Research Blog: Entry 6

 The first artwork I’ve chosen to analyse is a painting by the British artist, Billy Childish (1959-). The work is called “Hand on Face (2000)” and depicts a nude male figure holding one hand across his face. It is painted in a style typical of Expressionism, with broad and messy brushstrokes that create an atmosphere of claustrophobia that surrounds and encompasses the figure. In certain areas of his body the background mixes with the skin, merging the person into their setting like an aura, alluding to depression and anxiety emphasised by sheltering their face, with one hand possessing elongated and distended fingers, whilst the opposing hand hangs limply at their side and extends downwards out of sight. The subject’s shame or embarrassment could be arising from their nudity, which fails to hide an erect penis at the bottom of the frame. As an artist who is known to favour self-portraits, we can deduce that Childish is the subject, based on his recognisable ‘hangman’s noose’ tattoo, displayed prominently on the shoulder. This autobiographical theme creates a link between the overtly literal phallic symbolism, and his own reputation as a sexually active individual, with a prolific history of philandering. The raw autobiographical nature of this painting reveals the impact that Childish’s working-class upbringing had on him, as an angry young artist growing up within the rebellious attitudes of punk subculture in 1980s Britain.

 The second artwork is a painting by another British artist, Charles Thomson (1953-). The title, “Sir Nicholas Serota Makes an Acquisitions Decision (2000)” is a direct reference to Sir Nicholas Serota (1946-), who was director of the Tate art museums and galleries from 1988-2017 and was a chairman of the Turner Prize jury during his tenure. The portrait is comprised of heavy black outlines that surround flat areas of high key colours to form a precise composition, similar to the Pop Art comic book panels of Roy Lichtenstein, although the thick and thin variations of Thomson’s calligraphy is more akin to Japanese woodblock prints than Lichtenstein’s unyielding lines and newsprint Ben-Day dots. As a vocal advocate for new figurative painting, Thomson depicts Serota as a grinning buffoon by emphasising the portrayal of his material obsessions with price and authenticity, based on conceptual values. This criticism of conceptual art paradoxically contrasts with the painting’s own figurative style, encapsulating the criticism upon a canvas of its own sanctioned medium.

 The third artwork is a painting by an American artist, Kip Bauersfeld (1967-), called “It is not possible to dismiss crowd behaviour as a contributing factor (????)”. It uses collage to surreally combine three-layers into a composition of three layers. The foreground is a still-life of a man sitting at a table with his head thrown back, the mid-ground shows a woman casually walking through a miniature landscape, whilst the background depicts a room with views onto a lake with mountainous surroundings. Although the layers do not seamlessly blend into each other they are clearly demarcated by their content, which follows territorial borders without explanation, similar to those found on a map. This bizarre juxtaposition of independent objects in unconventional realities, produces a dreamlike sense of connected worlds that are enigmatically entwined on a subconscious level. The visual path from foreground to background is reminiscent of the meandering narrative found within memories or feelings, and the endlessly shifting relationships between people and places.

Image List

Childish, B. (2000). Hand on Face. [image] Available at: https://www.wikiart.org/en/billy-childish/hand-on-face-2000 [Accessed 03 Jan. 2019].

Thomson, C. (2000). Sir Nicholas Serota Makes an Acquisitions Decision. [image] Available at: http://www.stuckism.com/thomson/SerotaKnickers.html [Accessed 03 Jan. 2019].

Bauersfeld, K. (????). It is not possible to dismiss crowd behaviour as a contributing factor. [image] Available at: http://www.bauersfeld.cz/ [Accessed 03 Jan. 2019].