The Critic, the Artist and the Student: Writing about Painting and Colour

Lecturer: Susannah Thompson Name: Kate Molloy Matriculation number: S1263633

Art writing has many approaches and styles, particularly when the writers in question have different positions within a certain area of the art world. The idea that art criticism is in some ways has been up against art writing is certainly a puzzling notion. In an area such as art which prides its self on new explorations of various topics, the approach to writi ng about the topic has almost been unable to embrace as rigorously that concept. For the purposes of this piece of writing I have chosen to look at three different perspectives in art writing. I have focused in particular on writing about painting. I will begin investigating T. J Clarks vital book The Sight of Death in which the renowned critic recounts and captures his interaction with two Nicolas Poussin paintings over the period of one year. In contrast with that I shall be researching the book Chroma by filmmaker, set designer and artist Derek Jarman, in which Jarman recounts his life through his different experiences of colours. Both have a more relaxed diary like style in their way of approaching writing however their artistic interest or authority on the subject is where they contradict: critic and artist. It is from this intersection of positions I undertake my task. Writing about my own work has been a venture of constant difficulty throughout the years and yet at the very least it has been a necessary endeavour for my practice. Writing about my approach to making paintings has been, in general easier than speaking about it, as it gives myself as an artist the time required working out why they have been making that work at all. Due to this unease I have chosen a stream of consciousness format as to attempt to honestly convey my issues with writing about practice. The act of writing about painting can be arduous, at times unnecessary but simply an exercise in turning the visual image into text. When looking for significant texts on this subject matter I have found it best to source out work by authors from different background albeit not that far removed from each other entirely. The idea to pick three different styles of looking at painting and colour is a selfish one. At moments attempting to locate the most fitting analysis on your chosen practice can be burdensome and at times not particularly helpful to your research, a discovery it that may take a long time to reach. Hence I felt as though it important from an artist perspective who works predominantly within the area of gestural or abstract painting to apply written texts on slightly different types of painting to

attempt to get a better understanding of what it is that makes a comprehensive study on a subject and what type of writing makes best to achieve this. This is my aim for this piece of writing to find out can other written approaches to painting can be applied to more contemporary abstract art.

A picture held us captive. And we could not get outside of it, for it lay in our language and language seemed to repeat it to us inexorably. Ludwig Wittgenstein1 In title alone The Sight of Death is a striking statement, words that both repel you and entice you at the same time. That is somewhat the story of the book in its self, two different accounts on one artist. Clark begins the book by talking about his feeling on these two particular Poussin paintings before his writing experiment really begins. The two paintings in question are Landscape with a clam Fig [1] and Landscape Fig with a man being killed by snake Fig [2]. The majority of the book consists of both descriptions and reactions to these pictures over an extended viewing period. Clark breaks up the paintings into sections when trying to work out what exactly is happening in each part of the picture. This illuminates the intricate ability in Poussins visual storytelling in addition to his skills as a painter. A modest area Clark focuses in on and talks about is the use of the brush strokes, the fact that Poussin had decided to leave the human touch prevalent rather than eradicate it. Many painters have avoided making their touch be felt, thinking know doubt to get closer to nature, which effectively presents no such thing. Touch is one way, among others, to contribute to the rendering of thought in painting...2 Delacroix, Journals. The choice to leave this trace of the artist is important to Poussin as a painter, a decision that artists still make for themselves today. It shows a confidence almost to not rid the picture of its creator that he is part of what happened rather than it being a lack of technical ability. From the get go Clark is an ingratiating author with knowledge of how to include and sway the reader to his interests. There is a genuine poetic nature to his writing which at times can be lacking or even frowned upon in more critical discourse. There is not a piece of these
1 2

Clark, T.J, The Sight of Death, pg Title page Clark, T.J The Sight of Death, pg 184

paintings that Clark does not take ideas from, visual ponderings Paintings advantage is that it can so easily be light and dark at the same time3 to statements about the position of work Painting is an outrage to time4 Littered throughout, these small quotations make the text a constant trove of theories and thoughts to pontificate over. Language is always too specific and discriminating, it seems, when it tries to mimic this first idiotic appropriation of the visual.5 There is a struggle in these words, Clark almost realises that the act of talking about imagery is an impossible feat. In particular when in relation to the first time you stumble upon on a painting. There is an essential requirement gathered from it of course, to explain and discuss why a piece of art is important to the wider art discourse. What makes Poussin fall into this category? It could be his technical achievements in painting or his ability to portray a feeling or atmosphere within a flat picture plain. Something in either of the paintings has an ambience that seems as though it would be unimaginably difficult to create. That is not to say that the title of the pictures doesnt help insinuate the nature of what its intention is not unlike the title of Clarks book. Regardless it constructs a frame or framework in which an emotion is to be conveyed, this then should be incorporated into the space where the painting is to be situated within a viewing space. Certain paintings do create specific places from which they are to be viewed places meaning imaginative distances, particular forms of closeness or stand-offishness or intimacy or remoteness6 No matter when a piece of work was made this quote illuminates a contentious issue within contemporary art also. From my own personal perspective this is a massively important idea when discussed in terms of painting. It almost condenses the ideas surrounding this text; contemporary ideas can be applied to classic baroque style paintings and vice versa. They are not exclusive to either but paramount to both. Time is what this is story about.

3 4

Clark, T.J, The Sight of Death, pg 106 Clark, T.J, The Sight of Death, pg 106 5 Clark, T.J, The Sight of Death, pg 9 6 Clark, T.J, The Sight of Death, pg 143

Brilliant, gorgeous, painted, gay, Vivid, flaunting, tearaway, Glowing, flaring, lurid, loud, Screaming, shrieking, marching, proud, Mellow, marching, deep and sombre, Pastel, sober, dead and dull, Constant, colourful, chromatic, Party-coloured and prismatic, Kaleidoscopic, variegated, Tattooed, dyed, illuminated, Daub and scumble, dip and dye, High-keyed colour, colour lie.

Derek Jarman Chroma7

Poetry involving art can be very alluring to read especially when its being used to describe reactions to and how we interpret certain colours different over time. This is what Jarmans book Chroma attempts to put into prose, how in his later years his attraction and memory of distinct colours have developed. The layout of the book is notably indicative feature in it itself. Most chapters are divided up with titles that incorporate a certain colour in a familiar phrase such as how now brown cow or The Romance of the Rose and the Sleep of Colour This helps to add humour but also confirming the idea that colour is recognisable to most of us and can be a short hand way to explain an emotion or a place. This is truer in art then in most areas of life; the way in which we choose to convey or describe a painting in many ways is in colour form. There is always much discussion on the colour or lack of colour in more abstract or gestural, artists
7

Jarman, Derek, Chroma, Title page

decide on this approach over another. Why? What does Crimson convey to the viewer over say Burnt Umber? These are attributed to associations we have experienced before or what we have been through our education or at home. Jarman takes a less academic approach to this study of colour and just gives his own personal accounts of the relationship he has with colour. It makes for a very emotive and seductive read unusual in its recounting of one mans life. He makes quick short statements interrupting paragraphs, for example blue is hotter than yellow Jarman does not feel the need to explain these moments to his readers. He does this not with an air of arrogance but the book acts as an exploration of inner thoughts that do not need to be elaborated upon. There is a sense or impression to the reader that you shouldnt be allowed to read this mans words, there is too much of him in the work, that it is too personal.

There is in some respects a resemblance in structure to the 1972 novel G. by John Berger. In G. each chapter acts as a separate story from the previous one however ultimately they are tied together by the protagonist and his philandering and lothario like ways. This is where there is a likeness to Chroma as the chapters seem quite independent of each other although there is more of a linear style in structure. Thus can cause uncertainty in the reading of it but also means you can in some ways dip in and out chapter by chapter. There are a few moments of disruption or change within the text one of which being the chapter on Leonardo. Jarman clearly is an admirer of Di Vinci for his use of light and dark which is particularly prevalent in his cartoons. Above all else Jarman appreciates technique. The first of all simple colours is white, although some would not admit that black or white are colours, the first being a source or receiver of colours, and the latter totally deprived of them. But we cant leave them out, since painting is but an effect of light and shade, that is chiaroscuro, so white is the first then yellow, green, blue and red and finally black. White may be said to represent light without which no colour can be seen (Leonardo Da Vinci, Advice to Artists)8

Jarman, Derek, Chroma, pg 9

This quote in the book appears in some ways to describe Jarmans perceptions on colour. There is heavy use of quotes and referencing throughout the book which works well as it adds a more academic feel to the book without losing any poetic value. The quotes are chosen carefully, they appear to have collected for years by Jarman as dactylic hints to confirm his thoughts on the importance of art and colour. In the end colour is key to art, life and memory.

For an artwork to be considered valuable, it first of all has to be attributable to an author 9

Why write about paintings that are free of an image and also devoid of a straightforward explanation? This is the most complicated thing about my practice. How do you give an accessible account of a series of work that you have been working on for years albeit through different trajectories and define it completely. What even is the point of that? Abstraction may not be the most apt term for my work but that is a problem for the artist rather than the viewer or critic. I have recently been investigating the word gesture in reference to the work I am attempting to make, it does apparently appear to fit what I am trying to achieve better. I am never sure where I fit as an artist in contemporary painting. Is there an affinity with geometric abstraction from the fifties or is it more likely that I am somewhere between Raoul De Keyser and Tomma Abts. Do they even have a connection as painters? Both of them are very refined technically, De Keyser used to grid out his pictures before putting paint to canvas and Abts work is very heavily constructed and layered. My process on the other hand is completely at odds with this, I have no clue what I am going to paint before that first brushstroke. I have come to terms with this although Im not sure if its an approach that even works for me. There is a very high failure rate over success. It adds to the spontaneity and pressure in a way. What is the work concerned with? What is your practice about? Why should anyone care? Why paint? Whats the reason for this? Why is struggle and pressure important? For the most part I feel as though struggle is the only way art can be created honestly. I personally for no explainable reason need to find things difficult to give us a reason to keep making them. That being said I am never quite sure if that is something I believe or is it an idea that I have been brought up with. Nothing good, ever comes easy: as someone once said. Why make things harder for ones self though?

Thinking Through Painting: Reflexivity and Agency beyond the Canvas, pg 22

The use of paint is a beautiful thing. For all the wrong reasons that sentence is true, why continuously use a tool that is impossible to control and changes direction at any given moment. I have been using oil paints from a young age as my father painted and it was always just lying about the house. Also it kept me more entertained than television but it was probably less then safe. I am concerned with desire. What does desire in art equate to? A wanting, a gut reaction, a unexplainable intrigue or draw to a piece of work. How can this be a believable thing, or is it a valid idea. I am never sure what I want the viewer to think. My work always comes from a place of uncomfortable struggle, never a place of ease. Is it necessary for the audience to know this? That I find the process difficult, that I obsessively make prints with the intention of becoming less precious over the paintings I produce. I am unsure if this actually works but I am also aware that I am unsure of most things to do with painting. Instantaneous paintings are a curious notion. The idea of making mono prints on canvas to make something quick that I have very little control over is appealing. My issues or problems with control are both one of my strengths and weaknesses, I cannot deny that fight between control and the loss of it is what makes my work worth an interest: no matter how big or insignificant that maybe. Yet I am physically unable to rid myself of that constraint and realising that is something I have to do. However the impossibility of achieving that is almost what my entire practice is about. Like John McLaughlins work the ideas or process is more significant than the finished painting. I never like to admit that however because it makes me appear to be a failure as a painter. Which is fact might be very true. Is beauty in art is important to me? Is this is clear through my concerns on desire. I dislike people who make the suggestion make an ugly painting I have never believed that is possible. Why would anyone genuinely make something repulsive? In saying that I have seen ugly work that I have admired, but I didnt feel as though that was the intention of the piece. We can all make ugly work by mistake and that is what becomes interesting. That our vision changed and what came out of that became uncanny and unidentifiably so. I still dont fully understand why I am making what I am making but I dont think that matters so much. Reflection after the fact seems more meaningful.

By all accounts the three art writing methods discussed within this this text have all a similar thread running throughout. It is clear that there is a sort of working an idea out in each piece. That doesnt mean that there has to be any conclusion, or pre conceived agenda been decided upon at the beginning and by the end we are only starting to see something take shape. Structurally Clarks book may appear to be the most coherent although editorially Jarmans has the most accessible layout where the reader can dip in and out of at their own leisure. In my opinion Jarmans book feels closest to how artists themselves feel about colour. It is a subject I have read about before in David Batchelors Chromophobia and Colour (Documents in Contemporary Art) also edited by Batchelor but Jarmans was the most refreshingly honest and accessible. There is beauty and sadness within the lines of each paragraph and none it suggests insincerity. It is a man coming to terms with his own life and the loosing of his sight which helps to realize the importance of colour and how colour influences the memory. Clarks approach to writing about painting is more analytical and in parts controlled but he never relents on the more personal accounts. Clark gives us an in depth account of two paintings that can be lacking from writing on more contemporary art work. True it can be said that the imagery used in the Poussin pictures is more adaptable to be employed in an extensive and detailed study on painting however there is in my opinion a need for this type of discussion or undertaking in more abstract work. For my own piece of writing the stream of consciousness approach seemed most appropriate when dealing with the struggle of making work and in my assessment an important aspect to be addressed. If the artist deems it crucial to write about their practice it should for all intents and purposes be useful to someone. That being said this could be either artist or reader. Depending on the type of work you create what your writing focuses on is unique to the author. For me it is not what is painted that is significantly needed to be discussed, either the painting works or it doesnt and yes that is a matter of opinion. Obviously the colours and how a piece is made is whats important but for my own work I feel as though the way the work comes about is as an interesting topic to be written on.

In exploring these three methods of approaching art writing in connection to painting, it appears that for there to be a comprehensive discourse on contemporary painting we must look at art writing from all angles and not just one perspective is applicable. To have a complete knowledge or at the very least an over reaching inquiry into the subject the importance on a varied reading material is key. From all of this it appears clear that not necessarily talking about painting but taking certain elements like colour, emotions and viewing modes to describe authentic reactions, desire, fear, longing is just as valid.

Bibliography Chroma A book of Colour 93, Jarman, Derek, Vintage 1994 Thinking Through Painting: Reflexivity and Agency beyond the Canvas, Sternberg Press, 2012 The Sight of Death, Clark, T.J, Yale University Press, 2006

List of works Fig [1] Nicolas Poussin, Landscape with a Calm, 1650-51, Oil on Canvas 38.19 x 51.57 ins

Fig [2] Nicolas Poussin, Landscape with a Man Killed by Snake, 1648, Oil on Canvas, 118.20 x 197.80