Cy Twombly - Bad Painting

The subject of Bad painting seems to come up again and again in my tutorials with E. This is something I have never been challenged with before. In fact the idea that some of my painting is 'bad' (a-levelesque) I find particularly abhorrent (being a teacher of A Level), and the suggestion that I would deliberately make marks on my paintings which fall into the 'Bad' catagory is well outside my comfort zone. However, Cy Twombly is one of the artists who has been raised and although I wouldn't describe myself as a fan, I am intrigued by his dribbling and scribbling. I have always thought of his style as drawing with paint, letting it spill over the canvas, layering and hiding and scratching into the surface.

I was suprised to find that he has created a series of 'flower' paintings like 'Untitled' (Peony Blossom Painting) (2007) which reflects the marks that I sometimes make in the background of my own work.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8577329@N07/4225567993/

I find the scale of his work is also quite impacting (see Flickr link). Much bigger than I would have expected for his flower forms. They are far from descreet and the bold marks and dribbles seen close up must appear quite tactile.

Reflection

There are more connections with Twombly's work than I initially thought. The only work I have seen is the work around seasons which incorporates text which I tend to steer well clear of; it sounds silly but I've never really looked at the markmaking in relation to my own work. Not sure how comfortable I would be currently with using this type of painting on such a grand scale, as I like to mix the surface and marks I use. Maybe this is something for my works on paper which I have yet to explore. I wouldn't want to be labelled as a bad painter, but using Bad painting appeals in a slightly subversive way.

Double Portrait Research

Post tutorial with Angela, I have begin to investigate double portraits. Yesterday I visited the BP Portrait Award and Glamour of the Gods at the National Portrait Gallery. I always go to the BP - it seems a good (and free) opportunity to see a range of painted works in the portrait genre. There seem to be some artists who exhibit again and again - 55 works selected from over 2000 entries - I'm not sure if this a vast number of applications or not. The work this year tended to be quite tight, not many gestural pieces and some quite illustrative. I also looked around the permanent collection is search of double portraits which were few and far between...expecting to find more, I then looked at the online catalogue and found lots, predominantly photographs. Also found out that you can print in black and white for free(!) so came home with quite a selection. There seem to be particular circumstances when the double portrait is used (from my survey of npg - this is by no means an exhaustive list); royal and political portraits; creative pairings e.g. French and Saunders; curiosities, twins and performers (acrobats and dancers); family pairs, mother and child, husband and wife, siblings and double sketches depicting one sitter from two angles. There was less of the mirror than I expected, although I found a great image by Laura Knight in the shop, 'A Dressing Room at Drury Lane' (1952) - love the double mirror and girl meeting the viewer's gaze while the other dancer seems absorbed with her own reflection. 

I have begun to make a double portrait research wall in my studio with prints and postcards. Must also say that David Hockney is unavoidably part of my investigation - his double portraits use scenarios and status to create intriguing social and domestic commentaries. I have grouped my research so far into loose collections; boys - the princes in the tower, elizabeth peyton, gilbert and george; performers; girls - alice neel, claude cahun, nicky hoberman's playmates, twin-like, diane arbus and domestic - love, mother and child, friends.

Reflection

Already I can see an area of particular interest emerging from this initial research. Although I will look further into family ties, it is the sense of reflection which hold my attention; either through similarities in appearance, twins etc or through a physical reflection in a glass. The inclusion of mirrors as props makes the gaze rebound between viewer and subject, and makes the subject seem stronger as they appear in multiple. Mirroring of body language and costume may also be an area which will link well with this line of enquiry. This also made me think of Roni Horn's second apart images again - I will explore this idea through continuous shoot photography and working on pairs of canvases to try and understand more about the process of constructing a double image. 

Double Portraits Investigation

Work in progress exploring dialogue between subjects. This will continue as an investigation alongside my VE essay. Both images are composite, however, the first are related and the second pair are randomly placed. I think that this is evident as they are awkwardly placed together, particularly the 'floating' girl who seems placed out of context. They are also intended to develop as a pair of paintings - both have a diagonal format which creates an arc when they are viewed next to each other. The use of birds in the background of the two boys is intended to give some context, a kind of babes in the wood scenario perhaps. It has been difficult choosing colours for the backgrounds of both as this really affects how the figures in the images look. I was pleased to see that the paintings are not as yellow as I first thought now I have taken them outside of the studio to photograph. They are both beginning to build up in different ways. The first is continuing to be layered with thin washes of oil, diluted with turps; the second has thicker paint in some areas and is more scratchy with outlines. When visitors commented on my work at Open Studios they expected the media to be watercolour not oil due to its lack of gloss. This works for me but I may consider using some sort of varnish or glaze at the end of the process to restore some of the original look of oil. I have also identified an issue with using white paint - it creates a cloudy, almost pastel look to the paint, it seems less pure. I am going to try and preserve some the white from the ground of the canvas to keep some cleaner areas.

Reflection

This process is helping me to explore pairs and surfaces in multiple levels. To work simultaneously on two pairs which could link with each other is quite challenging but healthy as it shares the pressure of achieving success between the two. I intend to spend more time looking at my work outside to gain a true light perspective. This will enable me to make better judgements about colour combinations and the generally balance in the image.

Thoughts on Dialogue

Have been thinking about the notion of creating dialogue in images/between images and objects.

Just wanted to record these thoughts as a pause point before I develop them...

• Place two or more people in a painting to give context and/or juxtaposition.
• Create paintings which are then split into more than one piece and display together.
• Create pairs of paintings - from studio chat about the problems of commissions, create two and let the patron choose which one they want. Also quite interesting to create paired works like Roni Horn's photos taken a second apart. Start from the same point and let them evolve individually.
• Create pairs in images which are then displayed separately - either on two separate canvases which can be hung together or recreate in a different format and place at a distance away from each other.
• Create painting and 3D object which reponds to one of the symbols or figures in the image. Display alongside each other to create contrast between media.

Lots to think about...