Patrick Heron at Turner Contemporay

Every time I go to Turner Contemporary in Margate I say I should go more often - it's only  half an hour by train from Faversham, it's by the sea , has interesting  free exhibitions and an excellent café. What's not to like! So  I was very happy to join fellow painting friends Hazel , Teddy and Jean  when it was suggested we made a  visit to the Patrick Heron  exhibition for our monthly Thursday meet-up. 

We talked all the way there ( and back) , had a  quick  look round the Cornelia  Parker installation 'Perpetual Canon' ( above ) before an early lunch and coffee to  set ourselves up  

 It was interesting to compare  loose vigorous mark-making with the  stronger, simpler compositions  with their juxtapositions of colour 

These looked deceptively simple but if you looked closer, especially in a raking light , you could see  the intricate brushwork and layering which gave a subtly complex surface. One of the reasons  it's so important to see painting in the flesh rather than just reproductions 

 Another interesting aspect was seeing his early  and later works hung  together 

I particularly liked  his late gouaches , with their soft chalky bleeding edges, repetition of shapes and dark against dark, ( these were framed behind glass so difficult to take photos of). I haven't used them since I was at school , I either use transparent watercolours or acrylics, but seeing these makes me want to experiment with them again. In some he painted using the tube on wet paper ,  with very exciting marks 

This pair of paintings were hung  next to each other  and I can see why. The shapes of the later abstract painting below, echo some of the forms and colours used in  the earlier , more figurative painting of gardens above. Once you got your eye in , you could see he used the same motifs again and again in other works. 

The layers of bleeding colours  in this 'stripe ' painting ' Lux Eterna' are mesmerising , reminding me of Gerhard Richters 'Cage ' paintings with their hidden depths. Also the edges were interesting and  then I found this statement of how important they were to him. 

 I attempted to draw the  colours and composition  of this piece ' Blue Painting Sept 1961"  in my sketchbook. What drew me to it ( apart from it being like indigo!)  was the very subtle variations in colour of blue  with little tonal contrast ( except for the bright orange complimentary colour right on the edge of course!). The balance and tension are masterly. I've   found before how difficult it is to get an accurate colour match for indigo when printing or on the computer. The picture above is my own photo  which I've manipulated in photoshop  as well as I can to get an accurate depiction of what attracted me  . The pictures of the same piece of work  found on the web (below)  while probably more attractive as posters/postcards give a very different impression of the work 

The piece 'Horizontal Painting  with soft black squares 1959' ( above) was  a favourite when I asked which piece we'd take home with us. Unfortunately  under agreements of loan for the painting you couldn't take photos  . Again, you can see big differences in the different versions found on the web 

In general , it was worth the trip and there was a lot to admire, but while I liked it I didn't love  it, it didn't set my heart racing like some of the work by Peter Lanyon or Terry Frost . 

What was exciting  was the children's workshop that was going on while we were there ( it was half term ) ,  building up pictures in coloured acetate that were then  sealed in a laminator. I wanted to have a go but I  would need to take a child with me ! 

 These coloured paddles  used to demonstrate  colour mixing were fantastic, I wanted to take them home with me , I shall have to ask for some in my Xmas stocking! It was appropriate that the installation ' Dutch Light' with Chatham Dockyards    seen on an earlier visit  was still there.  

Journeys with ' the Waste Land' in Margate

What better place to go on the hottest day of the year so far than to the seaside! Last Thursday I headed off to Margate to see the well reviewed exhibition ' Journey with the Waste Land' at Turner Contemporary. I wore my   trousers with zip-off legs and took paddling sandals and towel but alas the  tide was out when I arrived. 

It was a lot busier on the beach when I left to go home , with lots of people already going pink exposing winter flesh for the first time. 

 The exhibition had an interesting approach to curation  being the culmination of a 3 year project of local residents  who chose all the artworks, designed the layout  and wrote the exhibition texts, exploring the significance of TS Eliot's  poem' The Waste Land' through the visual arts . Rather than a catalogue, the gallery guide had quotes from members about why they had chosen particular pieces and at listening points in the exhibition there were recordings of the discussions.   

There was a  wide variety of work on show, often thought provoking, some  uncomfortable  and disturbing.   

There were  2  contrasting pieces by Paul Nash: 'Wire '  and 'The Shore' ( above).  It was wonderful to be re-aquainted  with one of my favourite paintings , having visited it several times in it's home gallery in Leeds and then seeing it again in the  Tate Nash exhibition. It was chosen here for  the parallels between Nash and Eliot visiting Kent  at times of personal crisis.. 

 'Goodwin Sands' by William Lionel Wyllie ( above and detail below), just off the coast near Margate  was chosen in relation to the section of the poem ' Death by Water' . The ancient shipwreck depicted , ancient and rotting, reminded me of  disintegrating  structures of breakwaters.

The sculpture ' Heavy Insect' by William Turnbull also reminded me of breakwaters and  interestingly the quote in the notes was  how it looked like ancient images of boats  and the resemblance to the decaying shipwreck in Wylies painting !

I loved  this photo by Lee Miller 'Portrait of Space, Al Bulwayeb, Nr Siwa, Egypt , 1941 and the discussions  at the listening post about significance of the rectangle ( was it a mirror or not?) added another dimension. 

It was fascination to see some of the collages by John Stezaker in the flesh having seen so many photos of his work in  recent collage class.  In the gallery notes I liked his quotes about collage , that it 'redeems fragments'  and is 'a relationship with the wasteland of everyday experience'. 

One of the gallery spaces was devoted to the actual  text of the poem, including the annotated copies of the research group . One wall was taken  up with 36 collages by Vibeke Tandberg , taking a copy of the Waste Land, cutting out each word individually  and organising them so you could see how many times each word appears, intentionally breaking it down  so that the meaning is lost. I  particularly like the one above which is  composed of sentences from the notes pages of the book.    

 My strategy in exhibitions is  to  go fairly quickly through to the finish then work backwards  more slowly . While I stop and look  in progress , it's often on the return journey that things leap out at me that I hadn't noticed. That was the case with the woodcuts of Christine Baumgartner ( above). The image is clearer from a distance, close- to its' a series of  subtly changing lines. From the notes: " There's an interesting question about the moment at which something takes on a recognisable form, the moment at which nothing becomes something" 

Elsewhere at the Turner  was this large scale installation ' Digestive Cavity' by Yin Xiuzhen made from clothes ( you could climb inside!) 

Outside in the sunshine ' Dutch/Light (for Agneta Block)' by Jyll Bradley  was casting wonderful colourful shadows. Commissioned  by Turner Contemporary and Chatham Historic Dockyards ( where appropriately I'm going sketching tomorrow), it commemorates the 1667 Dutch raid on the Medway which brought to an end the second Anglo-Dutch war. Referencing glasshouse structures, it uses  old timber from former  naval buildings with contemporary 'edge-lit' Plexiglas: orange to symbolise The Netherlands;green for Kent, the 'garden of England'.

More glorious colour on the way home , with the trees on Faversham 'rec' in full blossom and young leaves spouting

Inspired by Turner

 It's a while since I've posted , mainly because I'm currently doing a different kind of painting: decorating the dining room. Last weekend was spent moving heavy furniture around after reorganising the  garage  to receive some of it and find what I had in painting equipment. Turns out not a lot so a trip to Sittingbourne was required ( atmospheric  pictures from the train below). After a week of tedious prep work, I've got  2 coats of 'magic white' on the ceiling, made easier by my new favourite piece of kit  - a work platform in combination with indispensable  Ikea  wooden stool.  I rewarded myself with watching 'Mr Turner' on DVD.
On Saturday we went to John Lewis to look at replacement hob and oven ( what exciting lives we lead!)   now ordered for installation in February, then   treating ourselves to lunch at Savoir Faire. We haven't been for nearly  a year so it was lovely to catch up with Irene.
Rather than using DLR, we walked through Westfield shopping Centre to  change trains  at Stratford  which was a bit of an eye-opener . Rather more to our taste was the evening  light over the marshes  between Ebbsfleet and Rochester  ( above)

 I've been recording the 2nd floor views from our bedroom and my studio   of morning skies ( above) and  our first snow (below)

  My studio is now advancing along the corridor towards the bedroom  with the installation of a design wall . Ian is more  bothered I might fall backwards down the stairs than my encroachment.

 Had a super trip on Friday 6th with friends from CQ Kent  group to Turner Contemporary in Margate  to   catch the Turner exhibition before it closed. 

 The emphasisis was on  colour and it was  great to be reminded of  his watercolours, in particular those on toned paper . I made colour notes in my sketchbook  to remind me of the details and then searched online ( photos  below are from the Tate  resources,  easy to spend many happy hours browsing....) 


                                     

 I caught an earlier train than planned so had the opportunity for a bit of beachcombing  for stones and shells - a friendly local showed me his finds of bits of clay pipe and pottery found on the rocks ( it was a very low tide) . Mainly though I took photos ( too cold to sketch) , lots of inspiration for painting and  quilts. I'm itching to play about in Photoshop but the dining room calls- I need to finish  sanding the woodwork.