RA Summer Exhibition and Tacita Dean: Landscape

 

I went to London to see my 4th Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy. This year it was coordinated by Grayson Perry so I was particularly exited as I was sure he would put as much colour, creativity and madness into this as in his own work. The Guardian has done a good interview. I was also a little disappointed at last year's Exhibition, I found it a bit bare, as though some art had been forgotten so was looking forward to something more inspiring.

I was not disappointed! We actually entered from a different entrance to the way I normally go in so rather than being met with the huge piece by Anish Kapoor, we started the exhibition with the McAulay Gallery- Grayson Perry's Room of Fun, and the first thing I saw was the section dedicated to portrait of Grayson Perry. 

This is the first time that I can remember that we could take photos in this exhibition so I only had my phone with me which isn't great quality but at least I can remember a little clearer which pieces stood out than just noting down their names. 

This was the room curated by Grayson Perry, painted sunshine yellow with an eclectic collection of art.

Piece by Grayson Perry, Selfie With Political Causes.

My new favourite painting. A Woman and A Man, oil on wood, Sasha Okum. 

My new boyfriend Ron by Emmely Elgersma

Symphony For a Beloved Daughter, metal and fabric, Anish Kapoor in the RA courtyard.

My Mum and her The Queen by John Humphries. 

I liked the way this was displayed. Although I am have changed my current work from working with paper and artists book, this still had an impact on me. I like the way it is quite simply framed and the fat that the paper has been shown upright rather than on a horizontal surface. 

In The Fold of The Sea, Japanese woodcut, Carol Wilhide Justin.

I don't remember there being artist books at the previous exhibition, maybe there where but I missed them, there is so much to see! I liked this little book because of it's shape. It was interesting to see how the paper had been folded so that it would fit in its triangle cover. 

21-XXI, collagraph, Fumiko Nakajima.

What is a collagraph? I was wondering this as a few of the pieces I took note of where made in this way.

"A Collagraph is an original hand made print pulled from a plate that was constructed by gluing textured materials to a hard board surface.  The materials create various lines, textures and tones when hand inked and hand wiped. The plate is inked by forcing the ink into the textured recesses in the plate and hand wiping the raised areas.  The print is made by passing the inked plate and rag paper through an etching press.  Pressure from the press forces the rag paper into the recessed areas of the plate and when the paper is removed the ink is transferred to the paper." From here.

The head in the corner! Chris, air dry clay and acrylic, Joe Lycett.

This was really awesome, I love art made from ephemera. There was also another piece on the other side of the entrance ( you can just see the tail in this photo) of another dog made with costume jewellery instead of metal objects and nails. It was a contrast between Gnasher (above) and the poodle looking dog, Rufus 3rd. Timothy Blewitt.

The photographs below are of those that introduced to me to techniques that I could apply in my current work or that relate in some way.

The photographs above are of The Pain of Others (No.3) by Idris Khan, ink and acrylic on Dibond panel with aluminium subframe. 

I thought this was incredibly overwhelming which is exactly what I want my audience to feel when they look at my work. It also has the words layered up with is a theme throughout my current project. I have had an idea to crate a globe like structure with a painting on the inside but have been trying to figure out what to do on the outside that could be both overwhelming but not detract from the inside.

These made me think about how I could cut up my own work in relation to the way I would like to crate layers. I also liked the mark making in these pieces.

Rectangle, high-resolution digital print, hand-lacquered, over-painted and collage, Gordon Benson. 

Weaving (Green), oil, Lisa Milroy. The contrast of colour and repetition made this overwhelming, it was an assault on the senses. Perhaps this is something I should think about.

Beware of The Rock! Newfoundland View, acrylic, the late Will Alsop. I was really drawn in by the textures and layering on this piece. I also thought it was great that it was all in acrylic. This is something I would like to do more of.

Black Rock- Levada Dos Balcoes, charcoal, Dominic Zwemmer. Great black and white contrast, really gave a sense of depth and a sense of power.

I'm not sure if this was part of the exhibition but I assume it was. It was just outside the main exhibition gallery just as you come down the stairs to the main entrance, I bet a lot of people didn't even notice, and that was probably the point.

Whist at the The Royal Accademy, we also went to see the Tacita Dean: Landscape exhibition. I thought this would be useful as I knew there would be some work on mountains.
I couldn't take photos in here but I don't think I'll ever forget the huge mountain on the left wall when I entered the gallery space. I was drawn to it, literally, the guy at the gallery had to tell me to step back behind the line two times because I was zones out the first time.

Apparently the line had been moved back because some people had been touching it and there where little fingers prints on it. I then realised that the whole drawing was done in chalk on blackboards which is why it was so easy to destroy by wandering fingers. 

The piece is the bottom postcard in the image bellow but you can see a better photo here. The contrast between the chalk and the deep black of the board was so strong. It made me think of then the sky in the mountains is that dark and the snow on the mountains is lit up by the moon.

Below are some postcards from the Summer Exhibition. I also found a postcard of a piece that I was either not in the exhibition or I missed it by David Hockney.

'Double Study for A Closer Grand Canyon', 1998, oil on canvas, David Hockney

I like the vibrant colours he has used for this, perfect for the grand canyon.

Some work out on the streets.