Manchester Metropolitan University:
After looking through the show at Manchester School of Art, I realised that the projects of each specialised area where so broad it was difficult to tell where one subject ended and the next began. It was unfortunate that not all the final pieces were displayed with the artists’ sketchbooks so we could look at their progression and initial ideas. The ones that were displayed with the work were very attractive.
My favourite piece from the Fine Arts section was an oil painting, entitled ‘Rachel’ by the artist Allanah Claire. While it’s a simple pose, I can’t help but notice how amazingly detailed this piece is. I love the tone she has in her skin and the shades in her hair. I very much like how the background is not block colour you can see the brush strokes on it. I find it effective how her Allanah has made ‘Rachel’s’ eyes the same colour as the background and I think the pale colours in contrast to her dark hair and black top work very well. This piece has influenced me to look at detail and draw what a see as opposed to what I think I should see.
I think her work is similar to an Italian artist named Eugene De Blass. He often had his sitters facing away and the detail is exquisite. Perhaps Allanah had looked at his work and has been inspired by him.
This piece is acrylic and oil on canvas and is entitled ‘Untitled’ by the artist, Katerina Stavrou. I was really drawn to the way the fluid paint really captures the movement of what seem to be dancers. The sitter in the middle of the canvas seems to be playing a base or cello of some kind, which brings a visual interpretation of music. I like how the colours become more vivid around the musician, this could portray that music is the most important part of dance. The colours portray every mood that can be felt while dancing and I like the way the paints have been applied to the canvas. The areas where the paint has dripped and bled across the page is very effective to me. I love the shapes created here and I truly feel that the dancers are indeed dancing across the page.
This makes me think of the work done by Jenny Saville. Detailed, yet distorted. Katerina may have been influenced by Jenny Saville.
This is oil on paper and is entitled ‘Emily 1’ by the artist, Coco Newbigin. This piece also looks like it could have been influenced by some of Jenny Saville’s other work. She went through a period of using thicker paint and larger brush strokes which are featured here. What I like about this piece is that even though the paint looks thick and clumsy, there is still a lot of detail to be seen. The tones are all there in the skin and the hair, the only thing is it isn’t blended together as most paintings are, but I think that is what I like about this piece.
I don’t understand the discolouration on her face unless it was an accident or a makeup design that I haven’t a clue about, but the image still works. I hope to be able to create something like this in the future time I have here at college.
I enjoyed the exhibition at the Manchester University because there was a very large range and variety of work to be seen, most of which I didn’t understand but after being able to read into the idea behind it, I appreciated them a lot more.
Unlike the exhibition in Manchester, I think that Chesterfield College had set out the exhibition very well in the way that the sketch books were mostly by the final pieces displayed on the wall. There was also a small name card next to each display with the name of the student, what school they came from, what course they are currently studying and where they plan to move on to after they complete their course here. However this wasn’t true for all the displays. The ones on the outside walls of the dome were unmarked aside from a first name written on the bottom corner in pencil.
One piece of work I very much liked was unfortunately one of the unmarked. I know it was created by Jo, but the exclusion of her last name means I can’t make a solid reference. So this, as far as I know, is untitled by the artist, Jo, and is a stencil mask in black mounted on white card. I really like the simplicity in design and how, though simple, is very effective in the way that the black contrasts strongly again the white mounting card.
I came across an artist named Tim Holtz who creates art from stencil masks similar to this. Perhaps Jo had taken influence from his work.
Cherry blossoms are native to China and Japan and so when Danielle uses them on her tapestry, it give it a very traditional feel that makes it unmistakeably Chinese.
I looked through her sketch book and she was experimenting with different words to translate to Chinese for this piece. She had practised with ‘Hope’, ‘Faith’, ‘Love’, ‘Well Being’ and various other spiritual words and phrases, though it was unclear to me which it was she chose in the end.
I have come across an artist named Jason Miller who creates traditional Chinese styled tableware such as plates and cups in a similar simplistic way as Danielle has done. This leads me to think that perhaps she has taken influence from him. I am interested in the way that she has used fabrics and paint together. While I have already created a design and applied it to a t-shirt, I would like to experiment in the way that she has too.
This next piece is by a student name Michael Stead.
It looks to be paint on black card, but when I looked through his sketchbook he had also created a lot of similar artwork on the computer using Photoshop. So it may be another digital piece. I love the detail and quality of brush stokes throughout the piece and the originality. Many of his pieces that were on display were dark and had a fantasy-like quality to them. Axe-men, bloody lions, dragons and demons where feature on display and throughout his sketchbook.
I came across an artist named Yoshitaka Amano, who is famous for his character designs and image illustrations for the video game, Final Fantasy. Most of the Final Fantasy series have themes of underlying darkness and so shares some traits with the work that Michael has produced. Yoshitaka had created initial sketches and then work with them on the computer to create a neater finish. Michael has also done this throughout his sketchbook though I think not in this particular piece.
I enjoyed looking at the exhibition in College because it was the work of those in similar years and courses as myself so I could compare my progression so far with theirs. It was also nice to see the work of various second year students so I could still look at what I had to aim for.
Sheffield Hallam University Exhibition:
After getting over the sheer size of the university and managing to ask for directions to the exhibition, it easy to find our way around. The layout was simple and easy to follow with name cards next to all the pieces of work which included their names, phone numbers, e-mail addresses and sometimes their blog website. Most of the displays provided a sketchbook next to it, but if it wasn’t directly beneath the work, it was probably on the desks in the middle of the room, excluding a few which weren’t to be found any were.
The first piece of work that caught my eye was by a student named Tom Poynter who had created a linocut of a church and printed it in red ink. His initial sketches are amazingly detailed. He has used very simple lines to produce his initial sketches, which would have made the transfer to lino and the eventual carving to be much easier than if the lines were broken and sketchy. I like how he hasn’t cut out the background to the point that it was blank and didn’t transfer any ink onto the paper. Instead he has left some lines to be seen which gives an interesting effect to the background and, to me, makes it obviously a linocut.
The amount of detail in this piece made me think of the artist M.C. Escher who created a very intricate piece of himself holding a metal orb and the reflection of him and the room surrounding him. He had created this as a carving into wood and printed it. This may have been the inspiration that Tom used to create this piece.
I have created linocuts before but never dreamt that so much detail could be included. I would like to explore this media further in my own studies to see the limit of detail one can include without it being too complicated.
The next piece that I saw was by a student named Kirsty Wilkinson who has created a movie poster for ‘The Clockwork Orange’ using the computer. I like the simplicity behind her design and how, though simple, it still captures the main aspects of the character and makes it undoubtedly a poster for ‘The Clockwork Orange’.
As soon as I saw this piece I thought of the graphic designer, Olly Moss. He has created similar posters in similar colours of movies such as ‘Rocky’ and ‘Dirty Harry’. I like the simple yet meaningful design she uses and hope to use a similar idea in future.
The final piece that I was drawn to was by a student named Lai Cheung who has created a stencil mask with very intricate detail. I very much like the colour combination she has used, white and blue are very compatible colours in my opinion. The picture as a whole is beautiful but it has also been beautifully made. So much detail in such a delicate media makes it all the more outstanding.
There is an artist by the name of Tim Holtz that does stencil mask art in beautiful detail. This artist may have been her inspiration.
I enjoyed looking around Sheffield Hallam University because it’s a realistic option if I choose to go on to University and I could see what sort of quality I was aiming for. Seeing things at University level that is probably achievable with time, effort and dedication now was truly inspiring. I hope to improve my skills so I can achieve similar results in coming years.
