London Trip

On Thursday 5th October, I visited a couple of galleries in London including: The Tate Modern and The Photographers Gallery. Whilst I thought that The Photographers Gallery had interesting pieces, it was full of similar photos, made by the same artist so there was not much inspiration for me to gain as there was no variety. On the other hand, at The Tate, there was a huge variety in art, from massive sculptures, to paintings on a wall; this meant that I was able to gain a lot of useful inspiration that may help me in the future.

The Tate Modern

The majority of pieces that I was attracted to in the Tate was the compositions that had a lot of contrast in abstract mark making as well as a small amount of photography.

Gerhard Richter
A piece from his series, "Cage"
2006
Acrylics and Oils
3000x3000mm

This composition was one of the pieces that attracted me most as I am fascinated by his technique and how the layers have allowed him to achieve a similar look to erosion. The contrast in marks is something that I want to show as well, which is why it may be good to see if I can work in a similar style, despite the fact that his work is slightly different to the figurative expressionist pieces I am currently looking at. By painting layers and then scratching and peeling away, Richter is able to create a similar texture to eroded walls and in some places he has also used other marks such as drips and splats; this is something that really interests me. The pieces are named after an American minimalist and experimental composer whom Richter listened to when creating these paintings. In a similar way to Richter, I would create my pieces as a response to my concept and maybe even other pictures or sounds relating to my theme. 

Tsuyoshi Maekawa
"Two Junctions"
1962
Oil Paint and Burlap on Canvas
1621x1302mm