markjohnmaguire-blog

[markjohnmaguire-blog]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjD_cpFc69E)

[markjohnmaguire-blog]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjD_cpFc69E)

[markjohnmaguire-blog]

I just added a new piece of art to Saatchi Art! Ultima Thule, No.99 This artwork was inspired directly by the stunning achievement of the NASA spaceship New Horizons, in passing the 20 mile long rock and ice formation on the edge of the Solar System, called "Ultima Thule" - and relaying photos of it back to earth. 4 Billion miles from Earth, this lump of rock has held its form and orbit for billions of years - long before the earth itself was formed. That is an almost incomprehensible piece of information for human beings to take in... Here I have taken the form of Ultima Thule itself as the central tenet of my work and sought to express the spiral of the Galaxy and the theoretical nature of the Universe in the outer structure. It seemed an occasion suitably awe-inspiring for my work!The artwork is painted and drawn in Indian Ink and acrylic paint, chosen for their longevity and archival properties and also for their solidity of colour. The card used is 300 gms acid-free and given appropriate care and attention, should last a 1000 years or more. Perhaps that pales into insignificance beside the vast timelines we are confronted with in space - but it is the best we humans can do!

[markjohnmaguire-blog]

I just added a new piece of art to Saatchi Art! No. 95, Perfect Symmetry Perfect Symmetry, No. 95, Indian ink and acrylic on 300 gms archival card. For sale on Saatchi. #perfectsymmetry #mjmaguire #markjohnmaguire #minimalisticart #blackandwhitereductionism #experimentalart #artinwales #newabstract

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I just added a new piece of art to Saatchi Art! The Duck's Courting The Duck's Courting. Even ducks go courting and here I am having fun with the male of the species - of any species. Amongst the lines and spaces is the pride and bombast and sheer excitement of a first date. It will come to doom, but this Christmas - colour and light and optimism prevail! A very happy Christmas to all who like my artworks - and also to those who do not!  #MJMaguire #duckcourting #markjohnmaguire #abstractminimalism #reductionistabstract artinwales

[markjohnmaguire-blog]

I just added a new piece of art to Saatchi Art! The Violinist's Dream, No.91 The Violinist's Dream, No.91. The concept of the violinist is expressed here by the springing lines of this piece. In particular, I have attempted to conceive of the energy and vitality of the virtuosic music being expressed by lines and spaces, which are by turns fluid and taut in construction. The rigour of lines here is key.#violinistsdream #mjmaguire #markjohnmaguire #black&whiteart #minimalisticabstract #abstractreductionism #virtuosicart #intellectualart #metaphoricalart

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(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GE0vF0t6Xjo) 

A reading of my poem with ambient piano music and paintings also. #markjohnmaguire #tonighti’llcryforyou #poetryreading #narrativepaintings #artinWales #poemsofwales

[markjohnmaguire-blog]

I just added a new piece of art to Saatchi Art!  The Order of Chaos, No. 97. It appears that the universe has proceeded from chaos to order and that some underlying law conspires to give effect to this. It has played its part too, it seems, in the evolution of life on earth and (presumably) elsewhere given the vastness of the Universe and time. Even in the decline and collapse of system, order reasserts itself and seeks to renew and reorganise. We humans also appear to have this predilection for seeking to impose order and structure upon perceived chaos - and that is what No. 97 in my series of minimalist black and white artworks is about: in process I proceed from chaos and thence impose an intention and design upon this. The result thus becomes a conceptual commentary on this phenomenon.The work is executed in Indian ink and acrylic - the former chosen for its extreme longevity and archival properties and the latter for the solidity of black it yields to a work. The card I have chosen for my work is 300 gms high white cold pressed acid free card, which should resist the effects of time very well. With appropriate care, this work should last for 100s of years or much longer - and I believe it is worthy of preservation! #orderofchaos #minimalistabstract #black&whiteart #reductionistart #artinwales #MJMaguire #MarkJohnMaguire

[markjohnmaguire-blog]

I just added a new piece of art to Saatchi Art! No. 90, SIngular Variations 

There is a sense in which all of these artworks of mine, which attempt to express complex ideas in a minimalist way, are variations on a single line. A single line is an important element in all human thought and endeavour - from the drop of the weighted straight vertical line against the horizontal of the horizon we learn the perfect perpendicular and the right angle. The sum of these is the basis of architecture. That other great metaphorical motion of the stars and of human thought, the circle, is also a single line: in this case a perfect conjoined rotational line. Here I have attempted to bring a creative dynamic to the expression of the line by treating it to variation, thus giving it that other wonderful feature of human experience: uncertainty.  This work has been executed in Indian Ink and acrylic paint on 300 gms acid-free card. I have taken especial pains to ensure the archival longevity of this work which I regard as important enough to preserve. Indian Ink has not been surpassed in this respect and examples of its use both in China and in Ancient Egypt testify to its unsurpassed archival properties. It is my expectation that this artwork will last for centuries or longer, given appropriate care.#MarkJohnMaguire #MJMaguire #singularvariations #artinwales #minimalism #newreductionistart #principlesofbeauty #black&whiteartwork #stylishart

[markjohnmaguire-blog]

I just added a new piece of art to Saatchi Art! Hazard of Balance No. 88. This work, called "Hazard of Balance", expresses the precariousness of creating an elegant structure as I have attempted to do here. It hangs in the balance and the absolute correct and precise use of the pen is required: it is architectonic in nature and each stroke of the pen is irrevocable: it cannot be rescinded. Swiftness of execution is required and absolute confidence in this type of artwork. It is extremely hazardous as a process simply because each artwork stands on the precipice of complete failure, even while it reaches for perfection. This work has been executed in Indian Ink and acrylic paint on 300 gms acid-free card. I have taken especial pains to ensure the archival longevity of this work which I regard as important enough to preserve. Indian Ink has not been surpassed in this respect and examples of its use both in China and in Ancient Egypt testify to its unsurpassed archival properties. It is my expectation that this artwork will last for centuries or longer, given appropriate care.

[markjohnmaguire-blog]

I just added a new piece of art to Saatchi Art! No. 87, Fluid Properties, Indian ink and acrylic on card. This work, called "fluid properties", reflects both the means of its construction and the origins of its conception. Here I am striving to fulfil 2 imperatives: 1) my belief that beauty can be distilled into a simple 2-dimensional form, devoid of colour; and 2) my observations that the principles of line and form are present in the merest suggestion of a few elements of rudimentary architecture. The values of both are, I think, expressed here.

This work has been executed in Indian Ink and acrylic paint on 300 gms acid-free card. I have taken especial pains to ensure the archival longevity of this work which I regard as important enough to preserve. Indian Ink has not been surpassed in this respect and examples of its use both in China and in Ancient Egypt testify to its unsurpassed archival properties. It is my expectation that this artwork will last for centuries or longer, given appropriate care.

[markjohnmaguire-blog]

I just added a new piece of art to Saatchi Art! A Last Farewell 

A last farewell I'll make, A final act in fee of my acceptance That you've gone. I've held these letters and the prospect of you for too long, As though you were still close, Or traces of you could be found amongst these scentless pages - or that they simply waited your return, Your reappearance at the door a darkened shadow in the light. Perhaps I've thought we'd read them when we're together once again, And laugh at our suspicions, fears and wild extravagance - our fierce protestations of a desperate love defiant. So many words confided to a page, despatched in haste, spent unyielding to all reason! Too passionate to survive or be forgotten, Good times were squandered and in their surfeit Incandescence burned them out...

A Last farewell To many hopes of sudden reacquaintance I have entertained, A startled meeting in some busy rain-swept street - or some unknown town - Where we have run for shelter in a doorway And the curious have watched us from within... As we have chanced upon some café by dint of squabbling design like once before - do you recall? Of course you do! For you could not forget How we like 2 wet dogs shook out our coats, And in our laughter then renewing, The raindrops on your face fell down like tears, And sparkled like your eyes once did. We, fools again, commune like 2 new lovers and the silly hours slip by unnoticed - I recall it well: Can I kiss her? Such social etiquette mocks my thoughts of enterprise as time goes by As carelessly, pretending not to notice, we touch... Am I to be a fool - a fool again? To stand crestfallen by rejection - shall I risk it all? You did not turn aside. A fool again I risked too little in the end.

A last farewell then, To such prospects and to the hopes that one day reconciliation might be in our stars: Just this once I'll read your letters, Your unwitting lies and mine, Our promises, presumptions, pleas and fears, And never again. I'll take myself in hand hereafter, harden my resolve And check the stone cold tears before they fall - I'll weep no more.and guard against such injury - But tonight I'll cry for you just one last time, And say this last farewell. MJM

#Alastfarewell #MarkJohnMaguire #ArtinWales #Blueart #loveletters #burningletters artuk2018

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I just added a new piece of art to Saatchi Art! Sensibilite - A woman recalls the girl who wept over a dead bird, Etude in Blue, No.6 Another of my etudes in blue, of which I am planning a total of 26 of these intimate studies of human emotions, moods and situations. This is number 6 - "sensibilite" and references Greuze's "Jeune fils qui pleure son oiseau morte" which I used as an illustration of the concept of "Sensibilite" in my dissertation on the Enlightenment and its impact on painting during the period 1740-1800 in France many years ago. There is a video on Youtube of me painting this - https://youtu.be/KZg9omOEyfg - the instrument playing the soulful solo on it is the Chinese instrument, the "erhu", which to my ear has always sounded like a soul crying... #etudeinblue #sensibilite #bluenude #artinwales #markjohnmaguire

[markjohnmaguire-blog]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZg9omOEyfg) Another of my etudes in blue, of which I am planning a total of 26 of these intimate studies of human emotions, moods and situations. This is number 6 - "sensibilite" and references Greuze's "Jeune fils qui pleure son oiseau morte". I used this 1765 painting as an illustration of Sensibilite in my dissertation on the Enlightenment and its impact on painting during the period 1740-1800 in France many years ago. #etudeinblue #bluenude #jeunefils #greuze #markjohnmaguire #artinwales #ladyweepsoverdeadbird

[markjohnmaguire-blog]

I just added a new piece of art to Saatchi Art! A Table for One 

A middle aged, elegant but somewhat faded lady sits sombre and alone in a city restaurant with a glass of wine. On the table before her is a single red rose in a slender vase. She thinks of a previous occasion on which she was at this place many years ago - and wonders if it is possible there are traces of her remaining, or of that time...

#tableforone #blueart #narrativeart #MarkJohnMaguire #singleredrose #ALastFling #ArtinWales

[markjohnmaguire-blog]

I just added a new piece of art to Saatchi Art! Saturday Night  #Saturdaynight #colourofnight #nightrain #cityrain #colourofrain #markjohnmaguire #artinwales #cardiffart #colourfulmodernart #cityscape

[markjohnmaguire-blog]

I just added a new piece of art to Saatchi Art! Night Illusions #nightillusions #colourofrain #cityrain #nightrain #markjohnmaguire #urbanunrealism #contemporaryart #artinwales #cardiffqueenstreet #streetcolours #nightlights