One Week later

And here are the paintings as they are this week... Still unfinished... but I am happy with the progression of them.

I will upload a page or a post showing the development of the paintings once they are complete.

Hidden Treasures of African Art

Recently I watched a documentary called 'Hidden Treasures of African Art' on the BBC, which I felt could have some relevance to our Contemporary art and Globalisation lectures.

This is just one in a series in which Griff Rhys Jones travels to remote places around the world to find traditional art. Here he explore the ancient art of the Dogon people. Questioning what makes an “authentic” African artefact and the meanings the pieces hold.

The section I found most intriguing was that about the masked dancers and how their culture is mutating  as a result of the introduction of tourism, education, modern religion and commerce. The ritualistic dance has now become some sort of commercial adaptation.

Griff Rhys Jones states, 'many of the masks in motion here are similar to those fixed to the walls if Western museums, but there is a huge difference because they only come into their full meaning if you watch them in the form of a dance.' The dance was traditionally performed in the dark of night to lead the souls of the deceased to their final resting place however now it is performed in broad daylight for tourists. Much of the purity and depth of meaning has been lost because of the demand from outsiders to see for themselves and take souvenirs to their homes.

Even the production of the masks themselves has altered over time.  Traditionally the masks were carved by their intended wearer, from a specific type of bark. They are now carved by professional mask makers from any kind of wood for  performance for tourists. The art and its traditions have lost their purity due to change of religion of the dogon people and because of the commercial pressures.

I found it quite amusing when in Ghana they were presented with some deliberately aged knock-offs as I have some African masks very similar in my room at home... they were bought in Greece! It just goes to show that even we change the way art develops by investing in it.

Curve Gallery Exhibition WEBSITE

THE SITE IS LIIIIVEEEE! Please visit...

http://www.curvegallery.co.uk/index.php?page=29

for information on our exhibition at Curve Gallery this April!!

Paintings so far...

I have been getting on quite well with my paintings. However its been taking much longer than I had anticipated.

Here are the paintings in their current state. They are still not complete but I feel confident that they will be finished in time for the exhibition as long as I keep to my time plan.

I think they are an improvement from my last set, which looking back on I am quite disappointed with. I have been more selective with my palette for the new group of paintings

Postcards

After our meeting last week to discuss the title, advertisement and works for the exhibition, Rose has come up with these designs for the postcards...

The first image is a painting by Lucy Somers and the second is by Rose. I think she has done an excellent job! They look simple and proffessional. Personally I would be happy with either of the designs. Lucy's painting may stand out more because of the brighter colours, so from an advertising point of view it may work better, but then again Rose's painting is very powerful too. My initial feeling to Rose's was that it had a strong connection with the title, 'So This Is Permenance'. It could be irony, the barron location within the image could be in direct contrast to the title.

Thinking again...

As I have said previously, I am now working on a new set of paintings.  I may show the same works at both exhibitions, but ideally I would like to be able to produce enough to present different work. 

My new work concentrates on one subject because I feel that this expresses the lack of privacy and also reinforces that social networking allows one to edit ones real life into a idyllic virtual life. I have selected several images from their facebook site to work from. The images have been selected for their contrived, and sometimes humerous qualities. 

I have been trying to make the paintings work as a series by using similar hues in each composition. I am also using more earthy, warm colours to allow my paintings to fit in with the others’ work. I noticed that Rose and Lucy often make use of Prussian Blue, and to great effect because it is such a rich colour, so I have include this my own palette too. Hopefully my new choice of colours will allow my work to fit in better and also make transition between different art works less jarring.

I keep rearranging the order of my paintings to see how to make them look their best. When they are more complete I will photograph them in the different orders to see which is best and upload them to my blog.

Gallery Statement

This gallery statement will be presented alongside my work at the exhibitions. Here it is so far.


Pip Preece – ‘Facebook Image1’, ‘Facebook Image 2’, ‘Facebook Image 3’.

Pip Preece was shortlisted for the 2008 Royal Academy A-level Summer Exhibition Online with ‘Relaxing Dancer’.

This current series explores how the advent of social networking and online communication affects the depiction of ‘friendships’. It alludes to the lack of genuine contact within on-screen relationships and the devaluing of the term ‘friendship’ in the context of social networking sites. Facebook images have been selected from one individual to demonstrate how this medium provides the facility to promote and portray oneself by editing the narrative of true life into a virtual reality. The contrived compositions highlight this process.

The innovative layering of canvases reflects the detachment and overstated representation of relationships and situations. The ‘Multicanvas’ compositions are intended to reference the tagging process however on another level they denote the artificiality of the situation and distancing and solitude of the subjects.



I hope this explains what I am doing within the context of both the 'Relationships' and the 'So This Is Permenace' exhibitions. It may need tweaking for the latter.

Thinking Forwards

On Monday morning Rose, Lucy T and I met as a group to discuss advertising, names and work for our upcoming exhibition.


We eventually came to the decision to title our show 'So This Is Permenace'. It is as much a statement as a question, and it has a strong connection to all of our work as well as linking it together. This title says much about portraiture, painting and photography within art history, and also questions what the future holds. Quite an exciting prospect for us as future artists. Alongside our work we will each require a explanatory paragraph which I will publish on here when completed.


We need to have the majority of our advertising completed by 14th March, so that we can invite people in good time. Also we are all going to Berlin from the 28th March - 3rd April. On our return we will have just over a week to set up, so time is tight.


I have also been considering how my own work fits into the exhibition. A few weeks back, when I brought my paintings into curve gallery, I realised how small they appeared on the walls and was rather disappointed with their lack of impact. The dimensions of those paintings were 30- 40 inches, and the compositions were landscape. I realise the space itself is quite small to fit four artists into, so as a solution I am working on larger canvases 32- 48 inches, but to allow them to fit into a smaller space I selected portrait compositions. I feel that they will have a more powerful effect this way.


In addition, the titles of the paintings are something I deem to be very important. I have been considering text network language titles for e.g. 'LOL', 'PMSL' or 'OMG'. Although the phrases have a strong connection to the mediums I am representing, they are human inputs, and so may possibly weaken my point. Quite generic titles however, such as 'Facebook Image 1,2 and 3', show the lack of genuine contact with the viewer and the image presented. They enforce the barriers that I am trying to represent are given by such social networking sites, and so, for the time being I will stick to that.