Post 41 - Literary Review as an Ideal Syllabus
Assignment Overview - Chosen readings will inform
1.The Field, context, or research area in which the practice sits;
2.The Interpretation of that field along with the claim you are making, and what you have done with it;
3. An outcome where your thoughts or questions indicate how your practice continues opening out and remains a dynamic pursuit (therefore not closed or finished with).
Introduction
using 4 published texts I will set these against a wider background of themes intersecting my studio practice.
clarify my understanding of how the themes of the chosen texts connect and relate to one another.
define key or problematic terms being used by these texts
outline the order and approach to each of the 4 entries in the main body of the review.
Landscape speaks to me as a resonant form…with the mind and the imagination as the one true subject. 1
Main Concerns
1. Affective Drift - how one becomes affected by surroundings - mainly through the idea of colour and light
2. Autobiography in the work, through mark, gesture, colour and choice
3 The Tradition of Landscape Genre and where I fit into this with ‘Mindscapes’
4. The concept of Emergence with ‘Unfreedom’ as a working process vs Impulse and Instinct/Improvisation
5. Collage its methods and process vs what is it as an idea
Helpful Texts
Busch, Dennis H., editor, and Gestalten, editor. The Age of Collage Vol. 2. Hardcover edition, Gestalten, 2016.
Evelyn, Pam, and Matthew Higgs. "In Conversation: Pam Evelyn and Matthew Higgs." Pace Gallery Journal, September 8, 2023. Accessed March 21, 2024. [https://www.pacegallery.com/journal/in-conversation-pam-evelyn-and-matthew-higgs/]
Murry, Jesse. Painting is a Supreme Fiction: Writings by Jesse Murry, 1980-1993, edited by Jared Earnest, introduction by Jared Earnest, foreword by Hilton Als. Sobercove Press, 2021.
Publishing Office, National Gallery of Art, Washington. Philip Guston Exhibition Catalogue. 2020. Exhibition at Tate Modern, 2023. Author: Harry Cooper.
Smythe, Luke. Gretchen Albrecht: Between Gesture and Geometry. Revised edition. Massey University Press, 2023.
Woolf, Virginia. The Waves. London: Hogarth Press, 1931.
Field Context or Research Area:
My practice is situated within landscape painting, a domain that encompasses both traditional and contemporary approaches to capturing the natural world's essence. This context includes a rich history of artists grappling with the tension between representation and abstraction, drawing inspiration from Romantic painters of the European 18th Century such as Constable (1776 - 1837) and J.M.W. Turner (1775 –1851). To pioneers of the 19th and 20 centuries like Hilma af Klint (1862 – 1944), and Piet Mondrian (1872-1944) through to Archile Gorky the Armenian American painter, (1904-1948), and Philip Guston the influential American painter (1913-1980), while engaging with more recent artists such as Jesse Murry (USA 1948–1993) and New Zealand artist Gretchen Albrecht, (1943-), as well as contemporary voices such as Amy Sillman (USA 1955-), Shara Hughes (USA 1981-) and Pam Evelyn (UK 1996 - ), and Emma McIntyre (NZ 1990)
Fig. 1. af Klint, Hilma. The Ten Largest No. 9, Old Age. 1907. Tempera on paper mounted on canvas. Exhibition at the Tate Modern, 2023.
In landscape painting, my practice exists at the convergence of tradition and innovation, drawing inspiration from historical conventions while pushing the boundaries of contemporary expression. The genre of landscape painting has a diverse history, spanning various styles and approaches. From the sublime vistas of the Romantics to the vibrant color palettes of the Impressionists and the fractured perspectives of the Cubists, artists have tried to capture the ‘essence’ of nature. Hsieh Ho, an art historian of the 5th century, sets out spirit resonance, which can broadly explained as transmission of energy from the artist into the work, as a principle of Chinese painting.
Fig. 2. Mondrian, Piet (1872-1944). Landscape with Trees. 1906. Crayon on paper.
My interpretation of landscape painting is not representation; instead, I aim to explore the emotional depth and complexity of the natural world, through gestural marks and responses to everyday personal sights and sounds.
Inspired by pioneers such as Hilma af Klint and Piet Mondrian, (Fig. 1 and 2) I use abstraction to convey the intangible qualities of landscapes, employing color, form, and texture to explore visceral responses. Using compositional forms and emotive colour I seek to move beyond the literal depiction of landscapes, tapping into a deeper, more universal emotional resonance. I especially draw on the sensation of nostalgia, collective memory of art history, the experience of solitude within landscape, the found object or marks, and as well as the actual act of painting, to gather my imagery. I wish for the image to be vibrating with possibilities and yet stable...Gesture and colour to appear natural and unplanned, I would call this a sort of uncovering through sensation.
Achieving spontaneity requires significant effort and dedication and a leap of faith. As Guston himself remarked “I wanted to come to a canvas and see what would happen if I just put on paint”. 2
Fig. 1. Guston, Philip. White Painting I. 1951. Oil on canvas. 147 cm × 157.16 cm. Collection SFMOMA. Date acquired: 1971. Credit: T. B. Walker Foundation Fund purchase. Copyright © The Estate of Philip Guston. Permanent URL: https://www.sfmoma.org/artwork/71.43.
His major breakthrough came in White Painting 1 (Fig. 3), when he nearly dissolves his grid structure of the early works by standing so close to the canvas so as to not see what he was painting, he could lose control with this trick, the grid appears to melt and cause the detachment of the image from the “hard and fast edge of the painting”. 3
Guston’s art began to exist in a space where it blurred the line between being an object and representing a subject. A form of abstraction noted by earlier art historians, such as Heinrich Wolfflin who wrote about Rembrandt’s painting, “...those signs, alienated from the form...” 4
Interpretation and Claim:
Through my exploration of this “space” in landscape painting, I aim to see beyond representation and use memory and emotion to paint. Drawing from diverse influences, my work swings between chaos and judgment, seeking to unify my view of nature and art in a way that resonates with my lived experience of the natural world. By embracing spontaneity and intuition, I endeavour to create compositions that capture the evolving forms and emotional resonance of the landscapes that inspire me. (Fig. 4)
Fig. 4
Postcards from the edge 2
sally barron 2024
I aim to use the Landscape painters of the past to help me generate work, like Shara Hughes I have no interest in hiding my allusions nor do I wish to copy any ones style, rather I would synthesise these visual references to make something my own, as Hughes herself says, “getting all the satisfaction of painting, and the history of painting, in one.” 5 (fig 5)
Fig. 5. Hughes, Shara. See For Yourself. 2019. Oil and acrylic on canvas. 172.7 x 152.4 cm (68 x 60 in).
In composing my work I embrace ambiguity in my landscapes whilst being intentional with my marks and colour choices. Drawing and collage allows me to illustrate the sense of separation from the landscape as well as the fragmented experience of urban living which only allows intermittently experiencing ‘nature’. fig 6 & 7
fig 6
fig 7
This way of working with smaller collage compositions were meant to act as seedlings for larger paintings, yet I can now see them as working ‘in and of’ themselves as well. Always at the beginning drawing is at the heart of the idea or the description. (fig 8 & 9)
As a painter Amy Silman recognises with her own and Guston’s work, “When I say painting, I mean drawing, lines unfurling from the end of a pencil like a spider web, a stream-of-consciousness process that an artist can watch as any other spectator would” 6
Fig. 8. Barron, Sally. Untitled. 2024. Charcoal and colored chalk on paper.
Fig. 9. Barron, Sally. Untitled. 2023. Charcoal and colored chalk on paper with digital mark.
Fig. 10. Guston. Drawing No.2 (Ishia). 1949. Ink on paper.
This ‘Unfurling’ of the line leads to many paths that create future work. Guston himself noted that this small spontaneous drawing in ink from a reed he found on a beach, (fig 10 ) led to the paintings that would sustain his work for the rest of the 1950’s. 7
Amy Silman's reflections on drawing and artistic expression provide valuable insights into the internal processes of creativity. Her paintings reflect this constant searching for the line. (Fig. 11)
Amy Sillman. H. 2007. Oil on canvas. 45 x 39''. Fig. 11.
Her exploration of the subconscious mind and the role of intuition in artistic creation resonates with my own approach to painting. Like Silman, I view drawing as a form of spontaneous expression, where marks on the canvas unfold organically, guided by both internal impulses and external stimuli. This understanding informs my practice as I strive to capture the energy and emotion of the landscape in my paintings.
Fig. 12a. Guston. Wall of Drawings and Paintings. Tate Modern, 2023.
Philip Guston's embrace of searching and of doubt as a regenerative force further informs my artistic process. His building of images into a wall of explored forms which propelled his work forward,(fig 12a & b) inspired me to create a similar vision in my studio.
Fig. 12b. Barron, Sally. Studio Wall. 2024.
Guston's willingness to confront uncertainty and embrace imperfection speaks to the fluid and dynamic nature of creativity. Similarly, I see doubt not as a hindrance, but as an essential part of the artistic process, driving experimentation and growth in my work. This recognition of doubt as a catalyst for transformation has led me to explore new techniques and approaches, pushing beyond my comfort zone to discover new possibilities. (fig 13)
Fig. 13. Barron, Sally. Notes on a Landscape. 2024
I believe this mode of working must come with accepting the risk of the existential collapse of the painting. As Danish Artist and Poet Per Kirkeby (1938-2018) explains for himself,
“My painting isn’t good until it goes under. The original intention, the smart and clever beginning, is not enough to make a painting. Beauty is not enough. There must be something more, a structure. You must commit yourself, and risk everything, sacrifice the good, and go through a process of recognition, until something better is created, built upon the ruins of the original idea: The right structure slowly emerges from the picture.” 8
This ‘process of recognition’ begins I would suggest, before one even begins to paint, in the eye. Maurice Merleau-Ponty's essay "Cezanne's Doubt" provides a philosophical framework for understanding the relationship between perception and representation in art. 9
Merleau-Ponty's exploration of the tension between chaos and order in Cezanne's paintings resonates with my own struggles to balance spontaneity with control in my work. Merleau-Ponty's insights into the subjective nature of perception inform my approach to composition, colour, gesture and movement. He wanted to depict matter as it takes on form, the birth of order through spontaneous organization." (13)Recent exhibition of donated artworks to the Auckland Art gallery showcased a Cezanne painting that demonstrates this searching for plane and form with colour and mark making slowly building to a coherent vision. (Fig. 14) Paul Cézanne created depth by portraying his subjective visual experience, sensations, and perceptions. The combination of this flatness and depth is a central quality of these works and it challenges the viewer to think about the complex relationship between illusionist images and how we actually perceive the world around us. He wanted to recapture the structure of the landscape as an emerging organism, one which he was painting as a process of expressing.
Fig. 14. Cezanne, Paul (1839-1906). La Route (Le mur d’enceinte) [The Road (The Old Wall)]. 1875-76. Oil on canvas. Auckland Art Gallery Toi O Tamaki.
Merleau-Ponty goes further to suggest that “Cezanne was abandoning himself to the chaos of sensation… for example, the illusion we have when we move our heads, that objects themselves are moving—if our judgment did not constantly set these appearances straight.” 10
Gretchen Albrecht's recent work 11 and Pam Evelyn's insights into the autobiographical nature of painting 12 offer further depth to my exploration of abstraction and emotional resonance.
“The act of painting itself becomes autobiographical as tensions in my touch and gestures are totally subservient to my circumstances, I like life to affect things” Evelyn calls this “finding through feeling” and wishes to combine a clarity necessary to paint with a desire to find what's at the core. 13 Whilst their work is very different in style, this ‘stripping back to the essence of things’ can also be found in the search for form and meaning in Gretchen Albrecht’s work.
Albrecht combines her intellectual rigour , (for example studying the Italian Old Masters), with a spontaneity and intuition that aligns with my own approach to painting. I aim to allow the paint to flow freely and capture the energy of the moment. (fig 15). For me this can only arise after a real commitment to looking, through this and drawing, or other prior acts of making, the painting can have many possibilities unfold.
Fig. 15. Holm, Hannah. Photograph of Albrecht. 1985. Quay Street Studio, Auckland.
Artist Pam Evelyn's discussions of touch and gesture as manifestations of personal experience mirror my belief in the deeply subjective nature of artistic expression. Evelyn mentions the painterly “handwriting” 14 which is to be found in the works of so many artists who value the tacit or physical imprint of the ephemeral. (fig 16)
Fig. 16. Evelyn, Pam (1996-), UK. Tidal Pull. 2021. Acrylic and graphite on paper. 99 x 67 cm.
My sketches en plien air can become notations and shorthand for the visual experience, reminding me of what is possible if this is taken further as in the case of Cy Twombly. (Fig 17)
Art historian Kirk Varnedoe wrote:
"Twombly's scrawls, scribbles, loops, and slashes are the closest approximation in modern art to the visual quality of free, untutored, but combinedly controlled handwriting. His art is written, not painted." 15
Fig. 17. Twombly, Cy. Untitled. 1954. New York. Gouache, wax crayon, colored pencil. 48.5 x 64 cm.
This ‘signature’ as a form of commitment to expression is mainly how I intend to align drawing and collaging with my painting practice.
Albrecht's vibrant and gestural brushstrokes are central to her artistic practice, and she explores how these marks serve as a form of visual language, communicating emotions, memories, and experiences. Her discussions touch upon themes such as spontaneity, intuition, and the relationship between the artist's hand and the canvas, as well as following her personal experiences and influences of Renaissance art in particular.
Outcome and Dynamic Pursuit:
Engaging with readings such as Amy Silman's reflections on drawing and Philip Guston's embrace of doubt has deepened my understanding of the personal and universal dimensions of artistic expression. Maurice Merleau-Ponty's insights into perspective and lived experience inform my approach to composition and viewer engagement. Likewise, Gretchen Albrecht's exploration of cosmic harmony and Pam Evelyn's discussions of touch and gesture as autobiographical expressions have expanded my repertoire of techniques and themes.
Moving forward, these readings inspire me to continue pushing the boundaries of my practice, exploring new techniques and themes while remaining rooted in the emotional authenticity of my work. I recognize the significance of en plein air as the bedrock of and stimulus for new work, yet I am increasing the use of memory or echoes of these experiences back in the studio. Collage emerges as a particularly compelling avenue for experimentation, offering a means of reassurance and healing through the process of creating something new out of old or failed works. As I engage with these ideas and questions, my practice remains open to new possibilities and avenues of exploration.
To tolerate occupying a space of unresolved.
To hover in the perpetual state of building towards.
Every step forwards feels like it’s
supported by clay.
Each application can sink.
As one element emerges another is
demolished.
– Pam Evelyn, 2022 16
Footnotes
1 Jesse Murry, "Windows, Walls and Dreams," in Painting is a Supreme Fiction: Writings by Jesse Murry, 1980-1993 (Sobercove Press, Chicago, IL), 161.
2. H.W. Janson, "Martial Memory by Philip Guston and American painting today," Bulletin of the City Art Museum of St. Louis 27, no. 3/4 (December 1942): 41.
3. Publishing Office, National Gallery of Art, Washington. Philip Guston Exhibition Catalogue. 2020. Exhibition at Tate Modern, 2023. Harry Cooper, pg. 44.
4. Heinrich Wölfflin, Principles of Art History: The Problem of the Development of Style in Later Art (1915), 110, accessed May 9, 2024, https://faragoarth6929.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wofflin_principles.pdf.
5. Katie White, "‘Landscapes Opened a Whole New World for Me": Artist Shara Hughs on How She Subverts the Tradition of Flower Painting’," Artnet News, August 17, 2020, accessed May 9, 2024, https://news.artnet.com/art-world/shara-hughes-interview-1901951.
6. Amy Silman, "From Garbage Cans to God," in Philip Guston Exhibition Catalogue, 63. Washington: Publishing Office, National Gallery of Art, 2023.
7. https://assets.moma.org/documents/moma_catalogue_2146_300062872.pdf
8. Kirkeby, Per. "Per Kirkeby Interview: We Build Upon Ruins." YouTube video, uploaded by Louisiana Channel, June 9, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fyiqw-7wlBg.
9. Maurice Merleau-Ponty, The Primacy of Perception: And Other Essays on Phenomenological Psychology, the Philosophy of Art, History and Politics, ed. James M. Edie, trans. William Cobb, Studies in Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy (Paperback, June 1, 1964).
10. Merleau-Ponty, Maurice. Cézanne's Doubt, 3. 1945. [PDF] Retrieved from https://faculty.uml.edu/rinnis/cezannedoubt.pdf. Accessed [March 2024].
11. Luke Smythe, Between Gesture and Geometry (Auckland: Massey University Press, 2019).
12. Pace Gallery. "In Conversation: Pam Evelyn and Matthew Higgs." Pace Gallery Journal, September 8, 2023, https://www.pacegallery.com/journal/in-conversation-pam-evelyn-and-matthew-higgs/.
13. Russell Tovey and Robert Diament, "Pam Evelyn," TalkArt, season 14, episode 1, 2023.
14. James Ambrose, "In the Studio with Pam Evelyn," Emergent Magazine, December 15, 2021, accessed May 2024, https://www.emergentmag.com/interviews/pam-evelyn.
15. Kirk Varnedoe, "Cy Twombly: A Retrospective," in Cy Twombly: A Retrospective, ed. Kirk Varnedoe (New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1994), 29-50.
16. "Pam Evelyn: Built on Clay," press release, The Approach, April 7 to May 15, 2022.
