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a very informative TED talk that I have been using for some of my research for one of my essays in semester 2. 

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Essay planning - reflective report

Within this reflective report, I will be discussing the research that I have conducted so far for the essay assigned within this module. The assignment is to write an essay in which we have chosen two of the methodologies talked about in our lectures and apply readings to two different art works to add context to the pieces. Moreover, this reflective report is also to allow me to reflect upon my previous work and how I can use my knowledge of writing them to aid me in writing my future assignments. If I am not able to look back at previous work and the feedback I received from it, then I am unable to improve my work much further.

In the first semester of my second year, I found it somewhat hard to adapt to the Art and Representation module, as the contents of the lecture was not just information about artists or about art movements. The content was largely to do with theories behind art history and historians that had thought that way, which I felt challenging to comprehend. I have never really done much research into philosophy and similar areas, therefore the concepts were foreign to me. However, with help from our lecturer and the discussions that we had with my course mates helped greatly, and allowed me to begin to understand how methodologies have a place in art history. Yet, whilst writing the essay for that module, which was a 2500 word essay on a contemporary artist, I still found it difficult to add deeper criticism to my work. This could be seen in my feedback, where my lecturer described my work as good, but it lacked deeper thought, and I included too much description of the artist and his work. I still got a high 2:1 for this essay, and believe that with some extra thought and planning, that I can get a 1st for this next essay. Because of this, for my next essay in this module, I am going to try to keep my descriptions of the artists and their work to a small minimum, and only include the necessary details. I am aiming to focus on describing the methodologies to ensure that I am understand them, before applying them to the work of the artists that I will be discussing.

My aim for this module is to continue having good attendance to the lectures, so I can fully understand all of the topics that we are covering. By doing this, I can then choose which methods and topics I want to use within my essay without worrying about not understanding them. I appreciate that our lectures have been quite in depth so far, and haven’t just covered a basic understanding of the topics. For example, I didn’t truly understand the overall concept of post-colonialism and the importance of the methodology, yet through the lecture I began to grasp the theory better than I had before. Furthermore, by reading the articles and books set for the lectures, this has helped me to understand the origins of the methodologies and how they have been applied in the context of art history. One example of this is the reading that we had for the biographical lecture, being the book Legend, myth, and magic in the image of the artist: a historical experiment by Ernst Kris and Otto Kurz. By reading the chapter The heroization of the artist in biography (chapter 2), this helped me to understand why this method was so important to art historians. That looking back at an artist’s history and life could gain insight into why they created the works that they did. This reading helped me to begin thinking of all the different artists and works of art that I could use for my essay; however, I had not begun to realise a solid idea at this time. My plan was to think of as many ideas as possible, to brainstorm them until I found the right one for me. Through the lectures on Thursday mornings, my knowledge of artists, old and new, expanded thoroughly. Artists such as Gillian Wearing, Zanele Muholi, Pierre Molinier and Nan Goldin all interested me for different reasons, yet I couldn’t think of a good argument as to why pair two of these artists and then couple them with two different methodologies. I wanted to use two artists/artworks that were different from each other, yet still had enough similarities to compare from, so my essay didn’t seem as if I was just trying to grasp at straws for connections between them. If this were the case, the essay would end up being messy with little structure, whereas I would want it to flow easily and connect well. Being intrigued by Pierre Molinier’s work and thinking that I could link his work well to the feminist and LGBT+ methodologies, I began to research him and his work, however I couldn’t find much written about him academically. Whilst within my essay I would be largely discussing the methodologies, it would still be fruitful to have a plentiful knowledge on the artist and his works, and plenty of research to accompany it, such as journal articles and books. I decided against using Pierre Molinier’s work and continued looking at artists to make connections between. Initially, I wanted to use the methodology of psychoanalysis, as from completing an A level on the subject, I have been interested in psychology ever since. However, I have previously done essays and presentations using this methodology and thought not to use it again. Whilst I am able to do so, I wanted to push myself too, and not just do the same methodology or type of theory for every assignment. I see my university assignments as chances to explore different fields of work and research, and to prove that I can effectively write about many different topics. The only issue was, finding something I was interested in in different areas. During the lecture on feminism we received, a new field of work had been opened up to me. I typically tended to stay away from feminism as a subject to write about. Whilst in my day to day life, feminism and the happenings around it are very important to me, I feel as if the subject is already written about a lot. Whilst this doesn’t stop me from including my own opinions, I thought I would find it hard to find a subject to talk about that would still stand out and not be overshadowed by already published work, or the work of my peers. However, I was introduced to the work of Mickalene Thomas, who is a contemporary African-American artist. Her work, consisting of paintings and collages, typically examines the ideas surrounding feminism, race, sexuality and gender. After seeing her work, Sleep: Deux Femmes Noires, I felt the need to use this piece in my work. Not only, aesthetically, was the work different to most I have seen, that being that it is a collage and not a painting, but it also tackled the issues of black feminism, but also black lesbian women. I felt like this would be a perfect opportunity to talk about feminism and LGBT+ within my work and it still be relevant and fresh.

I began to think of many different artists, and how their work would be able to compare to Mickalene Thomas’s. Instead of only thinking about artists that had been discussed in the lecture PowerPoints thus far, I thought to any I knew previously to see if they could fit the feminist LGBT+ narrative I wanted to tell. I then remembered the artist David Hockney, an English artist who’s works often commented on homosexual relationships that reflected his own. Whilst he would easily fit the LGBT+ section of my essay, I didn’t initially know how any of his work would link into a feminist perspective. Personally, my favourite work of his is the painting titled

Peter Getting Out of Nick’s Pool

, largely due to the aesthetic nature of the work. However, I then realised I could use this as a gateway to talk about male feminism. My reasoning would be that throughout history, particularly in older paintings, that men are depicted as muscular and strong with little emotion showing. Yet in this painting, the figure of Peter has feminine curves and is posed in a somewhat flirtatious way, contrasting the typical stance of men in history. I feel like this is a good topic to discuss, as usually feminism is only about women, and sometimes about non-binary people. Whilst those topics are valid and still need to be discussed, encouraging men to be open and not typically masculine is just as important. Including feminism focused on men will also allow my essay to be different and more unique, which is what I like to keep consistent throughout my work.

With a solid idea in place, I began to research the artists and the methodologies to be used. In the past I have found it hard to locate academic sources, and therefore with this essay I am going to look for more substantial sources. I began my search using the university’s library, looking for books and articles on the artists and the methodologies. From this, I found a good few sources, such as

Mickalene Thomas

(D.Murray), an article about the artist and her work. By using sources about the artists and artworks I am using, I can write a more solid point about how they relate to the methodologies I have chosen.

I have also noticed that I work better when I print off a hard-copy and go through it, rather than just reading them online. This is because when I go through the hard-copy, I can use a highlighter to pick out important points to return to later, and even make notes on the paper next to certain areas. It also helps me to colour code the readings for the lectures, as well as the readings I am doing for my essay, as it helps to separate the points made in the papers.

For the rest of this essay, I am going to continue researching different areas for my essay, such as the feminist and LGBT+ methodologies I am going to use. This may also mean researching different methodologies like social history and biographical theories. This is because feminist and LGBT+ theories come under the umbrella term of social history and biographical. Therefore, I must have a good understanding of these methodologies before attempting to write an essay including them.

So far, I have been using the universities library, both using physical books and also articles and journals. I have also been using Jstor, which is a website database that holds many journal articles that, with a little more time spent on, I could locate many sources that I could use within my essay.

Within this report, I have identified the goal for my essay and the plan I have for it, such as the methodologies to be used and which artists/artworks I have chosen to incorporate. I have also picked out the areas in which I have to improve on in my essay in comparison to my previous essays. Therefore, I believe I have a good plan for my essay and should be successful in writing it

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The mirror, Pablo Picasso

Medium: oil,canvas

https://www.wikiart.org/en/pablo-picasso/the-mirror-1932

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Bob Ross gets it.

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Harvest Moon Miku cosplay.

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Body | Method | Time

A symposium by Master of Research (MRes) student at the Liverpool School of Art and Design at LJMU.

Amy Russell

Amy Russell is a practicing artist and lecturer, and also a mother. Therefore, she finds it hard to find time away from the duties of motherhood and work to practice her own art. Due to this, she decided to research how creative mothers juggled their time; however, she found very little information on the topic, and was unable to find a body of work dedicated to mothers such as herself. Through her own projects she had explored the themes of motherhood, such as her mixed media project Making Time, which used mediums such as painting, sculpture, photography, video and collaborative performance in public spaces. The aim of her project is to examine current literature and thinking on the ‘Cult of Busyness’, and how that particularly impacts creative mothers. Furthermore, how other factors such as poverty and societies views on gender also have an influence, such as creating a social and economic challenge for mothers. Amy intends to continue her research on this subject at a PhD level in her future.

Georgia Zelly

Georgia developed a practice which is located between the intersection of performance, video and text during her undergraduate research. Through personal and research-driven narratives, she began to question the capacity and capabilities of bodies and their identity; how most people view our bodies simply as a vessel to achieve things with, rather than viewing our body as a part of our being. Through the advancement in technology, specifically the internet, our online presence is incredibly important to us, and thus separates us from our form, making us ‘post human’. Georgia’s paper then gives examples of work in which enhances her argument, such as Mary Reid Kelley and Patrick Kelley’s This is Offal (2016) and Leva Miseviciute’s Tongue PhD (2016), both which are performances which aim to question how we see and use our bodies. Georgia makes the statement that “The post human flesh body is more than the boundary of our skin”, in which I thought was an interesting claim, that our body has no boundary and the environment around us can be absorbed into us. After her MRes course, Georgia wishes to pursue work in which allows her to continue writing, possibly through critical art journalism, with the intention to return to academia to undertake a practice-led PhD.

Alex Wainwright

During Alex’s time at university she developed a deep interest in socially engaging art and participatory practices. Her undergraduate dissertation, entitled The Role of Play and Participation in the Contemporary Museum explored the importance of play and participation with works of art, especially psychologically and physically. This kind of research led her to the artist J W Anderson and his exhibition Disobedient Bodies: J W Anderson at the Hepworth gallery in Wakefield (2017). Anderson’s idea for the work featured within this exhibition stemmed from influences such as Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth; their sculptures that featured themes such as contorted bodies, and Anderson enjoyed this rebellious approach. Anderson had become a central figure in international fashion and teased with the idea that clothing can either compliment or disobey a body. Alex also spoke about how Anderson presented the fashion in his exhibition, as he strayed away from the generic displays of clothing hung on a mannequin behind a glass screen. She found this intriguing and exciting, as it promoted play and interaction between the art and the audience. Furthermore, the new and inventive ways of displaying art and fashion also push the gallery itself forwards, it can change and grow with the help of an artist such as Anderson who understands the younger generations. Following the completion of her MRes in Art and Design, she intends to continue her research at PhD level.

Alice Sergeant

Alice’s paper discussed how minimalism has changed and influenced contemporary art since its arrival after the second world war in the 1960′ and 70′s. Alice’s research also considers what minimalism represents in the contemporary art scene of today, as she is also a practicing artist herself. During her research of minimalism throughout her education, she found very few female minimalist artists of the time that the movement started, however she stumbled upon the artist Anne Truitt when a friend gave her a book about said artist. Alice stated during her talk, that due to being an artist herself, she struggles with issues such as feeling anxious of the public’s feedback towards her art. Whilst researching more about Truitt, she found that Anne had a published journal named Daybook. Whilst there was (and still is) very little written about Truitt, her diary gave Alive a lot of information about the artist. Similarly to Alice, Truitt also had fears within the art world, such as having to juggle being an artist and a mother, and living outside of New York during the first major surge of the minimalism movement. Alice felt a connection with Anne because of this, and through practice-led research created this paper to showcase the development of minimalism, but also some of the lost artists that deserve much more recognition.

Carmen John

Carmen’s paper was definitely interesting, as it discussed a concept I had never heard of before. This concept was ‘design thinking’, in which described a process of working a specific way to solve problems. It is a human-centred way to collaboratively work together which has been used in academia and also in fields outside of design. One of the benefits of design thinking is that it introduces non-creative people to a design-process and to the activity of designing. Carmen also commented on how important an even balance between technical possibilities and business goals, all whilst applying to human needs. Furthermore, this paper is a component of the research project Design Thinking Pedagogy: A Tool to Navigate complex Problems, in which Carmen offers an explanation of design thinking curricula and a series of interviews with design educators. Carmen’s current research is a continuation of her undergraduate study in which she aims to research more about design thinking and the phenomenon it’s created within the working world.

Alzbeta Kovandova

Alzbeta’s paper discussed the correlation between loneliness in the elderly, and their use of technology, such as a television or radio, as a companion. Research conducted on the topic by Age UK shows that over 1 million older people say that they either always or often feel alone, and nearly half (49%) of these people say that television or pets are their main form of company. Alzbeta wanted to explore this relationship through collaborative film, which allows these older people to voice their opinions and be heard. To create her films, she looks for volunteers within the age group 65+, gives each participant a camera and allows them to film themselves however they please, which Alzbeta claims makes for an interesting film as it is all unplanned. These projects are also helpful as it gives the chance for lonely older people to connect with others that feel the same way. Furthermore, studies conducted on this topic yield the results that technology can either help a person to feel less lonely, or sometimes amplify their loneliness, which is something Alzbeta wanted to look into further. In the future, Alzbeta wishes to continue with her documentary film making practice.

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Nature - Art direction Kazuo Oga - Studio Ghibli’s Pom Poko - Dir Isao Takahata (1994)

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The Art of Overwatch, by Blizzard Entertainment

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Level 6 Tate Symposium LJMU

Transfigure: Liverpool John Moores Symposium for BA (Hons) History of Art Level 6 students

As a part of my History of Art university course, during our 3rd year on the course, we are set to participate in a Symposium held in the Tate Liverpool Auditorium. My classmates and I went along to the symposium held on the 19th of March to watch the current level 6 students do their presentations and take notes on each discussion.

Susan Davies

Susan’s paper was particularly interesting, as it talked about social and environmental issues that are being elevated through art projects. Artists and scientists worked together to create art that showcased such topics, and to reach a wider audience. Susan became interested in these issues after earning a bursary from LJMU to study at Aarhus University in Denmark for two weeks, which also happened to be at the same time as the first Triennial in Denmark and the first time the country hosted the 2017 European Capital of Culture. Due to the types of art being displayed at these exhibitions, specifically installation art, she discovered the two artists David Buckland and Olafur Eliasson. David Buckland founded an interdisciplinary arts project named Cape Farewell (2001) after talking to scientists about climate change and the course the world is going to take. Susan also spoke of Olafur Eliason, an Icelandic artist whose installation piece Ice Watch (2014) responded to the imperatives of climate change. Their art works carry a lot of responsibility, not only as pieces of art but also as a format to raise awareness of environmental issues. Susan stated that she believes that collaboration between different professions is important (such as scientists and artists) as it brings people and ideas together. After graduation, Susan plans on continuing to volunteer at galleries and museums.

Olafur Eliasson, Ice Watch Project, Copenhagen, 2014

Jennifer George

Jennifer is particularly interested in photography, especially photography of railways and wildlife, therefore for her dissertation she has explored the work of American and British railway photographers, all whilst arguing the importance of photography as an art form. Whilst conducting research for her dissertation, she discovered the German railway photographer Carl Bellingrodt, who was one of the best-known German railway photographers of the 20th Century. He took many photos of the railways to document their advancement in technology, and had to carry heavy equipment to take these photographs, proving an expensive and tiring challenge. Bellingrodt had also built up a large collection of negatives, prints and documents in his home in order to preserve the past and his memories of the railway and the locomotives that commuted on them. After graduation, Jennifer intends to work in auction houses and galleries, whilst also pursuing her own personal art practice of photography of railways and wildlife, as she is also curating an exhibition of her own photography for her Major Project.

Hudson 05 003, Carl Bellingrodt, 1947

Lucy McIntyre

Lucy’s paper was personally very interesting to me, as it discussed ‘Murderabilia’, which is the term used to identify the collecting, buying and selling of items related to murders and those who committed them. Lucy became interested in social and political art throughout her time on the course and for her dissertation she explored the themes of criminal art, a topic in which she wants to pursue further by achieving a Master’s degree at LJMU. Lucy specifically spoke about the serial killer and sexual offender John Wayne Gacy, and how some of his artwork has been sold for over $2000. One of the most interesting points made in Lucy’s paper was how Gacy’s artwork is only sought after due to his status of being a criminal, and that if he weren’t a criminal, his work would not be as popular as it is. This raises questions such as if the name attached to the art is more important than the art itself, and how easy it is for some people to forget about the crimes of a person when it comes to their work, such as Rolf Harris. Furthermore, some artists, for example Jake and Dinos Chapman, have had their artwork censored due to disturbing themes despite having no criminal background, raising issues with subjectivity to the artist and the subject matter. Post-graduation, Lucy aims to continue her own business In My Liverpool Home and turn it into a full-time career, whilst also volunteering at The Hardman House.

John Wayne Gacy, Dahmers Skull

Callum Cradock

Once again, I was particularly interested in Callum’s paper due to having my own personal enthusiasm for tattoos. Callum’s paper discussed the symbolism and iconography of tattoo art found on prisoners. The aim of this discussion was to explore the possibility of tattoo art becoming accepted into the contemporary art world, as the human body could be considered to be a canvas. Callum’s paper specifically spoke about Arkady Bronnikov, a Russian professor of criminalistics who collected photographs of the tattoos of Russian prisoners. Arkady created an archive, containing the photographs and named it the ‘Bronnikov Collection’. He helped to solve crime cases due to the iconography of tattoos; for example, a skull and cross bones tattoo meant that the owner of the tattoo was a murderer, and if the skull was inside a black box this meant they also committed robbery. Callum also compared the tattooed body to a cabinet of curiosity, how a patron will accumulate many different types of art for a private collection, whether that be physical art or tattoos on a body. For tattoos to be seen as ‘real’ art and to be placed in a gallery means that the stereotype of criminality needs to be removed from tattoos, as they should be assessed on their artistic value instead. After graduation, Callum wishes to continue forth into a master’s degree and further his career as a curator.

Arkday Bronnikov, The Bronnikov Collection; Police File 4, 1965

Lauren Caley

Lauren’s paper discussed the historical symbolism in J.R.R Tolkien’s films The Lord of the Rings which was very interesting as I personally really enjoy fantasy worlds in films and video games. In order to understand the symbolism in Tolkien’s films, we had to learn about his past, which included the period of his life in which he fought in the First World War. Due to this experience, he wanted to recreate the trauma and chaos he survived through his literature and films. Tolkien referred to Viking, Roman, Celtic and Egyptian mythology to represent how medieval symbolism had huge influence upon his literature and cinematography. Lauren’s paper compared elements from Tolkien’s worlds to real symbolism from past cultures. Furthermore she discusses the artist Alan Lee, who created the majority of the concept art for the films and how he used the symbolism from these past cultures. Furthermore, Lauren compared the cinematography of J.R.R Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings to R.R Martin’s A Game of Thrones and discussed how despite the two works being of similar topics, the camera work and symbolism were different. After her graduation, Lauren intends to pursue a Master’s degree at Durham university in Artefacts and Museum Studies.

Alan Lee, Fortress of the Iron Hills

Sadie Curtis

Sadie’s paper discussed how Godzilla was used as a visual metaphor by the Japanese film director Ishiro Honda, and how it’s background had been twisted by Americanisation in Hollywood. The aim of Sadie’s paper was to highlight the importance of Godzilla in representing the Japanese people’s fears and anxieties of the time (1950’s) which were largely centred around the happenings of the Second World War. Traditionally, Godzilla was a prehistoric sea monster that was reawakened by nuclear radiation, and due to the recent events of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the possibility of recurrence, Godzilla represented these fears. Certain imagery within the film Gojira (1952) portrayed the feelings of war, such as Godzilla having skin in which looked like burns caused by the nuclear bombings. Sadie then goes on to discuss how, due to Godzilla being a huge success in Japan, the American film industry in Hollywood created their own versions; however, the meaning behind Godzilla had been lost due to the extreme Americanisation of the product. After her graduation, Sadie intends to develop her archiving skills and work experience, before progressing to postgraduate education.

Dir. Ishiro Honda, Gojira (screenshot), (1954)

Lesley White

Lesley’s paper talked about the American film director Zack Snyder and his cinematography. Lesley makes the argument that film should be recognised as a contemporary art form, and that they could be seen as museums of the future. She specifically talks about Zack Snyder, the films that he has created and how he has incorporated religious imagery and technical use of colour palettes to highlight important moments of his films. For example, during his film 300, Zack has related the main character King Leonidas to Caravaggio’s painting of John the Baptist; both main characters are enveloped in red robes and are standing in front of muted, earthy toned backgrounds, which highlights their importance. Another example of Zack using his background in fine art is during the film Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. During this film he uses religious symbolism which is popular in artworks from artists such as Michelangelo, Rubens and Caravaggio, such as in a scene in which Batman and Wonder Woman lower down Superman after sacrificing himself, such as Jesus Christ had done. This was due to Zack Snyder’s mother pushing him towards an artistic career as she was a painter herself. Lesley also stated that she believes that comic books and the like are the modern-day equivalent of mythology, and therefore looking back at historical artwork is mandatory to acquire the correct symbolism. Lesley aims to pursue post-graduate education by completing a Master’s degree in Art History after her graduation.

Dir. Zack Snyder, 300 (screenshot), (2006) 

James Thomas

James’ paper talked about the artist Andy Warhol, but instead of his well-known pop art, he discussed Warhol’s lesser known films, such as Kitchen (1966) and Outer and Inner Space (1965). Often in Warhol’s films, the cast weren’t given an actual script, but instead were given a general briefing and were told to improvise their lines, as Andy believed that it was better to act naturally. Warhol originally refused to become ‘popular’, using underground icons in his films instead of celebrities; he centred on his subcultural hub ‘The Factory’. James spoke about The Factory’s inhabitants, such as the Warhol Superstars, the Factory Girls and his adopted band, The Velvet Underground in which he produced artwork for. Furthermore, James also talks about Warhol’s use of film within his work The Exploding Plastic Inevitable (1966-67) which is considered to be a pioneering live show. James’ paper also discussing how he believes a Warhol film should be viewed, such as in a gallery space rather than in a cinema or theatre, and identifies reoccurring themes within his work. After his graduation, James intends to continue examining art and pop and the influence on contemporary culture as a part of a Master of Research degree.

Andy Warhol, Kitchen (Screenshot), (1966) 

Felicity Grant

Felicity’s paper discussed how King’s Road in the Royal Borough in Kensington and Chelsea in London was a cultural home of the arts for many years during the 1960’s. At this time, the street was largely known for it’s influence in mod and punk culture. For example, a drugstore named the Chelsea Drugstore stood on the corner of the street, and during the 1970’s was turned into Malcom McLaren’s boutique ‘Let It Rock’ (which was later renamed to SEX in 1974) which he operated with his girlfriend Vivienne Westwood. This shop offered provocative clothing and was frequented by stars such as Jimi Hendrix and the Beatles. Furthermore, McLaren was the manager of the band the Sex Pistols, which further increased the popularity of his boutique, the road and that type of fashion during the 1970’s. in addition to the already popular road, the Saatchi Gallery is also positioned on this road, which was opened in 1985 by Charles Saatchi, to showcase contemporary art. After Felicity’s graduation, she plans to study a PGCE in Liverpool as her goal is to one day team art history in a collage.

Thanks to this Symposium, I now have a better understanding of what I have to do for my own in my 3rd year. I have already begun thinking of what I could base my dissertation and symposium presentation on, such as the art in video games, and will aim to continue to do as many presentations as I can to gain more experience and confidence.

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Artist: ömer tunç Title: -dark souls- “personal work…”

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Women forming a skull, Salvador Dali

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The Pleasure Principle (Portrait of Edward James), 1937, Rene Magritte

Size: 63.5x79 cm Medium: oil, canvas

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Colourful Ensemble, 1938, Wassily Kandinsky

Size: 116x89 cm Medium: oil, gloss on canvas

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via weheartit

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Grayson Perry’s Dresses- Making Himself Claire

Grayson Perry is an English contemporary artist, and is well known for his ceramic vases, tapestries and his cross-dressing. Born in Essex in 1960, he had been cross-dressing since he was young, and used it as a gateway into a fantasy world. Therefore because of this a lot of his work focuses on questioning gender identity and sexuality. Grayson describes himself as a transvestite, and that cross-dressing for him has an exciting sexual aspect, but he has no desire to be transgender.

After experimenting with cross-dressing for many years, he became dissatisfied with the reaction he provoked, therefore he created a persona known as Claire. By doing this, it allowed him to dress as flamboyantly and outrageously as he wanted to; he enjoyed seeing the reaction that Claire caused. His character Claire has appeared in many different ways, ranging from a young girl to an adult woman.

His exhibition at the Walker Art Gallery ‘Making Himself Claire’, is the first of its kind and the first exhibition to showcase Grayson’s dresses in the UK. Grayson makes a lot of Claire’s dresses himself, but every year at Central Saint Martins there is a competition for the students there to create a dress for Claire. Grayson encourages the students to try and make the dresses as bizarre as possible, and several of them have been featured in this exhibition in the Walker Art Gallery. For example, Grayson’s ‘Bo Peep’ dress, is the dress that he wore when accepting the Turner Prize in 2003 for his pottery in which depicted scenes such as death and child abuse.

(Image Source: http://www.theweeklings.com) 

I personally really enjoyed this exhibition at the Walker Art Gallery, as I was able to visit whilst it was running. Due to being interested and involved with the LGBT+ movements, I found it very interesting looking at all of Claire’s dresses, as the craftsmanship involved is incredible. However, I was rather disappointed with how the dresses were displayed. They were held in quite a small room of the gallery, and were all hung in glass cases together. Whilst it is understandable why they were displayed in this way, I would rather have seen the dresses in each of their own cases and spread out a bit more; they all seemed to be clumped together in a small room with not enough room for each dress. However this did not ruin my experience and was simply a small flaw I had noticed.

More information about Grayson Perry and this exhibition can be found at these websites:

About the Exhibition: http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/walker/exhibitions/grayson-perrydresses/index.aspx

About the artist: https://www.victoria-miro.com/artists/12-grayson-perry/

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Tim Head- Cow Mutations (1987) John Moores Painting Prize Winner

The John Moore’s Painting Prize is a biennial award open to all contemporary artists across the UK. The competition was first held in 1957, and is named after Sir John Moore, who was the sponsor of the prize. Every two years, there is an exhibition held at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, showcasing the latest winner, along with the past winners of the prize. Fortunately, this year I was able to go to the exhibition and see the paintings that were displayed there. There was a vast array of paintings there, all from the past prize winners, ranging from the year 1980 up to 2016 which is the latest prize awarded to Michael Simpson from his painting ‘Squint (19)’. One of the paintings that caught my eye was the painting ‘Cow Mutations’ by Tim Head.   Tim Head is a British artist, born in London in 1946; he studied at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne for fine art, and then went to St Martins school of art for a post graduate diploma in sculpture. He now creates contemporary art, typically playing the ideas of shapes and gradients, creating pieces such as ‘Gravity’s Rainbow E/F’ and ‘Cluster 1′.

(Photo credit to: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/great-works/great-works-cow-mutations-1987-tim-head-1796017.html) When I first saw ‘Cow Mutations’ I was walking around the Walker Art Gallery. It was at the end of a small corridor of the exhibition, on the back wall; it was the first one I saw when I turned the corner. It caught my eye due to the clearly sharp contrast of the black and white, and how it was confusing to look at. The black splodges on the white canvas, as if the artist had spilt some ink on his paper and thought “that’ll do”. However, when I walked closer I realised I could see the faces of cows. Small white eyes and pale noses all jumbled together creating their faces. The unrealistic portrayal of these cows looks almost nightmarish, as if they’re all swarming around you. They seem menacing; however, it could also be seen as simply pretty, black and white cows all mashed together to create a funky design. Furthermore, it was almost like a game of ‘Where’s Wally?’, trying to pick out all the cow heads in the piece, making it more engaging than the average painting. It was definitely an eye catching piece, and stood out from the rest.

More information about the artist, the painting and the John Moores Painting Prize can be found here: The artist: Tim Head: http://timhead.net/home.htm The independent article about the painting: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/get-a-real-taste-of-tim-heads-talents-8732218.html The John Moores Painting Prize: http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/walker/johnmoores/

[brush-haus-blog]

Marie-Therese leaning, 1939, Pablo Picasso

Size: 65x46 cm