Where I always try look for the deeper meaning in any art I encounter, it was nice to finish off our gallery hop for the day with some more lighthearted and colourful works which I couldn't help but smile at the Two Rooms Gallery. Tracey Moffatt explores and idea which carries an almost universal empathy in her First Jobs Series (2008) - she revisits the mundane workplaces from her past in reinterpreted spirit of cheerful irony. It reminded me of the pop art style in that the everyday and the mundane was represented in a cheerful and garishly colourful style to draw attention to what is overlooked and perhaps raise it to a higher status by representing it as art.
Permeated with bright pastel colours, the scenes of a restaurant, a grocery store, a car lot, a hairdressers and the like are almost surreal. They aren't extremely abstracted and the colour is augmented in almost a subtle way at first glance. The object, the walls, the floor, the people look like they were always mean to be those particular colours but fit in seamlessly as part of the whole spectrum of the composition.
Take for example Corner Store 1977 where it seems perfectly normal for it to be displaying a range of brightly coloured candies and other various spectrums across the shelves while the bench, the menu, the counter and the wall are all seemingly normal colours. Yet when combined as a whole create an almost unnatural spectrum to be seen in one small space.
In search for the deeper meaning, her work explores themes of oppression, hysteria and forms of escape: "When I think of those early years I realize that I was learning to be tough and work whether I liked it or not. I put my head down and was forced to be productive". She depicts herself in these works, perhaps in a too bright shade of orange, like someone whose eaten too many carrots, and with a large smile. So perhaps by juxtaposing the mood in these scenes it is to say that even though she may not have enjoyed those jobs then, she retrospectively sees the merit in having done these jobs to get her through "those lacklustre, mundane jobs we were obliged to do as teenagers and art students in order to survive." One cannot approach these wonderfully large and cheerful works without a sense of humour and a smile as we naturally respond to the colour.
Image: Fruit Market 1975
Upon closer inspection, the artist's hand in the manipulation of these images becomes more evident: it seems as though the photographs were actually taken in or converted to greyscale and then coloured with the edges not perfectly filled - almost a childlike aspect to the work like the days of trying to 'colour in the lines', in keeping with the theme of nostalgia and reminiscing, perhaps serving as escapism from reality. It is not meant to be subtle and by revealing the artists hand in the work represents that idea of rose tinted glasses and trying to consciously maintain a positive outlook on what is perhaps a mundane or undesirbable situation.
I enjoyed these artworks and think it it something a lot of people can associate with, whether on an initial surface level by taking in the wonderfully cheerful and bizzarre colours and situations and in the idea that we are searching for that higher purpose in life, that dream job we aim towards and have to slog through the challenges in life to get to. Having worked in retail myself for almost four years, it is definitely an idea I can associate with. Like the pop artists who depicted the everyday and mundane to give it a higher status, perhaps she acknowleges these everyday and mundane jobs as integral parts to not just society, but in developing the life of an individual within society.
After studying and having seen abstract expressionism, I keep finding many references back to this style. Similar to the abstract expressionists, Murray Green "reference[s] the fundamentals of making a painting; both the brushstroke and the properties of paint." Where abstract expressionists such as Jackson Pollock achieved this by pouring and dripping thick and viscous paint onto a horizontal canvas, Green approaches it in a completely different way. He "encompasses the skills of chemist, craftsman and inventor" using "an array of unorthodox painting materials such as urethanes and polyester resins."
The works are seemingly simple in composition; often just a plain field of colour, sometimes divided horizontally into sections - not unlike the colour field painters. But where abstract expressionists aimed to emphasise the 2D nature of the picture plane, Green has built up his works in layers so a second and sometimes third colour sit shifting below the surface a different depths and sometimes secreting through the surface, so expertly suspended in time and motion that one must refrain from try to catch or wipe away the drips of oozing paint. Often his clever interplay of colours results in a tension which emphasizes the movement.
Image: Third Watch III 2008
Even where he uses similar or a single colour, the highly textured nature of it ensures this same level of dynamic movement and interplay. By leaving his works absent of any recognisable subject matter, it is open to interpretation based on how each individual approaches is and associates with the colours. What is interesting is that even though he sought the same sort of purpose as the abstract expressionists, to reveal the nature and properties of the paint, there is actually very little to reveal the process of painting. The drips and blobs seem accidental and secreted and moved in a disembodied state, rather than intentionally by the artist. More is revealed about the physicality of the paint rather than the moods, emotions and thoughts of the artist - the abstract expressionists often depicted both. I, like I saw others in the gallery likewise doing, found myself peering along the edges of the works to try visually deconstruct the process.
Image: Locale Knowledge #4 2007
I did however like this gallery to finish on a light note. The works were unique and dynamic and brought a smile to my face. Where so many artists try to redo what Pollock did, with his iconic drip works, Green approached the similar concept in a new and exciting way. Is that not a challenge in art?
Permeated with bright pastel colours, the scenes of a restaurant, a grocery store, a car lot, a hairdressers and the like are almost surreal. They aren't extremely abstracted and the colour is augmented in almost a subtle way at first glance. The object, the walls, the floor, the people look like they were always mean to be those particular colours but fit in seamlessly as part of the whole spectrum of the composition.Take for example Corner Store 1977 where it seems perfectly normal for it to be displaying a range of brightly coloured candies and other various spectrums across the shelves while the bench, the menu, the counter and the wall are all seemingly normal colours. Yet when combined as a whole create an almost unnatural spectrum to be seen in one small space.
In search for the deeper meaning, her work explores themes of oppression, hysteria and forms of escape: "When I think of those early years I realize that I was learning to be tough and work whether I liked it or not. I put my head down and was forced to be productive". She depicts herself in these works, perhaps in a too bright shade of orange, like someone whose eaten too many carrots, and with a large smile. So perhaps by juxtaposing the mood in these scenes it is to say that even though she may not have enjoyed those jobs then, she retrospectively sees the merit in having done these jobs to get her through "those lacklustre, mundane jobs we were obliged to do as teenagers and art students in order to survive." One cannot approach these wonderfully large and cheerful works without a sense of humour and a smile as we naturally respond to the colour.Image: Fruit Market 1975
Upon closer inspection, the artist's hand in the manipulation of these images becomes more evident: it seems as though the photographs were actually taken in or converted to greyscale and then coloured with the edges not perfectly filled - almost a childlike aspect to the work like the days of trying to 'colour in the lines', in keeping with the theme of nostalgia and reminiscing, perhaps serving as escapism from reality. It is not meant to be subtle and by revealing the artists hand in the work represents that idea of rose tinted glasses and trying to consciously maintain a positive outlook on what is perhaps a mundane or undesirbable situation.
I enjoyed these artworks and think it it something a lot of people can associate with, whether on an initial surface level by taking in the wonderfully cheerful and bizzarre colours and situations and in the idea that we are searching for that higher purpose in life, that dream job we aim towards and have to slog through the challenges in life to get to. Having worked in retail myself for almost four years, it is definitely an idea I can associate with. Like the pop artists who depicted the everyday and mundane to give it a higher status, perhaps she acknowleges these everyday and mundane jobs as integral parts to not just society, but in developing the life of an individual within society.
After studying and having seen abstract expressionism, I keep finding many references back to this style. Similar to the abstract expressionists, Murray Green "reference[s] the fundamentals of making a painting; both the brushstroke and the properties of paint." Where abstract expressionists such as Jackson Pollock achieved this by pouring and dripping thick and viscous paint onto a horizontal canvas, Green approaches it in a completely different way. He "encompasses the skills of chemist, craftsman and inventor" using "an array of unorthodox painting materials such as urethanes and polyester resins."
The works are seemingly simple in composition; often just a plain field of colour, sometimes divided horizontally into sections - not unlike the colour field painters. But where abstract expressionists aimed to emphasise the 2D nature of the picture plane, Green has built up his works in layers so a second and sometimes third colour sit shifting below the surface a different depths and sometimes secreting through the surface, so expertly suspended in time and motion that one must refrain from try to catch or wipe away the drips of oozing paint. Often his clever interplay of colours results in a tension which emphasizes the movement.Image: Third Watch III 2008
Even where he uses similar or a single colour, the highly textured nature of it ensures this same level of dynamic movement and interplay. By leaving his works absent of any recognisable subject matter, it is open to interpretation based on how each individual approaches is and associates with the colours. What is interesting is that even though he sought the same sort of purpose as the abstract expressionists, to reveal the nature and properties of the paint, there is actually very little to reveal the process of painting. The drips and blobs seem accidental and secreted and moved in a disembodied state, rather than intentionally by the artist. More is revealed about the physicality of the paint rather than the moods, emotions and thoughts of the artist - the abstract expressionists often depicted both. I, like I saw others in the gallery likewise doing, found myself peering along the edges of the works to try visually deconstruct the process.Image: Locale Knowledge #4 2007
I did however like this gallery to finish on a light note. The works were unique and dynamic and brought a smile to my face. Where so many artists try to redo what Pollock did, with his iconic drip works, Green approached the similar concept in a new and exciting way. Is that not a challenge in art?
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