Exhibitions review: Michael Armitage and David Hockney at the Royal Academy
On one hand, British-Kenyan artist Michael Armitage whose works are fervent and febrile and brim with life: animals, humans and spirits fill the large cloth canvases, building up a carnival of creatures, surreal and mythological.
On the other hand, David Hockney’s large iPad drawings of the Normandy scenery, deliberately childish and flat.
Exhibition Review- Cherry Blossoms
Close-up, the mark-making is very visible, each colourful blossom a thick smudge of paint, like a crossover between Claude Monet’s nympheas and Jackson Pollock’s exuberant paintings.
Seabirds
There is a lot to learn in both texts about the place of the artist in society. In both texts, they are seen as maladaptive, ill at ease with the ways of the world, and misunderstood by their peers. They are mocked and ostracised by the conforming masses, but soar high above them through their art and hard work.
The attraction of pain
The first reason of course, is the universality of pain. We might come from different cultures, different backgrounds and history, we might have different personalities and ways of interacting with the world, but everyone has experienced pain (mental or physical) and fear. The human condition, by essence, includes suffering and an awareness of mortality.
A question of degrees
The truth is that in both cases, there is a contract between the artist and their audience: a language made of shared reference points and codes, a common semiology and vocabulary, a certain view of the world and the self
Market days
First of all, one piece of advice: do it if you can! Exhibitions, whether in person or online, are great, but spending the day exchanging with people who are looking at your work, seeing their reactions, answering their questions, is a real fun and interesting experience. You can see first hand when people connect with certain pieces, see what draws them in, and start conversations about your process and inspirations…
Blueprint to my brain
Ever since the diagnostic, I have known there was a story to tell in these images, I knew that I wanted to use these records to create something. I could see something in them beyond their clinical context, something beautiful and fragile. I kept coming back to this idea regularly, staring at the pictures
World Art Day
If you were lucky enough to go to Art school, you may have kept in touch with some of your fellow students, or you may see other artists in shared studio spaces, or at exhibition launches. But if you are self taught or didn’t stay in touch with art school friends, if you work from home and are just starting out, with not many exhibitions under your belt, you may not have those networks to fall back on.