My two day trip to London was very insightful and informative; I viewed various art galleries and Chelsea University while travelling. My tutor has set me and my class the task of producing a personal project based on expression and communication, I will be looking at health and fitness which relates to this very much.
Day one
The first visit was made to the national portrait gallery showcasing many free and elegant paintings, artists such as Egon Schiele and Broncia Koller were featured.
Egon Schiele took to my eye, raised bare shoulder the title of one of schieles painting shown at the gallery, and the title explains his focus on this painting, the human form. To me his work shows freedom and experimentation, something I will apply to my project.
Schiele was an Austrian figurative painter who created an abundance of work of self portraits and models, the way he expressed the human form was not of the typical type and the paintings were twisted with a slight disposition. Also the models in the paintings and Schiele were very casual and natural; formality does not exist in his work.
While at the national portrait gallery I took a few notes regarding techniques used to build the human body. A few paintings were done where the artist painted the outside of the figure to build its form E.G torso, arms and legs were left as white canvas, a very interesting method.
After the national gallery we moved to another exhibition which focused mainly on photography, there was some great work displayed and many examples of expression and communication, i made use of this by comprising various sketches looking at various poses, shapes and body type.
Hana Knizovas photograph of twins elza and nellie was clean work, the models were natural beauties, had tall slender figures and an attitude. The body language said a lot is why i did an illustration of her work. Knizova is a photographer living and working in London and has showcased many exhibitions of her work, looking through her portfolio she seems to focus on people in their environment, how they live, what they wear, their sexuality, and their comforts and so on.
As a people we express and communicate everyday and in different varied levels, to capture that through photography is intriguing, even more so sketching that moment in time to a piece of paper.
Day 2
The second day was very busy the first visit was to the University of the Arts, which we were informed on the prospects of joining. My class and I were given a tour around the University showcasing the facilities that we would have access to if we were successful in a place there, I will say the tour guide was pretty convincing. The university has a lot going for it such as paid internships, spacious studios, workshops and links with organizations offering experience by having you partake in live projects. I am looking to study a BA Hon in illustration which the UAL offered at Camberwell College of arts, I would be quite pleased if I secured a place at this university.
Moving from the University I visited the saatchi gallery which was great in the diversity of work and offered a lot that tied into my work.
Eddie Martinez work was interesting in the fact that he used a mixed media such as oil painting, spray paint and collage, the freedom in his work is to be respected, personally it was not to my liking because proportion and line work were not perfect but that’s the whole point of his work I guess.
Though im not a fan of the mark making techniques of Martinez he does have an interesting message in his work, his work titled The Feast was a large canvas piece with a diversity of characters, a large table and food mixed in with random inedible items, does it symbolize social class? Or greed and indulgence? This interests me as my project is based around health and fitness in which I will explore food.
Helen Verhoven work was morbid but some contained vibrant colours , this was appealing as it shows she doesn't always conform to colours relative to the subject matter. The message in her work is not clear there seems to be symbolism and statements thrown about the many figures and objects in the painting, leaving you with mixed interpretations.
Many others artists that can influence my project were on display at saatchi such as Jason Stegnar whose paintings are an example of over exaggerating the human form with smooth dynamics and stegnar makes it work.
The final stop for the trip was Victoria and Albert Museum the first gallery viewing was club catwalk which looked at the amazing trends and designers of the 80s, there was a great pool of ideas to feed my project. Katherine Hamnett appealed to me alot and i have taken a few steps to developing ideas based of her designs.
She held certain political interests and awareness such as the "58% dont want Pershing" garments which were inspired by the Greenham Common anti- missile protests.This raising of awareness by Hamnett is exactly what I need to incorporate into my project, those bold black letters she uses on stark white garments need to be applied to my illustrative work in my own words of awareness. As simple as her design looks it says a lot about communication and I feel this can be one of the defining factors in building my work. The array of pattern and shape shown at club catwalk was inspiring giving me ideas in building the layering and background elements to my work.
The remainder of Victoria and Albert was very exciting, I spent a large portion of my time admiring the large scale and intricate rugs of the Middle East to the fine flowing calligraphy of China. I was mesmerized by the Japanese art and design i loved the materials and complexity of the katana sword, the fine embroidery and streamline design of the kimonos and the strong well preserved Armour of the samurai, i composed a few sketches of the items that took my eye the most and may extend this into future works.
The trip to london was tiring but enjoyable, i attained a great variation of influences for my project and i had a great social interaction with my classmates and tutors I look forward to future College trips.
