Sorry, a day late publishing, owing to basic idleness.
Frank Bowling
Good to see an article in the Guardian on Bowling’s poured paintings at the Tate Britain. I knew him only by the single flag painting in the “Migrations” exhibition, which is not at all typical of his work. He tends more to a sort of abstract Expressionism and uses colours that remind me of John Hoyland – although he doesn’t mention knowing Hoyland; Hockney was one of his art school contemporaries. I’m going to see the Tate thing again tomorrow.
Paul Jenkins
My Australian blogger/painter friend Paintlater posted an item about this US AbEx artist, again unknown to me, who has just died. Fantastic, large canvases with swathes of paint unfurling across them, guided with a knife apparently. A little like Morris Louis – the paint looks as if it has been hurled but it doesn’t spatter – a bit like huge silk scarves, although not in the one below, which is untypical, but nice.
Malevich
Been reading Boris Groys’ book “The Total Art of Stalinism”, which is a reading of the the Russian avant garde and it’s relationship with the Stalinist state and Socialist Realism. Malevich’s famous Black Square of 1923 was, according to Groys, a “Ground Zero”, painted by M as a sort of barrier of nothingness designed to put an end to further proliferation of art movements in Russia, enabling the mobilisation of artists for the construction of a real, unitary “work of art” – the socialist state itself. Groys sees this as the self-imposed task of the Russian avant garde.
Unfortunately for the AG, their formalism was not seen as useful by either Lenin or Stalin, who disengaged with the AG in favour of the proponents of Socialist Realism – which was handier for propaganda purposes.
I’d always thought of the Russian avant garde as vaguely libertarian and radical; radical they were -but libertarian, no. Totalitarian, more like.
Groys’ book is about Soviet Russia (published in 1987), so it largely ignores the similarities (and differences) between Socialist Realism and Nazi and Fascist art. An interesting book to be written there – no doubt, it already has been.
Critics
Barnett Newman famously said that the relationship of critics to artists was like that of ornithologists to the birds – the birds do, the ornis watch and interpret.
Seems to me that this is right – artists (Bacon, Pollock, de Kooning)are great on the processes of production but are often vague and reluctant to analyse deeply what they do – in case the magic goes away, presumably. I think its for the artist to do and the critic to analyse; its a pity that some of the critics insist on mystifying the work by “reading” it in an arcane vocabulary that is spoken only by other critics.
Fred and Ginger
“Swingtime” has got to be the best; “Pick Yourself Up” is just an unbelievable joy, when Fred does that saunter – sudden kick thing, and later swings Ginger over the barrier. But then there is “Never Gonna Dance”, a perfect little ballet quoting all the previous numbers. Ginger’s back in that dress is the third great back in art history; Veronese’s “Unfaithfulness”, Kitaj’s wonderful drawing are the other two (see previous Blackpaints).
Some old ones to end-
Blackpaint
06.07.12
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