-in England. Have seen the exhibition at the Jerwood, Hastings, of the Chapman Brothers; The Nakeds, De la Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-on-sea; The Late Turners at Tate Britan, Is that all? Feels like more....
So, the Chapmans. As a big fan of From Insult to Injury I was pleased to see what they'd done to the Capprichios but also rather underwhelmed. The shattering recognition of FITI was lacking; the idea has been spent. But there were other prints that I enjoyed - strange one of a dog, not unlike my Lily. One signed A.Hitler which has a skeleton rising over a nasty black mess - his eyes are red and a rainbow glows over his head, between his skeletenal hands. Are they claiming a new dawn because of A. Hitler? Round the corner is an oil painting by A.H himself, hung on a wall in a room with a lowered ceiling - it can only be approached with a bent back, knees bowed. Wonderfully sinister.
The painting is awful, its a still life, a bowl with a couple of vedg and stuff, laboriously painted without grace.
The piece de, however, are the models under glass made of little plastic figures. Some are naked, hybrid, ridiculous - some are corpses - some are ronald macdonald. Landscapes of them, Brugel-like, meticulous, nightmareish. I went with Penny who ws depressed by it whereas I found a great cause for rejoicing as it was possible to make such a coherent response to our culture. Which transcends it, I reckon. A statement like that can only be part of the solution.
The Nakeds was great. Really encouraging from my point of view. Lots of work that I identify with and that my own could stand with - Beuys, M. Dumas, L.Borgeoise, T. Emin etc. Feeling more comfortable with what Im doing having seen that its acceptable in some quarters, though I was with the Tylers who were having a hard time with it and the general public made their unhappiness with the show palpable. Notwithstanding, feeling a direction now.
Quite strange that I have exhibited there several times but that only made me feel like a dinosaur.
The Late Turners was brilliant. His little notebook studies are soooooooo good. Delicious, charming, exciting, desirable. Contemporary! Looks like a really good artist did them yesterday. Layers of watercolours scratched through, over pencil, touched with red ink, fine lines, surfaces distressed. Oils fab, of course, but familiar with them and the watercolours are less overworked, more immediate and generally please and inform me - they are useful, in short.
More to come. Im trying to get in as much stimulation as I can. Doing some drawing; nothing worth noting but the machinery is creaking back into place.
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