Completed Painting: 'Map 4'

'Map 4', Acrylics & Paper Collage On Panel, 60 cm X 60 cm, 2015

I beat my small, self-imposed deadline and got four of these ‘Map’ paintings finished during January, (just).  This one, predictably enough, is ‘Map 4’.  At first glance, this relatively bread-and-butter approach to titling might seem like a bit of a cop-out, (could be worse; - it could just be ‘Untitled 4’), but many artists will report that titling paintings is often one of the most perplexing parts of the whole process.  I notice that it’s something my friend and fellow painter/blogger has been thinking about recently too.  In the case of these ‘Map’ pieces, I decided that my use of fragments of found text provided enough clues towards possible interpretation, without the need for me to over-emphasise things further.  My tendencies toward tightening every last nut and bolt, or leading the viewer too forcefully by the hand, are things I always need to be cautious about.

Parker Drive, North West Leicester, December 2014

Clearly, this one could easily be called ‘Point’ or ‘Anywhere Else’, or indeed, ‘Point Anywhere Else’, but to be honest, it might just as relevantly be entitled ‘Asda/Co-op Painting’.  Salvaged, and observed poster materials advertising both supermarkets provided the most of the collage elements of the piece and, indeed, their respective corporate identities were the trigger for the analogous green palette that prevailed throughout its evolution.  For what it’s worth, ‘Anywhere Else’ is lifted from Asda’s poster, and various areas of greenish half-tone pattern originate with the Co-op.  ‘Point’ comes from a completely separate text fragment, also found in the field, and also, very much about the power of green.  I’ll leave it up to any audience the painting may have to decide what, if anything, those phrases might imply, or whether they belong together or are a mere random conjunction.

Parker Drive, North West Leicester, December 2014

As in all of these ‘Maps’, the cartographical element relates to a specific location where advertising poster raw materials were collected or documented, and here we’re back on the junction of Leicester’s Blackbird Road and Parker Drive, which also featured in ‘Map 3’.  In the post on that piece, I mentioned that my regular car journeys through this location are often part of an actual routine supermarket run.  The self-reflexivity of all this is something I really enjoy about these current paintings, although it’s slightly compromised by the fact that I’m more likely to be on my way to Sainsbury’s than Asda or ‘The Co’.  I’m equally ambivalent about the merits, or otherwise, of all these big concerns, although Sainsbury’s have better underwear and a wider selection of magazines; plus - their aisles are wider and less congested.   I could argue that  it also signifies that I’m using the advertising for my own ends, rather than being led by it. I’ve effectively just done an advert for Sainsbury’s though, so I'm sure I’m just as lost in the retail maze as everyone else [1.].

Anyway, I digress.  One thing this painting does signify, along with the other ‘Maps’ so far, is the gradual reintroduction of more heightened colour into my current work.  There had been a tendency for things to become increasingly muted, or even monochrome, over the last year, but my current tendency is definitely to up the chromatic saturation a bit more again.  Ironically, the more muted quality of recent work may have been, in part, due to my heavy reliance on the found printed material of late.  We tell ourselves that the world of all pervasive advertising is a technicolour one, and yet, I consistently find that the printed colours I repurpose are actually much duller than my own acrylic pigments.  Add to this the effects of degrading, low-grade paper stock,  of weathering and street grime [2.], and the overall effect can become surprisingly muddy or greyish.  Maybe this is just one reason why advertising companies seem intent on gradually replacing paper posters with illuminated screens.  The constant imperative  to capture our attention must make the unrivalled visual impact of coloured light, and perceived technological advance, irresistible [3].

Of course, all that urban grit and entropic evidence is all something I normally relish, and finding ways to handle it can be highly enjoyable.  However, it just feels like time for the paintings to start singing a little more as synthetic concoctions in their own right again.  In reality, I think there’s still a strong element of grunge in these pieces generally.  This recourse to colour does mean that a greater proportion of paint is actually creeping back in, and that I’ve also returned to my old habit of augmenting my palette with fluorescent pigments, (as in the street map element here).  The use of self-consciously non-organic colour in the urban environment is always of particular interest to me.  For all the grime and Midland-grey [4.] skies which may accompany my repeated visits to these locations, I’m equally struck by the vivid plastics and industrial surfaces coatings that adorn many of the commercial buildings I pass amongst.  At this point, it’s worth noting that the block of green occupying the lower right section of this painting is a reference to the corporate identity of a Fitness Centre, whose location is also included in this section of street map.

Blackbird Road, North West Leicester, December 2014

Yet again, I’m uncertain just how successful this painting really is, but there’s no time to worry about all that right now.  Of the four ‘Maps’ produced so far, this one was the trickiest to resolve, and felt slightly in danger of dragging on a little.  I think it’s as good as it can be for now, so it’s definitely time to move on.  I’ve plans to get on with a couple of larger ones now, and need to get motoring if they’re to make meaningful progress during February.  All this self-imposed urgency and setting of little deadlines feels quite strange for me, but it seems to be working so far.

[1.]:  Don’t do as I do folks, - bin off these big companies and buy your pants and groceries from the market, or local independent outlets, (if you still have any).  There, - I’ve redressed the balance a little.  (Actually, shop wherever you can be bothered, - it’s none of my business).

[2.]:  Much of the poster material I salvage is picked up from the ground after it’s detached itself and fallen during heavy wind and/or rain.  The sheer weight of accumulated paper applied with soluble adhesive, means there is a tipping point from which the posters can no longer resist gravity and inclement weather.  They’ve normally already been through the wars by the time I get hold of them.

[3.]:  I’m reminded here of both Walter Benjamin’s meditations on the resonance of illuminated advertising, and of David Batchelor’s writing on the same subject.  I’ve blogged about this more than once:

Walter Benjamin, 'One Way Street & Other Writings', London, Penguin Modern Classics, 2009

David Batchelor, 'The Luminous And The Grey', London, Reaktion Books, 2014.

I’m also forced to concede that I may soon need to take more account in my work, of the fact that the world of analogue materiality and associated physical entropy, in which I am so invested, is increasingly being replaced by a more virtual/digital version of ‘reality’.

[4.]:  I’m reminded that there was once even a bus company called Midland Grey.  Talk about rubbing our noses in it!