Apologies to any
easily offended readers: A recent post
included a bit of swearing and this one contains more than one ‘comedy penis’. It’s not my intention to shock deliberately
and I hope it’s all justified artistically.
I’d be lying though, if I didn’t admit to a little juvenile humour on
occasions, - I’m only human.
 |
| Work In Progress: 'Cave Wall 1', Acrylics & Paper Collage On Panel, 60 cm X 60 cm, 2013 |
Following the
completion of ‘Belgrave Gate: Yours 1’,
I’m currently engaged in the development of my next piece(s) under the banner
of the ‘Belgrave Gate Project’. Having already made numerous research visits
to Leicester’s arterial Belgrave Gate and surrounding area, on which the
project focuses, I’ve amassed many more photographs than I actually have time
to deal with.
 |
| Burleys Flyover, Leicester, 2013 |
 |
| Burleys Flyover Leicester, Manipulated Photograph, 2013 |
 |
| Burleys Flyover Leicester, Manipulated Photograph, 2013 |
However forensic
or oblique my investigations of the area may become, I’m, predictably, very
drawn to the two flyovers that dominate it and the environment beneath them. I’m certainly not claiming any originality for
them as a subject but at this early stage it seems permissible to address the
most obvious stuff on the understanding that more tangential subjects and
themes will emerge as the project progresses; to get it out of the way, as it
were. Also, it would be foolish to
ignore the particularity and inescapable resonance of such zones. The key, (to the project overall), is to divine
my own subjective response and allow an observed site to trigger whichever more
obscure connections emerge. Indeed, the
potential of a particular place to supply a portal to parallel dimensions of
imagination or temporal slippage is pretty much the whole point.
 |
| Burleys Flyover, Leicester, 2013 |
 |
| Burleys Flyover, Leicester, 2013 |
During my first
visit [1.], to the Burleys flyover and the junction below, I had a somewhat
revelatory experience that is providing the stimulus for my current pieces. Crudely inscribed in the dirt high on the
concrete surface of one of the supports I discovered a tangle of finger-drawn
graffiti, (including names and a territorial postcode), augmented by the
negative prints of hands and a bounced ball.
The textual content is of the most rudimentary kind, being no more than
the usual territorial claims and personal idents. The other obvious motif is a small phallic
pictogram, - presumably intended to offend but actually rather amusing in its half-assed
naivety, as such things often are.
 |
| Burleys Flyover, Leicester, 2013 |
The overlapping, intersecting
planes of the paving, and the flyover’s verticals, carriageway and parapet
already felt distinctly cavernous and I was immediately reminded of the
prehistoric cave art that fascinates me so much and, in particular, the British Museum’s Ice Age Art exhibition [2.], and the accompanying BBC TV ‘Culture Show’ program [3.]. The need to mark one’s territory, to assert
identity or tribal hierarchies, and to leave traces of habitual activity and
survival strategies all seem to connect over the millennia. Certainly, pictorial reference to hands and generative
organs appear to be timeless themes, even if our own displacement of ancient
gyneo-centric imagery by symbols of aggressive maleness reveals uncomfortable
truths about the evolution of human society.
 |
| 'Panel Of Hands', El Castllo Cave, Spain. Photo: Pedro Suara (AAAS) |
My fantasy is of
a contemporary, wandering urban gang/tribe, pausing in a significant location,
(as our ancient ancestors once did), and collaborating to leave significant
marks in a difficult to access place before moving on, (I’m assuming that ‘Fletch’ of ‘LE5’ is the tribal chief and most sexually active ‘member’, with ‘James Mitchelson’ his second in command). The sunlight reflecting onto the surrounding
concrete surfaces creates a distinct atmosphere, (as smoky firelight may once
have done in caves), whilst the unceasing traffic outside might parallel the
teeming populations of prey and potentially dangerous animals that once
outnumbered our own.
 |
| Work In Progress: 'Cave Wall 1', & Accompanying Studies, 2013 |
 |
| Sketchbook Study For 'Cave Wall' Paintings, Acrylics & Paper Collage On Panel |
It’s still fairly
early in my exploration of this idea but I’ve elected to go about things slightly
differently this time. Initially, I
produced a small number of sketchbook studies in collage and paint applied over
a photographic image of the scene. The main
emphasis of these images is, as usual, to create layers of meaning, with synthesized
motifs extracted from the actual graffiti to float over the top. However, instead of producing a single,
significantly sized painting from the most successful of them, I’ve elected to
produce two or three panels of modest proportions and to continue producing small
paper-based studies in parallel. I hope
this will feel like I’m producing more within the time available, (allaying my
hang-ups about speed of production), whilst exploring the ways in which I
translate representational imagery from photography to paint.
 |
| Sketchbook Study For 'Cave Wall' Paintings, Acrylics & Paper Collage On Panel |
The first modest
panel is well under way and I intend to start two more very soon. Whether this will all culminate in a larger
final statement is, as yet, uncertain but the encompassing environmental nature
of the subject certainly suggests it.
 |
| Sketchbook Study For 'Cave Wall' Paintings, Acrylics & Paper Collage On Panel |
[1.]: Something which, perhaps pretentiously, and in tribute to Situationism, I've decided to call 'Belgrave Gate Derive 1'.
[2.]: 'Ice Age Art: Arrival Of The Modern Mind', British Museum, London, 7 February - 26 May 2013
[3.]: 'The Culture Show - Ice Age Art - A Culture Show Special', BBC 2, First Broadcast: Saturday, 9 February 2013
No comments:
Post a Comment