The book 'Freud at Work' by Bruce Bernard and David Dawson.
Published by Jonathan Cape, 2006
This book has been a marvellous insight for me into the working practises of Lucian Freud, not just through the interview with Sebastian Smee but the photographs showing his work, the sizes have been a surprise, the studio space in which he worked.
The conversation between Sebastian Smee and Freud and one of the first things discussed is the amount of time that Freud spent in the studio, even though he had not been well.
Freud stated 'Well, it's all I do. It's all I want to do. It's simply a question of keeping well, really.' (2006:11)
There is awareness of time running out for Freud, his failing health seemed to be a reminder that by not painting created a sense of a terrible waste of time.
This discussion talks about his relationship with Francis Bacon, which was very complex, actually it seems that a lot of Freud's relationship with other artists seem to be quite complex.
A statement given by Freud in relation to what he felt made a portrait, he states 'It's to do with the feeling of individuality and the intensity of the regard and the focus on the specific. So I think portraiture is an attitude.' (2006:31)
After this conversation the rest of book are images of Freud at work, paintings in progress, Freud actually painting. Furthermore there are photographs that show the models and the work in progress. The photographs have been taken by Bruce Bernard and David Dawson.
This image for me is fascinating because looking at the actual size of the painting placed on easel of David Hockney. Everything around the room has an air of neglect and you can see the fabric which is strewn across the studio room which seemed to have been used in other work of Freud's.
This another image taken from this particular book, and Freud's studio in summer could be very hot and stuffy and he would often remove his shirt during these times, what does interest me is the apparent chaos of his brushes and paints, the paint marks splattered on the wall behind him is all so random and disorganised and Freud is dynamic and fluid in this image, and yet when you glance at how his shirt and tie is placed, seems out of place within this image.
Published by Jonathan Cape, 2006
This book has been a marvellous insight for me into the working practises of Lucian Freud, not just through the interview with Sebastian Smee but the photographs showing his work, the sizes have been a surprise, the studio space in which he worked.
The conversation between Sebastian Smee and Freud and one of the first things discussed is the amount of time that Freud spent in the studio, even though he had not been well.
Freud stated 'Well, it's all I do. It's all I want to do. It's simply a question of keeping well, really.' (2006:11)
There is awareness of time running out for Freud, his failing health seemed to be a reminder that by not painting created a sense of a terrible waste of time.
This discussion talks about his relationship with Francis Bacon, which was very complex, actually it seems that a lot of Freud's relationship with other artists seem to be quite complex.
A statement given by Freud in relation to what he felt made a portrait, he states 'It's to do with the feeling of individuality and the intensity of the regard and the focus on the specific. So I think portraiture is an attitude.' (2006:31)
After this conversation the rest of book are images of Freud at work, paintings in progress, Freud actually painting. Furthermore there are photographs that show the models and the work in progress. The photographs have been taken by Bruce Bernard and David Dawson.
The photographs that show what the actual size of the paintings and I realised just how diverse Freud was, he was able to change dimensions to create a sense of tightness and clarity, I believe this is reflected in the Queen's portrait. This painting 'Elizabeth II in 2001 the actual size is 9in by 6in.
Elizabeth II by Lucian Freud 2001
9in by 6in
Another aspect of this book is seeing how and where Freud worked his studio really was grimy and for me I would really struggle to work in that type of atmosphere.
David Hockney 2002
This image for me is fascinating because looking at the actual size of the painting placed on easel of David Hockney. Everything around the room has an air of neglect and you can see the fabric which is strewn across the studio room which seemed to have been used in other work of Freud's.
This another image taken from this particular book, and Freud's studio in summer could be very hot and stuffy and he would often remove his shirt during these times, what does interest me is the apparent chaos of his brushes and paints, the paint marks splattered on the wall behind him is all so random and disorganised and Freud is dynamic and fluid in this image, and yet when you glance at how his shirt and tie is placed, seems out of place within this image.
Nan
Goldin Born1953
Nan Goldin is known for documenting her surrogate family
of friends as they engage in intimate, uninhibited, or illicit activities.
These unusually lit images are frank confrontations with personal experience,
frequently presented in poses that mimic the styles of the fashion world.
Goldin visited that world through photographs she took for a New York Times
Magazine cover story – “James is a Girl,” by Jennifer Egan – that appeared on
February 4, 1996. King’s languid and mature pose in this photograph speaks of a
teenager who has experienced much; it appeared in a cropped form on the
magazine’s cover.
Nan Goldin has spent more than twenty-five years creating
edgy portraits. In 1996 these startlingly direct color images were the subject
of a mid-career retrospective organized by the Whitney Museum of American Art,
New York, which traveled to Winterthur, Germany; Vienna; and Amsterdam, among
other international venues. She has earned the Mother Jones Photography Award,
a grant from The National Endowment for the Arts, and the Maine Photographic
Workshop Book Award for Documentary Book of the Year. Born in Washington, DC in
1953, Goldin earned her BFA (1977) and 5th Year Masters Certificate from The
School of The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Nan Goldin’s work is blunt and her work is unforgiving
not only to the viewer but of the person being photographed and the unforgiving
nature is reflective within my recent images taken of Emma.
Furthermore Nan Goldin’s images do not come across as
professional and there is no sense of predetermined aspects when the image is
taken, rather the work is reflective of capturing a moment in her life and
there is no contrition reflected.
Furthermore my images are imperfect and at times there is
graininess due to the fact I do not have an expensive camera to use, however
this does not detracted from the starkness of the images.
Nan Goldin 1997
Asking for Money - Holly Roberts
Holly
Roberts
Roberts excels by rewarding us with her sensuous
presentations of complex ideas that switch on our senses and logical
facilities. Her slow-time pictures extend the most vital experience of
photography, the interaction period between the subject and the maker, to
express potential realities that comprise human consciousness and ask for a
studied examination. Hopefully, Roberts fingerprints, that critical juncture
where nature, knowledge, and knower intersect, will lead us to more carefully
notice how vast, interrelated, and astonishing our world really is. Robert
Hirsch.
30+ years of paintings, talked about one painting at a
time: what went into the paintings, what I was trying to say, what was
happening at the time of my life that I made the paintings. The paintings
themselves are narrative, and this adds a little more to the story that they
tell.
Lately I have been working into the photographs using
inks and pens, furthermore I have been scratching into the pieces.
When looking into the work of Holly Roberts I do find her
techniques really interesting which does relate to my work. One of her works ‘Asking for Money’ is such an interesting
layered piece, and the complex characters that are revealed have an element of
creatures/animals this piece that I do find curious.
Bob Singing - Holly Roberts
Whereas the piece ‘Bob Singing’ is an simplistic piece
and yet I find the marks and shading reflected in some of my photographs especially
the ones that I took of myself and then these were worked into.
However I do find some of the pieces of Roberts a little bit twee and dainty at times, however this does not detract from the mark making and technical work that is reflected within her work.
As I have been creating ink drawings I have looked at the work of Marlene Dumas (b.1953) her work is also very raw and confrontational at times. She works from newspaper cuttings and photographs never from life. Dumas does not shy away from pornography, death, murderers she explores all aspects of human identity. Her paintings are loose and fluid which is how her compostions aspects of her work feel as well.
However I do find some of the pieces of Roberts a little bit twee and dainty at times, however this does not detract from the mark making and technical work that is reflected within her work.
As I have been creating ink drawings I have looked at the work of Marlene Dumas (b.1953) her work is also very raw and confrontational at times. She works from newspaper cuttings and photographs never from life. Dumas does not shy away from pornography, death, murderers she explores all aspects of human identity. Her paintings are loose and fluid which is how her compostions aspects of her work feel as well.
Amy Blue 2011
"Stressing both the physical reality of the human body and its psychological value.Dumas tends to paint her subjects at the extreme fringes of life's cycle, from birth to death, with a continual emphasis on classical modes of representation in Western Art, such as the nude or the funerary portrait. By working within and also transgressing these traditional historical antecedents, Dumas uses the human figure as a means to critique contempory ideas of racial, sexual and social identity."
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