it just standing outside saying look at this; this is good or this is terrible or whatever.
Is it fair to describe J. D. as an eccentric, provocateur or just ridiculously over-dramatic with tremendous imagination?
Ian Wright: Let me answer that question. (Why are you guys taking it in turns to answer for Josie, is hilarious) I know that to write this book took a long time and, of course, some imagination. It was a work in progress and I can also understand why some persons would conclude – especially the press like you, that she is being provocative and over dramatic. We are living in interesting times as far as the arts or creative arts are concerned. I think this is just a segment of the arts that she has hit upon and it’s interesting to inform the wider public what is going on in the art world. She is brutally honest about what she thinks, not at all over dramatic. I wouldn’t say she is provocative and dramatic. But if she provokes a debate or a response about freeloaders, great. We all like a bit of drama. I like a bit of drama too.
The Collector by Jason Gibilaro. Acrylic on paper, 17.50cm x 27.00cm, 201
How does this ménage à trois work – professionally?
Ian Wright: We are eccentric in different ways. We all have our different interests but also have similarities too. It is fair to say that our eccentricity works greatly for us. And it is fair to say the book and the art exhibition is kind of a celebration of eccentricity. At the end of the day, be you a writer, painter, architect or poet, we are all artists in the creative arts. So why can’t we work together. It’s something we should see more and more and these boundaries will become very fluid.
Photo by Ian Wright. The Painter and the Poet from The Art Herbert Series, 2009. 6x9 inch
Photo by Ian Wright. The all star Hackney Wick sand gang, 2015. 16x12 inch
...
This threesome Josie Demuth, Jason Gibilaro and Ian Wright seemed destined to be both notable polemicists and visionary creators. An avant-garde underground art movement of the modern era. They have been able to transcend the rather claustrophobic boundaries of the art world. About Liggers & Dreamers, I find it thoroughly frenetic and fresh - highly recommended. Read it and I bet, you will see freeloaders and hangers-on in a totally different light. And it’s not pretty.
An exhibition of Liggers and Dreamers Art by Jason Gibilaro & Ian Wright’s photos is on show at The Stash Gallery, 30 Prescot Street, London E1 8BB
September 11 - September 27
Liggers & Dreamers – Tales from the London Art Scene by Josie Demuth
Cindy Rizza – The Beauty of Nostalgia on Canvas
Has a painting ever been so realistically close to your memories, it reminded you of your own past?
When it comes to setting a mood, American based contemporary realist painter Cindy Rizza knows how to get your mind wandering. Evoking the feeling of nostalgia by depicting memories of her own, Cindy takes us back to the little moments in life she cherishes, as if we’ve experienced them ourselves.
The award-winning artist is known for playing with the power of collective memory and identification in a truly remarkable way. Arousing a human presence lingering throughout every canvas, she creates a certain intimacy between the (un)seen subject and the viewer, even if that painting portrays a door, a shadow of a house, or a clothesline of linen drying in the garden.
Fascinated by the influence a single object can have on the human brain, Cindy’s most recent work consists of nothing but chairs. A chair in the garden facing the sun, three on the terrace, one with a quilt draped over it. Besides the fact that these beautifully painted canvasses resemble photographs, when skimming past them it seems there is not a lot to glance at. However, when giving it a closer look and some thought, comfort and past memories overtake.
Even though our mind is set to treat everyday objects as ordinary, by treating those mundane things with carefulness and an open mind, Cindy provokes a surprising sense of otherworldliness as if there is a second layer to her paintings that lures us into a story we can all identify with.
Guillermo Mora – not your usual acrylic painter
“It would be amazing to see all the paintings of the world separated from their canvases and falling on the ground.”
Spanish artist Guillermo Mora is coming to a London gallery near you. I recently interviewed the man and he proved to me why he’s worth your time.
What is it that you enjoy the most about working with layers and layers of acrylic paint? And also what you enjoy the least about it?
Layers in life, layers in painting. Painting is not far from the way everything is constructed. We are made of layers as well. I like to conceive painting as a body, as something not eternal but alive, clumsy, tired, and capable of losing its entire shape or parts of it. Flaubert used to say: “as soon as we come to this world, pieces of us begin to fall”. I feel this exact way on painting. It would be amazing to see all the paintings of the world separated from their canvases and falling on the ground.
On the other hand, it’s weird for me to say something that I dislike about painting, but I could say its autonomy. Even though you think you can control all its processes, it always cheats you. There’s always something unexpected. Life is unexpected and painting is too.
What’s your creative process like?
“Add, subtract, multiply and divide” is my statement (and the presentation of my website). I think these words not only belong to mathematics but also to our everyday acts, thoughts and behaviors. Painting is a complex body in the world in which all these actions can take place too.
How did you feel when you won the Audemars Piguet award?
First of all, surprised. I was competing with very well known international artists and I never expected I could be the one that got it. Then I said to myself: “Guillermo, from now on you have to work much harder.” When you win an international award, it puts you immediately in a new position. I realized how less important the economical aspect of my work is. It’s true that money helps, but the most important thing was that a lot of people started to pay attention to my stuff. From the moment you win a prize, you have to demonstrate why you won it.
You have an upcoming group exhibition entitled Saturation II – Add Subtract Divide. And you’ve also described defined your work by including multiplying. In what way do you feel that your work accomplishes these operations?
Adding has always been linked to the idea of painting but we have to think that when we add something we subtract possibilities to it too. Then if I want to add, I have to divide the material into pieces, and this action is also a way of multiplying. These four actions are not as different as we think and can be easily included in my everyday process. They help me to uphold the idea of a constant changing painting.
If not Spain, where else would you like to permanently set up a studio and why?
United Kingdom for its contradictions and irreverences. Things happen when controversy is constantly present.
Portrait Artists: from Threads to Acid Heads
With new technologies the art of portraiture has been completely redefined. I look at four interesting portrait artists of this new generation who have bent this change to their will.
With new technologies the art of portraiture has been completely redefined. I look at four interesting portrait artists of this new generation who have bent this change to their will.
Bryan Lewis Saunders
Image Credit: Huffingtonpost.it
“There’s a lot of truth in media,” says Bryan Lewis Saunders in an interview with the Guardian while discussing a self-portrait of him inhaling lighter fluid. As evident in the interview and from his works, Saunders is quite the avant-gardist. He gained notoriety for Under The Influence, an experiment he devised where he intoxicated himself with a variety of different drugs, and then composed a self-portrait for each one.
Whether it is acrylic paints or metallic crayons, the media he uses are always symbolic of the drug he had taken. From the pleasantly colourful Xanax to the frighteningly abstract bath salts, we get a sense of his emotions under the influence – all of them hermetic, isolated within his modest apartment in Tennessee. To Saunders, portraiture is more of an internal experience rather than a representation of the external.
Nikki Rosato
Image via Installation Magazine website
Over the years, we’ve seen portrait artist’s progress from using oil paints to all kinds of media in their work. Albrecht Dürer himself would be turning in his grave, scoffing with incredulity if he found out that artists of the future could compose a portrait from hand-cut road maps.
Well the emerging talent that is Nikki Rosato manages just that. She encapsulates the fragility of being human through these irregular sequences of road maps, formed on the shape of a body. She creates her pieces by using a Stanley knife to cut away all the landmasses between the roads – leaving behind an intricate system of blood vessels, pumping transport links and points of interests that lead to nowhere.
Image courtesy of Kehinde Wiley Studio
Kehinde Wiley
In the past, the idea of subverting artistic tradition is a bold notion. And to repaint artistic history is an even bolder one. But Kehinde Wiley successfully attempts to do both. When not travelling the world looking for artistic subjects, he’ll be spending his time in his New York studio, acutely detailing monumental paintings.
His subjects? Almost always African Americans. Where does he find them? On the streets of New York, with a camera crew and an attractive woman so as not to incite suspicion. He usually looks for alpha male characters, and paints them in a heroic way – akin to the style of the Old Masters. With the end result, we can discern an intense smorgasbord of different qualities and themes, leaving no surprise as to why he is one of the most prolific portrait artists of this century.
Image via Kumi Yamashita website
Kumi Yamashita
Kumi Yamashita maintains a virtuosic control of light and dark values in all of her pieces. But one particular body of work, Constellation, is like no other. These are constructed by hammering thousands of small nails across a white wooden panel and running one single black sewing thread across all these nails to form an image.
On her site, she describes these portraits as consisting of ‘three simple materials that, when combined, produce the portraits.’ And yet despite such simple ingredients – the portraits look exceedingly meticulous and you are left marveling at how one single thread can represent not only expression but emotion too.
ROOMS 17 presents Phil Ashcroft
London based artist Phil Ashcroft combines influence from abstract expressionism, landscape painting, Japanese woodcuts and graphic street art to present a vision of environmental, financial and political threats.
Cave Paintings (Ramsey 1 & 2), studio view, both works acrylic on canvas, 122 x 92cm, 2014. photo: Joe Plommer
London based artist Phil Ashcroft combines influence from abstract expressionism, landscape painting, Japanese woodcuts and graphic street art to present a vision of environmental, financial and political threats. His works immerse the viewer in surrealist settings in which cartoon-like motifs deconstruct modernist ideals.
Was there a shift from some form of realism to the abstract work you do today? If so, what brought it about?
I switch between figuration and abstraction depending on the project at hand, but it is true that most recently I have focused on more abstract process-based painting. However, even the recent abstract works aren’t truly abstract; they hold a basis in landscape, even if its just a horizon line to ground the work in some way. I plan to work on more detailed architectural graphic works soon. It's something I’ve left since 2009 but have an urge to return to.
Practically and technically, how do you create your works? Do you make sketches first or is a lot of the work freestyled?
Basically pretty old school, I produce paintings on canvas, layering individual elements quickly over a period of months. I usually work on three to four at a time, developing all works as I go. These works are intuitive but do begin from an initial thumbnail sketch or idea I want to explore. I don’t know how the work will finish or whether it will succeed and that’s the way it should be. Some areas contain crisp gradients, other areas are flat colour. Loose washes of paint complete the work in a manner that can never be produced digitally. Practice, planning and not planning.
You have described your work as depicting the detritus of the modernist ideals of the past. What are these ideals, why have they failed and how do you depict them?
This phrase related specifically to my more figurative architectural studies of ruins of buildings from 2006-2009. I wanted to show respect to those fallen ruins of the imagined future of the 1950s and 60s, a future that never came.
Their titles referenced ‘future music’ that I listen to, titles that I felt added an emotional charge to the work, ‘Fragments of a Lost Language’, 2008 (from Jacob’s Optical Stairway, London, 1995, 4 Hero at their best), ‘Good Life’, 2009 (Kevin Saunderson’s Inner City, Detroit, 1988), ‘Where You Go I Go Too’, 2008 (Lindstrøm, 2008). ‘The Skid Stops At This Point People’ 2006 was a phrase I saw on the back of a lorry whilst driving.
Are these modernist ideals in conflict with the corporate commissions you’ve done?
I don’t think any corporate commissions I’ve worked with to date could have any such impact.
What did the No Soul for Sale project hope to achieve?
This was a weekend celebration of independent artist groups to celebrate Tate Modern’s 10th anniversary in 2010. The curators’ idea was to bring attention to artist collectives on the fringe of the mainstream, hence Scrawl Collective’s involvement painting live in the Turbine Hall. Others participants included The Museum of Everything, Liverpool’s Royal Standard, Hong Kong’s PARA/SITE, New York’s White Columns. It was a fun weekend.
The intensity of colour and the hardness of the shapes in your work can make for intense viewing. What do you hope this intensity conveys?
I want my work to visually energise the viewer, to be dynamic. I hope it's not for sleeping to.
What are you working on at the moment?
Currently working on a new series of my ‘Cave Paintings’. Also just remixing an existing record cover album gatefold for ‘Beyond The Goldmine Standard’, an art project curated by Matthew Hearn at RPM Records, Newcastle.
What’s your favourite film?
‘Bladerunner’ (1982), as per usual, followed closely by Tony Hancock’s ‘The Rebel’ (1961).
Check out Phil Ashcroft's work in our new issue ROOMS 17, Who decides what you see?