WACCA notes and research for exhibition

2nd November 

Exhibition theme: Female archetypes

 

Artists I'm considering 

1. ·      Jenny Saville after the Leanardo cartoon (Motherhood) – reference to Madonna. (Madonna paintings are probably better than curating images of cave art) Use the 2 Madonna’s referenced in last essay.
2. ·      Fairy tale series Cindy Sherman  (witch ..) / visceral and realistic – takes pretty imaginary and turns into brutal imaginary realities
3. ·      Paula Rego? (carer  of husband before death..) introduces "human" 
4. ·      Kuhne Beverage – not the Venus - based on muse being Ray Beveridge / Are nazi’s gendered? A male nazi muse would have been called out and condemned a long time ago.

Ian referred to- In the black fantastic @ The Haywood, Images associated with colonialism and racism to take it to task – leading to conversations – Could be a similar outcome from displaying Veiled Venus alongside a photograph of the muse with nazi propaganda ( around black men raping and creating black and mixed race babies. )

·      Section of text that I found interesting, from a downloaded resource after meeting

      At one time Ray Beveridge stipulated in her contracts that she would not appear to stage with more than half of her body uncovered yet The Veiled Venus fronts her almost entirely so albeit with a greater degree of ... it is both in is and not her body. 

 Ian - Q: Waves of feminism – who can you bring in to frame.

             What are the dates of the works ?  

Cave art – primal - ?? could use in draft to explore or choose to use or not. 

Spoke about Myra Hindly work – medias shock that a woman could do that

Points/artists raised in other discussions that could be useful:

Tropes mentioned a few times - not terminology that I use - look at.✅ Done; cape on kid is a superhero trope...got it. like me depicting an old woman on a dark background = witch.

Look at exhibitions been in and what text /essays gallery have to find more info.

Exhibition discussion: How landed here -child >looks for identity>establishes >reinforced>how the hell did I land here.

look again at Appropriation / transcription / 

Tracey Emin has done a slasher movie

Can you use the term anchor as a term when explaining work ✅  Womanhood.

Academic essays are built on evidence 

How do you site works together to re-contextualise them? 

Testing can impact practice and Waco

Collage – john stezeaker  -( the ready made)

9th Nov - Tutorial with Ian Brown

Shared some images of work that I wanted to select for the exhibition.

 Looking at Art History and depictions of motherhood

Jenny Saville After the Leonardo Cartoon series - link to sizes image etc 

Considered Catherine Opie - Do I want to dip into Fine Art photography? Feels like a very alien medium - does it matter?

   

I suggested Origins of the world and reaction by Deborah De Robertis  (reference to women being vessels for rebirth and sexual objects - linking motherhood theme and "roles/depictions" of women.  Ian suggested looking at Michelle McKeown as has also done work in repose to this. I like the idea of these being curated chronologically to reflect women's responses to a mans artwork focused on the role of the female body. Could I tap into Saville again with work with transgender sitters or does this scrutinise this element of the exhibition too much?

 

I wanted to feature Cindy Sherman to bring in discourse around the fairy tale roles of women, cultural narratives that we learn from as children. 

  

Kuhne Beveridges' work the "Veiled Venus" and her muse and sister Ray Beveridge - a nazi propagandist. I thought it would be interesting to curate these near to Saville,  to generate conversations about the muse and motherhood.    Postcard with text on back sourced 18.11 

https://theibtaurisblog.com/2013/01/07/the-propaganda-war-in-the-rhineland/

I realise I'm interested in timelines as had already considered showing a Madonna painting alongside Savilles to reflect the historical relevance. Dates of works are important but rather then reflecting a particular feminist wave - I think I'm drawn to show how society has evolved and is challenging. 

I think I'll print some images and configure them to see how they sit together and what the relationships are - to bottom out which artists I want to have in the exhibition proposal

LOOK AT Talked about Ragnar Kjartansson and the muse; he subverted the muse convention in relation to gender. (Venice Biennale / Icelandic pavilion 2008 )

• Considered Venues - I'm interested in promoting Art in Stoke on Trent / Staffordshire and have Burslem school of art at the back of my mind, but didn't know if I needed a more contemporary or a widely recognised art space. 
• Ian suggested looking at galleries that may have a track record for exhibitions with this kind of context but also consider space and layout to facilitate my proposal.

15.11.22.   Tutorial with RD made me reconsider how I approach the exhibition. I'd thought about the Burslem School of Art as a venue and wanted to bring in a female artist who worked with ceramic or textile. Linking the venue to the discourse around the female and art v craft /female work, but RD pointed out that it felt like a bit of an add on and in fairness I think it is - I'm trying to cover and explain everything. 

16.11.22

introduced Whistlers mum and gave serious consideration to the works that I want to pull together and how they connect - how do they read? what makes them cohesive?

 

Research into Whistlers Mother: (Anna Matilda).     

Lacemaker (composition)

Arrangement in Grey and Black, No. 1. - insistent that the identity of the sitter shouldn't matter to the public - but this article talks about how the artist has subconsciously depicted her in the character that he knew her. "Whistler knowingly depicts her as a solid fortress, a bastion of moral weight whose sheer presence seems to be a stabilising force. In her portrait, she sits patiently staring forward or perhaps lost in stoic contemplation of her life and the chaos all around." 

Article talks about positioning, clothing, pedestal and how it reads / how it was received and has transitioned time.  

Hugely iconic in America and is now a statue and has featured on stamps and war posters. Recognised as a figure of motherhood.

https://www.widewalls.ch/magazine/whistlers-mother-american-icon

Despite his efforts to minimise "her" as a subject, he has been unable to through his artistic approach (medium and composition) - Reinforced his approach to title the work based on its tonal values, by painting arrangement in grey and black no 2. featuring Thomas Carlyle  

"The masterpiece should appear as the flower to the painter, perfect in its bud as in bloom, with no reason to explain its presence, no mission to fulfil" James Abbot McNeil Whistler

 

Mysteries of motherhood:New Yorker article (had to sign up for account to read)  

described as infinite patience, gazing steadily at, apparently, nothing. .. ./ .. inconspicuous, brownish strip across the bottom of the canvas. Anna’s dress falls smoothly past it and out of the picture. It is the edge of a stage or a platform. Whistler is looking up at his mom. / .. Yes, one does like to make one’s mummy just as nice as possible,” Whistler allowed years later, answering friends who praised the speaking likeness of the portrayal. But he was exasperated by sentimental responses to the work. He regularly preached that subject matter should be regarded merely as a pretext for adventures in aestheticism. He said, “To me it is interesting as a picture of my mother; but what can or ought the public to care about the identity of the portrait?” 

;..../ distillation of a meaning instantly recognized and forever inexhaustible. In this case, it’s the mysteries of motherhood. Everybody has a mother, and something close to half of everybody becomes one.

Mother described as pious, (very different appearance to the flamboyant artist)

 unshakable, dedicated, resilient 

17.11.22

"A new way of seeing"Kelly Grovier - The canvas's heroine is more accurately understood as a gristly relic of a bygone disposition than as an enduring icon of maternal fortitude. 

References black and grey to black slaves and gray uniform of the confederates. (Brother was confederate) Both James Abbot Whistler and his mum were known racists. Points taken from the etching in the elevated position -situated by the emblem of the artist in the painting.  Is it a tenuous link from a blurry etching to an actual etching produced before the painting of Black Lion Wharf? 

You tube video re Whistlers Mother. shows text on statue and talks about etchings and painting

Tate Image ref of black Lion Wharf

 

Maybe our history of slavery is inescapable and is another dimension to the exhibition around women who often take a place in the background - men were celebrated and are now criticised for links to the slave trade but Whistlers mum (nice of a slave owner) sued the enslaved black widow of her uncle to prevent her and their mixed race children from receiving an inheritance  (A new way of seeing) 

Exhibition seems a bit dark at this point. I don't feel I'm portraying women positively.

Looked to Paula Modersohn-Becker and a painting that defied convention of her not pregnant but longing to be a mother and questioning her role as an artist- see : The paintings that revolutionised art p(74)

        https://smarthistory.org/paula-modersohn-becker-self-portrait-nude-amber-necklace/

 Second Nature

https://whitehotmagazine.com/articles/jenny-saville-at-gagosian/4832

Considering venues ...

• Burslem School of Art - Not sure about layout and connections
• Scottish National Gallery held the witches and wicked bodies exhibition ?I can get a floor plan....?
• Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery would work with round room - how I want to curate, this may be too big. Found article on contemporary curating 
• Tetley leeds - educational space - converted - ...??
• Nottingham Contemporary = really nice building and space.
• New Art Exchange Nottingham, did have a smaller room which although not round would still work - dark walls work too but wrong kind of gallery...?
• Liverpool Tate. - Word press Floor plan found here. could work- I love this gallery, has a good selection of historical and contemporary art and not shy to put a solid exhibition together with contemporary discourse. Could take an end room. . Special exhibitions top floor - saw Freud exhibition here=BIG room.
• 
  

A couple of the example exhibition proposals use the Tate - I don't really want a whole floor - prep student has honed in on a room:  This may be more suitable for what I want. This collective exhibit will be hosted in a singular exhibiting space at the Tate Liverpool. The gallery has a series of closed off exhibiting rooms that will provide a private and intimate viewing space for the viewer to re-evaluate these historic works against their own present ideas of womanhood. Each room has its own set of double doors, creating a contained and enclosed art space that is shut off from reality for the duration of viewing.

Decision made:  Article references history of gallery and staff approach. (Interesting back story)I'm familiar with it / have been multiple times and it works with the type of exhibition that I want to show.  

Had a play on procreates... I need sizes... Venus and Savilles work is big - need to check how fit space. 

Still deciding artists....and connections  - have 5 shortlisted now

1. Jenny Saville – artist reaction - MOTHER Jenny Saville – Motherhood based on patriarchal ideals – blown apart.  - Reproduction drawing 1 2009-10  - and Second Nature 2020 (freedom to explore- free from constraint)

2. Kuhne Beveridge – audience /muse - ASSUMPTIONS OF SEXUALITY /NURTURING deconstructed by photo of muse? 

3. 9. Michelle McKeown – origins of the world – artist reaction and societal reaction – ASSUMPTIONS OF MOTHER ROLE VESSEL -  

4. James McNeill Whistler - the audience is important here. MOTHER 

5. Paula Modersohn-Becker – MOTHER wanting to be../ artist role 

 

Jenna Gribbon. -new contemporary ... gaze / artwork / female ....

6. Just to introduce a contemporary positive … feels like an add on again. 

Nope:  Cindy Sherman – depictions of the witch – cast as plastic fake..  Gustav Klimt – chrone ,. 

8. Paula Rego 

   Deborah De Robertis  - I can't recreate this in a gallery

10. Tracey Emin sewing 

11. Catherine Opie  https://museemagazine.com/features/2020/4/7/catherine-opie-on-beauty

    
    

    
    

    Registered for New Exhibitions

    
    

    the lacemaker - inspiration for Whistlers mum?

    
    

    Room1 at the Tate?

    
    

    See post from 21-23 Nov re Draft, Crit, research and feedback

    
    

    
    

    Continued research 23.11.22

    
    

    picturing motherhood now exhibition :pro quest pdf

    exhibition catalogue available on Amazon

    
    

    Exhibition explores bond between mothers and children./relatable to mothers and peoples relationships with mothers.diverse demographic of artists not historically represented in art.

    Exhibition also shows Catherine Opies

    Article draws attention to word pervert on Opies chest; remaining scarred words etched into her chest for a portrait in 1994 to reflect her pride in being part of the queer s&m commiunity - forms part of "missing pictures" section of the exhibition around what has been missing from art when depicting mother and child

    
    

    quote from same article : It’s certainly fair to ask whether any contemporary artists have won art world credibility for making powerful pro-life statements or defending stay-at-home motherhood.

    Stenson, E. (2021, Nov 12). “Picturing motherhood now” at CMA reimagines our deepest connections. University Wire Retrieved from http://ezproxy.staffs.ac.uk/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/wire-feeds/picturing-motherhood-now-at-cma-reimagines-our/docview/2596500326/se-2

    
    
    Not My Burden, 2019. Titus Kaphar (American, b. 1976). Oil on canvas; 167.6 x 153 cm. © Titus Kaphar - 2 sisters holding children cut away from canvas.

    
    

    Is this the painting to complete my exhibition ? Balances the perspective of the exhibition (White women destined to be mums - but this introduces black and minority experiences of sterilisation and erasure ) and introduces another contemporary= Kaphar. - Have I gone down the wrong path with Whistlers mum etc as not wholly contemporary artists?

    I like the relationships between the historical and current works.

    New York article. Gasgogian image / gallery link

    
    

    quote from gasgosian: A painter, sculptor, filmmaker, and installation artist, Kaphar reexamines American history by deconstructing existing representations and styles through his own formal innovations.  

    
    

    
    

    "If we don’t amend history by making new images and new representations, we are always going to be excluding ourselves."
    —Titus Kaphar from Gasgosian This page also references his practice and methodology.

    
    

    Titus Kaphar website

    
    

    Would also introduce another male artist - am I suprised that this is a male artist?  He grew up with different family members - is it interesting that he has included mothering in his practice? Does this change the exhibition - open up the discourse that men are allowed into this conversation; its not a female exclusive in terms of contemporary art now.  ted talk by artist - quote in this video : I want to make paintings, I want to make sculptures that are honest, that wrestle with the struggles of our past but speak to the diversity and the advances of our present. 

    exhibitions list (cv)

    
    

    article talks about the exhibition having thematic sections 

    extract re Kaphar:

    Missing Pictures features artwork focused on aspects of motherhood that have been absent from traditional images of the subject. The paintings, photographs and sculptures here introduce multiple identities, social realities and humble details of everyday life. In particular, Missing Pictures highlights the growing number of artists who have in recent years represented Black and brown motherhood, offering positive and empowered images of these mothers and addressing the inequalities and injustices within their histories.

    
    

    https://artuk.org/discover/stories/ten-works-of-art-celebrating-motherhood

     

    In relation to Kaphar I love the sense of reconstructing an image - bringing your own truth or finding something that had been erased and inserting it.  I'm really interested in Kaphars work because he (like Saville) really questions the images left with us historically and challenges them. This gives me so much to work with within my own practice - I feel that I can critique an image with a transcription or take an approach to photograph that will allow me to add narrative,

    
    

    Moving forward I feel Kaphar, Saville and Opie are really interesting to me and relevant to men practice as they all explore themes that I'm interested in.