The images above are the work of George Musgrave and C F Tunnicliffe
Just a reminder
12th International Contemporary Artists’ Book Fair
Friday 6 and Saturday 7 March 2009
11.00am–6.00pm
The Parkinson Court, University of Leeds
I went to the Marianne Springham opening last night, it was good to see a few students find the Design and Innovation Centre gallery space. This much more commercially focused gallery is at the centre of studio, office and workshop spaces for designers and design related businesses. It therefore has an existing audience of people who work in the building and a shop style frontage which allows an artist to engage with a passing public. Because of these factors the space suits certain types of work and there is an opportunity for artists to sell. Obviously if the rest of the building is devoted to design businesses, there will be people passing through who have had some sort of art training, so they are more likely to take an interest in art work, especially if you can place it in a domestic or office setting.
The work on show raised several questions. Comments overheard on the evening; “I’m not sure but the work’s too nice”, “It’s not serious enough”, It’s too jokey”, “Its too easy to like” as well as “It’s uplifting”, “Really good to see work that’s light-hearted and funny” , “You could live with this stuff” , “It’s great to see work that’s so unpretentious” There was a fascinating divide here. I felt some people were slightly ashamed that they liked the work. It wasn’t “difficult” it didn’t “engage” with contemporary theory. I was reminded of Bourdieu’s theories on Taste. His classic book is ‘Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste’, in which he describes how taste can be seen as a socially constructed quality that is used to maintain or gain a position in society. Sometimes it’s hard to separate your own thoughts and ideas about something from the pressures of the group mentality. (The Fine Art community can be very snobbish). Did I like the work? Yes, some of it. In particular those images that reminded me of ‘There was an old woman who swallowed a fly, I don’t know why…’ that nursery rhyme is somehow very disorientating, the concept is more frightening than most horror films, as the old lady swallows larger and larger things, the images become more and more grotesque and the ‘horror vacui’ that lies hidden beneath those apparently simple verses, tugs at my nerve endings. What appears simple may not be. I think we are deceived by certain platitudes that childhood is ‘nice’ and that children are ‘simple’. The work did press some interesting buttons.
There are two artists that I spent hours looking at during the 1950s. George Musgrave and C F Tunnicliffe. George Musgrave sculpted the cowboy and indian models that I played with and C F Tunnicliffe painted the pictures that the wildlife cards that came in the tea were based on. If I think back no other artists have had such powerful presences in my life, both of course would not be regarded as models for contemporary practice. However in terms of working with a targeted audience they are excellent examples to look at. The targeted audience is of course myself, a 5 to 6 year old boy living in Dudley in the Black Country. Both these artists worked with commercial organisations to distribute their work, both artists’ work was reduced in scale and received by myself as something for me as a child, these products were not for the adult world.
However looking back, Musgrave’s figures are wonderful compacted summaries of the body positions of the heroes and villains that the Western films of the time engrained in our heads. Are his tiny figures, sculpturally as interesting as Michelangelo’s David? Well yes to a 6 year old I believe they were and over 50 years later, part of me believes they still are. George’s work is still around, I find it in junk shops occasionally, if anyone sees any of his sculptures in unlikely places, let me know. (Oh, George also invented the yellow parking lines, so his work still penetrates our lives in very significant ways) Tunnicliffe on the other hand is now having a revival and he is seen as part of the English romantic tradition, in particular his wood engravings of animals and farm scenes, are regarded as being part of a tradition that goes back to Thomas Berwick.
Just a reminder
12th International Contemporary Artists’ Book Fair
Friday 6 and Saturday 7 March 2009
11.00am–6.00pm
The Parkinson Court, University of Leeds
I went to the Marianne Springham opening last night, it was good to see a few students find the Design and Innovation Centre gallery space. This much more commercially focused gallery is at the centre of studio, office and workshop spaces for designers and design related businesses. It therefore has an existing audience of people who work in the building and a shop style frontage which allows an artist to engage with a passing public. Because of these factors the space suits certain types of work and there is an opportunity for artists to sell. Obviously if the rest of the building is devoted to design businesses, there will be people passing through who have had some sort of art training, so they are more likely to take an interest in art work, especially if you can place it in a domestic or office setting.
The work on show raised several questions. Comments overheard on the evening; “I’m not sure but the work’s too nice”, “It’s not serious enough”, It’s too jokey”, “Its too easy to like” as well as “It’s uplifting”, “Really good to see work that’s light-hearted and funny” , “You could live with this stuff” , “It’s great to see work that’s so unpretentious” There was a fascinating divide here. I felt some people were slightly ashamed that they liked the work. It wasn’t “difficult” it didn’t “engage” with contemporary theory. I was reminded of Bourdieu’s theories on Taste. His classic book is ‘Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste’, in which he describes how taste can be seen as a socially constructed quality that is used to maintain or gain a position in society. Sometimes it’s hard to separate your own thoughts and ideas about something from the pressures of the group mentality. (The Fine Art community can be very snobbish). Did I like the work? Yes, some of it. In particular those images that reminded me of ‘There was an old woman who swallowed a fly, I don’t know why…’ that nursery rhyme is somehow very disorientating, the concept is more frightening than most horror films, as the old lady swallows larger and larger things, the images become more and more grotesque and the ‘horror vacui’ that lies hidden beneath those apparently simple verses, tugs at my nerve endings. What appears simple may not be. I think we are deceived by certain platitudes that childhood is ‘nice’ and that children are ‘simple’. The work did press some interesting buttons.
There are two artists that I spent hours looking at during the 1950s. George Musgrave and C F Tunnicliffe. George Musgrave sculpted the cowboy and indian models that I played with and C F Tunnicliffe painted the pictures that the wildlife cards that came in the tea were based on. If I think back no other artists have had such powerful presences in my life, both of course would not be regarded as models for contemporary practice. However in terms of working with a targeted audience they are excellent examples to look at. The targeted audience is of course myself, a 5 to 6 year old boy living in Dudley in the Black Country. Both these artists worked with commercial organisations to distribute their work, both artists’ work was reduced in scale and received by myself as something for me as a child, these products were not for the adult world.
However looking back, Musgrave’s figures are wonderful compacted summaries of the body positions of the heroes and villains that the Western films of the time engrained in our heads. Are his tiny figures, sculpturally as interesting as Michelangelo’s David? Well yes to a 6 year old I believe they were and over 50 years later, part of me believes they still are. George’s work is still around, I find it in junk shops occasionally, if anyone sees any of his sculptures in unlikely places, let me know. (Oh, George also invented the yellow parking lines, so his work still penetrates our lives in very significant ways) Tunnicliffe on the other hand is now having a revival and he is seen as part of the English romantic tradition, in particular his wood engravings of animals and farm scenes, are regarded as being part of a tradition that goes back to Thomas Berwick.
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