contemporary art
Solo Exhibition at University of Atypical
RDH: JANUARY 2020
01/01/20
New Decade. A quiet start to the year but with a feeling of resolve and drive to get things done.
02/01/20
“For the dead travel fast.” - Jonathan Harker’s Journal
Bram Stoker’s Dracula
03/01/20
mem: Sickert’s approach to “Portrait of Hugh Walpole” - one of my favourites - could work. Drastic yes but by simplifying the colours… more painterly…. ambiguous.
04/01/20
The Optimism Gap: Locally good. Nationally bad.
“Unsafe” Commission
Finished commission. Looked at Sickert and Dumas. Previously it was haggard and stale.
05/01/20
…relieved!
A lot of scanned drawings tonight.
06/01/20
Renewal
07/01/20
Five posts in five weeks.
09/01/20
“Confessional”
Potential title?
11/01/20
Performed open heart surgery on the 206 today.
“No Remorse” painting is moving very very slowly.
Detail of “No Remorse” in progress
Overthinking personal issues.
12/01/20
Belfast today.
Incense in sunlight
Issues of “crown” install is mind boggling.
DIONYSUS
13/01/20
Office updating and uploading.
14/01/20
Jade Riley wrote a little piece about my practice. Chuffed!
16/01/20
Ideas with Dad for install concepts.
Hodge-Podge.
17/01/20
Bit of breathing issues but otherwise OK.
19/01/20
Winter sunset
“Shoah” - 1985 A film by Claude Lanzmann
Eventually got out of a rut (well even a foot out of the door is good) and got sketching.
22/01/20
“To remove unwanted threads of your past (regrets or mistakes) is to undo the tapestry of your life.” - JLP
24/01/20
25/01/20
Last night I had the pleasure of attending the opening of “The Dark” in the CCA. Agnes Meyer-Brandis’ work has made me look at geese in a slightly more positive light.
Started two new canvases and pleased with the progress of “Crown of Dionysus”.
27/01/20
“Crown” finished - including wall fixing designed by Dad.
C.E.’s shouldn’t be halted until the weekend.
Finally getting around to reading the collection of art essays by Julian Barnes. I think since I got it the day I visited John in the Royal I’ve been avoiding it.
28/01/20
Late night sketching is better than no sketching at all!
Hatchet sketch
30/01/20
“Time dissolves the story into form, colour, emotion. Modern and ignorant, we re-imagine the story: do we vote for the optimistic yellowing sky, or the grieving greybeard? Or do we end up believing both versions? The eye can flick from one road or one interpretation, to the other: is this what was intended?
Julian Barnes - “Géricault: Catastrophe into Art”
31/01/20
All in all a horrible day.
E-Globe Artist's Project article by Jade Riley
in drawing, artist, contemporary art, art, painting, publication
A while back I had the pleasure of chatting to Jade Riley, a writer and photographer, who has since written the following little piece about my practice. Be sure to check out Jade’s other writings on her site.
Thank you Jade.
What I love most about art is getting to know the artist behind the work and find out haw far the gap is between intention and visual content. Brian’s work is saturated in content which speaks to me personally. His enigmatic sketches draw me in, invite me in to almost converse with his subjects. Delicate line, yet bold movements. This is definitely an artist with something to say!
Brian has been creating art since graduating in 2010 from the Belfast School of Art. Brian’s admiration for Frances Bacon really shines through ‘His quote - unlock the valves of feeling sticks to mind’ This is exactly what I see in Brian’s’ work – an organic recording of experiences. The images allow us to absorb a jolt of feeling in that split second, the outer experience is paramount to the impact of the image. Brian also states that he also relates to Dutch artist Marlene Dumas ‘for her unflinching look at the human condition’.
I love Brian’s process in relation to preparing a piece, he works from life occasionally but a lot of his work is based on personal archival images (photographs) which pull themselves from the pile of sacred storage and into the painterly life of human experience. The naming of Brian’s work also adds to this sense of open mindedness, they guide you into a familiar overgrown garden, but it’s up to you which flower you pick. Will it lead you to a world of pain, trauma and suffering? Or will it lead you to a place of reminiscence, memory and delight? I revel in delight as to whether artists actually find out which paths their viewers take.
A quick and clever hand creates painterly gestures which haunt and yearn. The immediacy of the sketches mirrors the fleeting experiences and thoughts we drown ourselves in every single day.
Brian starts conversations with the viewers trauma and experiences, shakes their hands and whispers, ‘it’s OK’. His paintings feel like dreams of escapism, assuredly a remedy of sorts for rattling thoughts and questions unanswered. A mixture of bitter sweet.
There is an aura of subversion in Brian painting called ‘Rose’. An image of serial killer Rose West which has been watermarked with a pale, white rose, revealing her dead, dull eyes and plump red lips. Bleached of all colour and striking across her face, stealing the identify of what a rose should be. Her face has absorbed the colour, significant of the life she drained from her victims. A very powerful image which is haunting and striking.
Brian’s work ‘Hideout’ is full of movement and energy. A nod to nature and a reminder of our need to recharge. This painting for me signifies adventure, whether that be from all that is bad or from jubilance and wonder lust. The figure is ready. Ready for movement, ready for progression. Ready.
Brian’s work ‘procession study’ is a particular favourite of mine. The fifth figure giving us their full attention. We have been caught out. There is something rhythmical about this piece. The trudge, the swing and the sense of isolation and togetherness coming together. A duality of personal and private experiences.
Please follow Brian’s work at the following tags to ensure you don’t miss out on these relics of imagery!
RDH: DECEMBER 2019
01/12/19
semiotics
02/12/19
It is never wise to stand on a plug.
UNSAFE SYMBOL
In a crisis are we all destined to retract to a small amount of predetermined protocols?
It is what we do in these scenarios that characterise who we can become - but that shouldn’t be confused with a concluded definition.
03/12/19
“Gaugin - A Dangerous Life” on BBC IPlayer
“The work of a man explains that man”
- Paul Gaugin
04/12/19
Sketchbook work this evening.
07/12/19
Really didn’t get as much done as I should have. Started commission though which is good.
08/12/19
So I now own a car!
15/12/19
A very tough week. Frustration at zero creative output. Filter and breathe.
16/12/19
… so I am grateful so for many things. The positives outweigh the negatives. It is OK to have lull bits. It is still be seen as necessary time to off load while creating space for work down the line.
Read the Room.
17/12/19
Some more sketchbook working out tonight.
A very foggy night
20/12/19
The welcomed return of lists - getting things straightened out for the first time in a long time.
21/12/19
If all else fails, even just sitting in the studio is good. It can induce making…
Detail of commission in Progress
Have decided to try and switch off over the holidays. Easier said than done as I’m never more than a few steps away from RD to jot thoughts/ideas down on. Will be good to spend some time away - clear some head-space.
28/12/19
2019 has been an odd year. Rejection, award, rejection, solo show, more rejection…
Making time and adhering to a schedule of sorts has to be up there with priorities in the new year. Keeping this blog going is good. Some folks say, isn’t it odd to type out what you’ve jotted down a few weeks ago but I’ve found that in order to move forward, it’s good to have a refresher of what has just preceded and digesting this helps put aims and dangers into perspective.
29/12/19
Less Flaky Would Be Good.
31/12/19
New Year’s Eve Poker Night and Rogue isn’t having a good run of cards at all.
2019 in Photos
JANUARY
FEBRUARY
MARCH
APRIL
MAY
JUNE
JULY
AUGUST
SEPTEMBER
OCTOBER
NOVEMBER
DECEMBER
Exhibition Highlights 2019
Here are five of my favourite exhibitions I’ve attended this year. I’ve struggled to omit some exceptional shows for this list, namely Christopher James Burns’ ‘Limbo Land’ and the Golden Thread Gallery’s ‘Noise of Silence: Japanese Art Now’.
The list below is in chronological order.
Porous Plane
Lennon
Golden Thread Gallery - 02/02/19 - 23/03/19
Lennon’s first solo exhibition in Belfast in twenty years saw the Golden Thread Gallery’s two spaces and connecting passage utilised to the full. The following is from the exhibition text:
Come and stand in front of artworks that are larger than you. Make time to fill your field of vision with Lennon’s innovation of ‘non image’ art, an art form he has dedicated his life to developing through rigorous research and experimentation since the 1970’s.
….
While the work has complex origins, no knowledge is required to enjoy the beauty of these paintings. Lennon’s paintings invites each of us to find ourselves and arrive at our own conclusions, from our individual viewpoints. For Lennon the “subject is always: how does it feel to be alive now knowing what we know”.
“PECHE MERLE FUGUE/AL13 MMVII x composite 2018” acrylic paint on aluminium, 14’6” high x 30’ wide approx.
While painting on aluminium isn’t new, the layout and interconnection of the works was a first for me and truly breathtaking. Like Rothko’s notion of taking up the complete field of vision, it was a joy to get up close to these works and just be there as the artist intended. The paint looked as if it was almost scratched on and the colours shimmered on the metal and beside each other. There were also smaller monochrome works which helped you not to overload on colour and gave the eyes a breather between the larger installations.
Detail of Lennon’s painting in “Porous Plane” in the Golden Thread Gallery.
In a former 19th Century Georgian Church beside the Cultúrlann Uí Chanáin in Derry’s Great James Street - is the Glassworks - the stage for Aimee Melaugh’s first solo exhibition. This was the first time I had seen her work outside of the degree show in the Belfast School of Art. I’m an admirer of Melaugh’s use of painterly technique to conjure a sense of mood in her work and the stunning venue seemed to heighten this tenfold.
The work is a collective exploration of traumatic events which have taken place throughout history but there are also personal elements thrown into the mix with references of the her grandfather’s experience in the Second World War. This method of working is in line to where my own practice lies (why I may have a soft spot for it) but where we differ is in Melaugh’s beautifully rendered elements of realism mixed with stencilled numbers / dates that fire the imagination of the viewer - a kaleidoscopic narrative emerging from the coloured haze.
“Fighters Mix It Above “ by Aimee Melaugh - 38cm x 42cm
To get to see one Bonnard would have been great enough but to get thirteen rooms filled with works was almost a sensory overload! While navigating the exhibition it occurred to me how blessed we are in NI to have time and space with the work we go to interact with. I went in the midway point of the show’s run and it was next to impossible to not say ‘sorry’ while bumping into other viewers who were also bumbling their way through the crowd.
“The Studio with Mimosa” Pierre Bonnard 1939-1946 Oil on Canvas
Hung in more or less in chronological order, Bonnard’s subject was continuously shifted among topics of everyday life but what remained was the stunning innovational use of colour, forcing colours together that would not normally be seen in proximity to create beautiful iridescence on canvas.
Working a lot from memory gives the work a non realistic and dreamlike quality to the compositions. Even the self portrait titled “The Boxer”, which would normally be a study from a mirror has links to being worked from memory. Fighting the throng across this exhibition was definitely worth it.
“The Boxer” Pierre Bonnard 1931 Oil on Canvas
“The presence of the object … is a hindrance for the painter when he is painting.”
Pierre Bonnard
Acts of Mourning
Doris Salcedo
IMMA - 24/04/19 - 21/07/19
“Plegaria Muda” by Doris Salcedo
Going to see this show, I was ill prepared. The first work that greets you is “Plegaria Muda” - an installation focussed on the loss of innocent life during civil war and it didn’t take long before I broke into tears. A few days prior the journalist Lyra McKee was shot and killed during unrest in Derry. I had met Lyra a few times and she was destined to be a voice of tolerance and reason in a divided part of the world. Blades of grass find ways to penetrate each upended table; life inevitably goes on and hope is still present.
Detail of “Plegaria Muda” by Doris Salcedo
“Plegaria Muda” is the first of six bodies of work by Salcedo strewn across the wing of IMMA. “Atrabiliarios” contains female shoes encased in the walls behind preserved animal fibre. You can see the remains of the human but it is blurred and out of reach. This work reflected on the cruel treatment of female victims in Columbia where shoes were relied upon to identify remains. I was struck by the personal connection with Salcedo’s work throughout all the projects included here. The empathy with victims of trauma and violence is universal and made for an emotional reflection on loss and remembrance.
“Atrabiliarios” by Doris Salcedo
On Refusal: Representation and Resistance in Contemporary American Art
The MAC - 25/10/19 - 19/01/20
From the exhibition text:
On Refusal brings together the works of Paul Stephen Benjamin, Elliot Jerome Brown Jr., Aria Dean, Troy Michie, Arcmanoro Niles and Sable Elyse Smith to explore a notable (re)turn to figuration in the practices of a generation of artists currently working out of the United States, and to investigate the political impetus for this (re)investment in the body and notions of embodiment as a subject of art in the context of contemporary America; an increasingly nationalistic and conservative terrain, in which certain bodies are privileged and protected, while others (those of black, brown, queer and other minority peoples) have been made more vulnerable than ever.
“Ojitos” Troy Michie 2018
This is a thought provoking exhibition bringing together exciting artists form America to the MAC for the first time. There is a huge political pulse in this show and for good reason. With governance in NI at a three year standstill, Brexit looming ever closer and the choice to ignore or abuse human rights as political collateral . The UK government has thankfully now brought marriage equality and abortion rights into line with the rest of these islands since the exhibition’s opening but the reality of the topics covered in the works of these artists still remain.
What if?
“Out of Sight, Out of Mind” Troy Michie 2018
What if there was another way to see ourselves? Troy Michie’s photographic collages are powerful works in this context. In “Ojitos” (‘little eyes’ in Spanish) we are looked upon but theres a hint at a duality in the figure that is concealed in the figure’s identity - the same arm and eye repeated twice as to not give anything away. There is a real power in the use of ambiguity in Michie’s work. In the larger and more complex “Out of Sight, Out of Mind” multiple images interconnect and dissect each other, figures of varying scales push forward for dominance in the composition. Colour is used well to highlight areas of the picture but you get the feeling that the need to be seen clearly is falling on blind eyes. Michie’s figures hide in plain sight and are isolated in the open. The ‘resistance’ here could be that they will not go away.
"When We Played as Kids" Arcmanoro Niles Oil, Acrylic and Glitter on Canvas 2016
The large paintings of Arcmanoro Niles are colourful and heartfelt testaments to his childhood growing up in Washington DC. Faces are beautifully rendered in the surreal surroundings but there is always a hint of violence in the form of a little gremlin-like figure either hiding just around a corner or at the bottom of the canvas wielding a knife. The notion of the national image is not always far away but is far from the truth.
In a corner of the Tall Gallery is Paul Stephen Benjamin’s video piece “God Bless America”. Multiple screens with alternating red and blue lights surround a looped and edited recording of Aretha Franklin singing “God Bless America, My Home Sweet Home” for Jimmy Carter’s inauguration in 1977. Notions of black patriotism, American political ideology and the ongoing black lives matter movement ring loud and are beautifully tense when positioned close in Benjamin’s work. The space almost became like a place of worship in the rhythmic repetitions of Franklin’s audio.
Where all the work in this group show didn’t strike a chord with me, it was the works of Benjamin, Michie and Niles that made me come back twice more and I hope to visit again before the show comes down in January 2020.
RDH: NOVEMBER 2019
01/11/19
… good job I checked…
Sketching today but no joy. How to move past this?
02/11/19
A good tidy up in the studio. “H” going well.
03/11/19
Helping Jan with some wire-wool spinning experiments.
11/11/19
Recording today and some solid sketchbook time. It’s so important. It is where ideas form and lay roots.
15/11/19
“Long years of secrecy have turned their faces into masks.” - not sure where I heard this from.
16/11/19
Detail of “Helen” - oil and charcoal on canvas.
“Helen” finished up.
17/11/19
Consciously hold back images.
EMPATHY
22/11/19
What am I doing?
24/11/19
Delighted to have been commended in the Moth Art Prize 2019!
29/11/19
“Real painters understand with a brush in their hand.”
Need to try and make one little hour of creative work each weekday.
30/11/19
What a difference a boiler makes!
RDH: OCTOBER 2019
01/10/19
“A puncture - a level of emotion” - Zarina Bhimji
Mental health does not and should not define who we are.
Work is dropped off to Newtownards!
03/10/19
Umbrella destroyed by storm but the opening of “Bardo” was great. Great support from friends and a wonderful text written by Gemma Murphy.
09/10/19
“Sress is the killer of creativity” - Jamian Juliano Villani
Good sketchbook session tonight.
11/10/19
Doodles to burn.
12/10/19
‘Cooley’ is gone. Very stale so had to go. A really old image of Helen has replaced it. It’s been a long time since I attempted this image.
Mask and orchard idea. Sucker for attempting old failures.
17/10/19
Placed…
The prodigal ipod returns after nearly a year missing.
19/10/19
“Study of Helen” - image is nine years old and I’ve tried to tackle it many many times but only now does it feel like I am making any sort of headway. Difficult to describe. “No Regrets” - push and pull between the two images.
20/10/19
Conscious decision to limit the palette initially. Sometimes there can be too much choice - especially when starting a new piece. Thinking that by limiting colour in the first stages it can help focus in on tonal values and composition a little more.
“No Regrets” - Painting in progress
Weekends aren’t long enough.
24/10/19
Couple kissing under a dark sky.
Geometric lines turn from canvas folds to forks of lightning.
Portrait with slightly opened lips.
26/10/19
Very impressed with the RUA show this year. Some really strong works. Also great to check out the Ulster Museum’s new acquisition of Cornelia Parker.
‘On Refusal’ in the MAC is brilliant - especially Troy Michie’s stunning collages.
David Sherry’s ‘Philosophical Society’ in the Golden Thread Gallery was a lot of fun!
Some unexpected speed curating from VAI was good fun and great to meet up with old friends.
27/10/19
Little visit to Fiona Stewart’s fabulous studio to be recorded for an upcoming podcast.
30/10/19
Applications.
Text for "Bardo: An Unknown Country"
Below is text written by Gemma Murphy that accompanied my solo show “Bardo: An Unknown Country” in the Ards Art Centre. Huge thanks to Gemma for her kind words and research into the exhibition.
Gemma Murphy
RDH: SEPTEMBER 2019
01/09/19
More work done to “The Ferryman”. I think it’s lost any painterly charm.
02/09/19
‘Arena: Kusama Infinity’ - such a great artist!
“While the dead show dead art, living artists die.” - Yayoi Kusama
Hope springs eternal.
05/09/19
Great talk and workshop with Action Mental Health. Really positive and interesting feedback from the crowd.
Patrick Horan’s fantastic paintings in the Ards Art Centre’s Sunburst Gallery.
Called into the Ards Art Centre for a quick chat and a little look at two shows opening; Gavin McCrea’s installation and Patrick Horan’s paintings.
Yusuke Asai’s amazing installation in the Golden Thread Gallery
At Late Night Art Mark McGreevy’s ‘Flop Sweat’ in the MAC is marvellous! Brilliant use of colour. ‘Knick Knacks and Whatnots’ by Cameron Morgan in University of Atypical is excellent. Blown away by the work on display in the Golden Thread’s “Noise of Silence: Japanese Art Now’ especially Yusuke Asai’s huge mud installations.
06/09/19
“Ferryman” is unusable.
07/09/19
Finally finished the middle panel from the originally conceived “Pioneer” triptych. Think it stands on it’s own merit.
More progress to the the ‘Cooley’ piece.
11/09/19
Sketchbook work tonight.
12/09/19
Really enjoyed “Memory: The Origin of Alien” documentary.
“At the Mountains of Madness” by HP Lovecraft.
“What will humanity find when they look in the dark places?”
15/09/19
Studio work - some additions of spray paint to ‘Cooley’ piece. Walked away before digging too far.
Little panel piece, “The Horror! The Horror” Speed is it’s friend. Wooden supports are responsive to gestural work - less so with the charcoal marks - more layers needed to achieve tonal quality I’m after.
16/09/19
Wonderful article about my time up at Action Mental Health.
17/09/19
Increase in productivity lately. Could it be a confidence thing? I’m working no more or no less than the slump periods. Is it a case of a fine tuning of better judgement when more at peace with practice? Plenty to look forward to in the coming months.
19/09/19
21/09/19
Notes: immediate drawing line combined with more deliberate painterly marks. Cross pollination.
“LW” = by removing the instrument of trauma can it be viewed in a miraculous or redemptive light?
Not spelling out the narrative - Great to sit down and chat about work and ideas with GM.
Visit to PS Squared and “How the Image Echos” show.
Sea Holly Gallery is absolutely stunning and wonderful work on from the 545 pop up group show. So good to see elements of the much loved Orpheus building back in an artistic sense.
Craig Donald’s work alongside restored windows from the Orpheus building in the Sea Holly Gallery
22/09/19
Finished little panel piece.
24/09/19
Quarantined.
28/09/19
Studio work and “Dress Rehearsal Study” is getting there. It’s weird how every time I paint children they end up completely terrifying.
Ari Aster’s ‘Midsommar’ is utterly amazing. Beautifully filmed and will stay with me for a long time.
30/09/19
Collection of work for “Bardo” show tomorrow morning.
RDH: AUGUST 2019
01/08/19
Save mode now!
04/08/19
Clean Palette.
08/08/19
Spider skin
10/08/19
Studio…
Detail of “Bogland Sackrace” - work in progress.
Drawing is essential in practice. It’s not even the success of the outcome that’s important but the act of looking and really scrutinising an image or object. Trying to find a way in.
PERFECTION IS AN ILLUSION.
13/08/19
Wrapping process.
15/08/19
Sketchbook work.
16/08/19
For tomorrow, let loose!
I’ve been lingering long enough on small little intricacies.
It’s not the first time I’ve struggled with a figure in profile.
Need to just look!
‘Art of Spain’ documentary : Goya was deaf!?
Black paintings were done “to the brink of incoherence” (AGD).
17/08/19
‘Bogland’ completed
A really good day in the studio. Huge improvement to ‘Sackrace’. The face in the central figure could be better but that is where I’ll leave it. Back is signed so it’s official.
Studio shot: 17/08/19
Unplanned progress on ‘Ferryman’. More painterly background.
21/08/19
Getting there with the small chores.
22/08/19
24/08/19
Early stages of “The Brown Bull of Cooley”
Started a new large canvas. Took on the image of a woman in motion - her stance suggested a figure that could be in battle. After a little research I decided to add a typical Celtic sword and shield combo. So this found magazine image turns into Queen Medb of Connaught.
Once the figure was on the canvas I was unsure whether to incorporate the bull (Medb’s infamous cattle raid of Cooley as inspiration) but curiosity got the better of me and I tore on with it.
Basically blocking the image up but it is promising so far. It will be interesting to see the fight between Medb and the bull in terms of who will come out dominant where in the composition.
28/08/19
29/08/19
Material delivery!
31/08/19
Studio work and ‘Ferryman’ has stagnated. Some parts work and others flop.
At that strange limbo point where a painting you’re working on fights back and refuses to yield. When one point of grievance is adjusted, two more pop up.
Today - more so than others - has been spent reflecting on lost loved ones and parts of that has made its way onto canvas. Little nods to moments once shared with someone no longer here.
I haven’t had this level of personal attachment to a work in progress in a long time and it has made the already frustrating back and forth of a painting’s final stretch all the more agonising.
Can you paint over a memory or is knowing that these little nods once existed enough?
RDH: APRIL 2019
02/04/19
Derry today.
CCA - ‘Celebration Factory’ by Filip Markiewicz. Huge drawings and impressive array of work.
‘Fragmented’ by Aimee Melaugh in the Gasworks. Such a beautiful space. Can’t think of anyone who paints atmosphere and smoke like she can.
Joseph McWilliams “Community Door” 1976 part of the “Troubles Art” exhibition in Nerve Visual.
06/04/19
Work submitted to the RHA open call.
Detail of a piece by Cecilia Danell - part of her solo show “In a Landscape” in the RHA.
Intense paintings by Liliane Tomasko in the Kerlin Gallery.
08/04/19
Royal Academy - Renaissance Nude exhibition was great. Highlights were Pontormo’s “Study of a Nude Boy”, Dürer’s etchings, creepy little paintings by Hans Memling and, of course, Titian’s Venus.
National Gallery - “Rokeby Venus” by Velazquez is just an unbelievable painting! Real surprise was being moved by Caravaggio’s “Boy bitten by a lizard”. Came out of nowhere. Loved how the two Rembrandt portraits faced each other in their room. A conversation? “The Ambassadors” by Hans Holbein the Younger. Great to see it in the flesh finally. So many great works - probably could have stayed in there all week.
09/04/19
“Brighton Pierrots” by Walter Richard Sickert.
Went to Tate Britain and was annoyed that many of the works I had been looking forward to seeing were out of view for refurbishment. However it was great to see some other great pieces, including Sickert’s “Brighton Pierrots”.
View from Tate Modern.
Bonnard show was incredible. Wish it wasn’t as crowded to spend more time with the work. The self portraits were anxious and sinister. Preferred Franz West ’s collages to the sculptures.
10/04/19
11/04/19
Just shy of forty miles walked.
13/04/19
Horrible day in the studio. What’s done can be rectified thankfully but I’m not sure what brought it about.
Not enough looking?
Charging in?
Carelessness?
Fatigue?
All of the above?
Note for “Rose”: Less is more.
14/04/19
Rehearsal.
16/04/19
Still no word - need to not get hopes up.
18/04/19
“Ruins” detail.
Office wall.
Tried and failed at sketching.
19/04/19
Sketchbook work.
20/04/19
Eventually in the studio… “Ruins” is still an exciting composition so not sure why it’s stagnated.
“The Lost Woods Study” close up.
21/04/19
So - “Ruins” has ground things to a halt. Can’t say it is entirely the painting’s fault but it has eaten a lot of time where I’d be working on multiple pieces simultaneously.
I’m not abandoning it completely. Just setting it out of sight and out of mind until I’m in a better position to complete it to the best of my ability.
“The continuous practice of painting is a process against forgetting.”
Hans Ulrich Obrist
24/04/19
Night shot.
25/04/19
Some good drawing tonight.
26/04/19
Studio work. “Rose” face is all but there.
27/04/19
Dublin bound.
IMMA Freud Project: Gaze was stunning. “Relfection: Self Portrait” - have wanted to see this piece in the flesh for a long long time. Interesting mix of artists alongside Freud including a Hopper sketch, a Rembrandt etching, Abramovic, Dúrer, Dorothy Cross and others. The Doris Salcedo show “Acts of Mourning” was intense. Moved by “Plegoria Muda” and “Tabula Rasa” pieces the most. For the past week that has been in NI, we all need little blades of hope. Group show “A Vague Anxiety” was great, particularly the work of Saidhbhín Gibson (sculptures) and Susanne Wawra’s incredible paintings.
29/04/19
Scam emails- beware!
RDH: 01/12/18 - 31/12/18
01/12/18
Blocked out “Bereft Clown”.
02/12/18
Found an ogham poster on North Street with an interesting translation.
Vault studios is amazing - especially EMIC’s studio space!
04/12/18
…text to coincide with next solo show…
08/12/18
Studio work today. Thought I was close to finishing ‘confessional’ but it might be further away than I imagined.
09/12/18
“You make a mistake when you explain the paintings through the war.”
Mark Stevens - on Bacon’s “Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion”
Several shooting stars.
15/12/18
Probably the most difficult thing I’ve ever had to do. Childhood hero reduced. It's a real jolt to the system.
Trauma doesn’t discriminate. It’s so subjective that it can defy explanation or description. Nightmarish.
16/12/18
Materials courtesy of the University of Atypical’s iDA award arrived to the studio today.
Need to learn to keep some things to yourself.
See it through. Stay strong and keep head up.
17/12/18
Panic attack today.
21/12/18
You never fully appreciate someone until its too late. A true legend that has shaped so many. Time with family is so important.
Resolutions < Revolutions
22/12/18
Moon-rise over Glenshane.
Thought I had a good night’s sleep but my body is telling me different. Need to draw more again.
26/12/18
Getting lost in thought about art is a joy. It’s like taking a mini vacation.
27/12/18
Some sketchbook work. Not much but it’s a start.
Look more before putting pen to paper. This is not to say to lose the immediacy during the act of drawing but to take a breath to absorb and examine what an image has to offer.
29/12/18
Finished “Confessional”. Maybe when the mind is distracted slightly it makes studio work more of an automated response? Decisions were made and action was taken.
Not saying having a completely distracted head-space works. Far from it. I’ve been there plenty of times and it’s disastrous. No. It’s more a case of - you’re in the studio and you have a clear(ish) idea of where the work will go so you follow that. The decision making dilemma is lessened due to the preoccupation of other matters going on upstairs.
30/12/18
A bit of work done to “Bereft Clown before clearing the palette and studio up for another year.
Exhibition Highlights 2018
These five exhibitions are in chronological order and are only my favourites of the shows I was able to attend in person. There were many that I was dying to see but in the end, couldn’t make.
WHITE
Curated by Colin Darke
QSS Gallery, Belfast
02/02/18 - 22/02/18
This was the fourth group show curated by Colin Darke that was based upon the four titles of Barnett Newman paintings (“Whose Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue”). According to the text accompanying the exhibition, linking works in accordance with colour “allows for a level of visual cohesion, while retaining the conceptual and aesthetic diversity that defines Queen Street Studios”. Ordinarily white, in a gallery context, inhabits the space between works. In this show however you become strangely aware of the normally silent walls. In Craig Donald’s installation “Ozymandias” sections of the gallery wall are set centre stage; framed by colours that correlate in other drawings and paintings within the installation. You become aware of the void.
Nightfall - amplissium terrarum tractum
David Godbold
Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast
03/02/18 - 10/03/18
This group exhibition by David Godbold in the Golden Thread Gallery really was a stunner. In gallery one, the works that give the name of the show, “Nightfall - Amplissium terrarum tractum” takes up an entire wall. Consisting of 116 framed drawings and a wall drawing in neon, I found myself getting drawn into the gorgeous and witty drawings usually accompanied with text loaded with humour and a certain political sting. Then all of a sudden I would walk backwards, trying to take in the sheer audacious scale of the work as a whole. I was especially taken by the drawing with the text "Infamy, infamy, everybody’s got it in for me” - a one liner from “Carry on Cleo” which my dad regularly cries aloud. Gallery two sees landscapes, beautifully painted and paired off with one in daylight and the other at night. Showing these romantic locations at different times of the day means you can never fully see the region in its entirety.
Future Perfect - Contemporary Art from Germany
Curated by Angelika Stepken and Philipp Ziegler
The Model, Sligo
06/05/18 - 01/07/18
During a summer break down to Sligo it would have been rude not to visit some of the galleries. This travelling group show did not disappoint. Sixteen artists envision and speculate about the future and reflect on the promises it could bring. The installation of Nora Schultz called “Discovery of the Primitive” reminded me of a transportable monolith like the one in Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey”. Schultz gathers found objects from around her Berlin studio to assemble these delicate structures that also double as printmaking stations. It dominated the room and sticks in the memory. Antje Majewski’s paintings were impressive in scale and in detail. The lengthy title “Decorative element that once adorned a passage leading to a shrine” was a large circular painting consisting of smaller overlapped orbs of differing gold and green. The same ‘decorative element’ makes a cameo in the even larger painting - more akin to history painting of old. “The Donation” sees a large group of people witnessing an exchange in what looks like a gallery with warped dimensions and off kilter paintings on the wall.
At the gates of the Music Palace
Alex Cecchetti
Curated by Mary Cremin
VOID Gallery, Derry-Londonderry
04/08/18 - 22/09/18
I was lucky enough to see this show on the opening night where the artist Alex Cecchetti was giving a guided tour of the works. A serial collaborator almost all of the works came to fruition as a result of Cecchetti working with musicians, dancers and singers. The first gallery was bathed in a pink light with two large copper cones suspended at the far end. If you move across the sensors musical notes are played and according to different gestures you can actually play music. Cecchetti and a dancer then played a piece of music they composed by dancing in front of the “Music Hall” installation. Gallery 2 held a sound installation entitled “Cetaceans” where a human choir sang like whales. This room was in darkness and you were encouraged to lay down and let the sounds wash over you. The third room had my favourite piece of collaborative work by Cecchetti. Oil paintings on crystal and rise paper hangs from a structure surrounding a piano meaning when people from the tour poured in and no matter where they stood they could see the works on the paper - even from the back where I stood. A synesthetic musician then sat at the piano and read the works like a sheet of music. Even by just watching the paintings you could follow the musician as they played and I found it totally engrossing. Probably the best show featuring audience participation I’ve seen.
Not Half Right
Jane McCormick
Atypical Gallery, Belfast
12/11/18 - 21/12/18
I stumbled into the Atypical gallery on my way to see the MAC international exhibition (which had incredible works by Ali Cherri, Aisling O’Beirn and the winner Nikolaus Gansterer) and hadn’t any preconceived notions what “Not Half Right” by Jane McCormick contained. What I came across was an incredibly strong practice that explores deeply personal and intimate issues in a scarily wide range of media. Medicine bottles with text and images of children replaced the label. A heart shaped box with tablets instead of chocolates resonated with me. It was humorous and darkly menacing at the same time. Is it a comment on today’s ‘there’s a pill for that’ culture, a love note to how medication has helped the artist or something else? You can’t help but bring your own experience to the work here. The self portrait drawings on what McCormick calls “useless articles and medically-related tat” are visceral, bold and expresses the frustrating and tiring nature of the “never ending search for ‘the cure’”.
RDH: 01/11/18 - 30/11/18
02/11/18
… all but done…
03/11/18
Do I need a foreign colour? “Afore the Stoop” went in a slightly different direction than first thought. I think I had that quote by Helen Johnson still ringing in my ears about imagery possessing different surface qualities and being on different registers on the same picture plane.
The buzzard is still; hovering overhead while the still-life is in flux. Melting in on itself. To not just merge separate imagery on the one canvas but to treat them differently via technique. I’ve done this regularly in the past but never to this extent before and definitely not on this scale. There’s loads going on: blocked areas, melting, washes and burning/corroding of the surface for texture.
“Confessional” is a different beast altogether. It’s going to be a slower process - building up washes of colour, drawing elements back in followed by more washes until it comes to an end or a crossroads. So far so good. It’s not really a colliding of images. It’s the notion of what a negative of a pattern could do to another image.
Refreshing to see organisations opening doors. The model is being altered.
04/11/18
Kept hearing the shrieking of a buzzard every time I went to work on “Afore the Stoop”. When I looked it was perched on top of the tallest tree at the end of the lane and then glided off.
06/11/18
Some sketchbook work. Not a lot of time but that’s my fault.
09/11/18
HELP!
10/11/18
For studio work: cautious steps or daring leaps? Annoyingly close to finishing “ATS”.
Submission writing hurts my head.
11/11/18
Films to watch:
Finished “ATS”. Still bits that annoy but for the sake of not destroying it entirely, I don’t mind the imperfections.
Help has been indispensable.
12/11/18
Still waiting on magazine.
13/11/18
Egon Shiele Documentary - transcending the idea of the body as beauty.
15/11/18
Nothing.
16/11/18
Belfast bound for curator talks but looking forward to visiting some galleries first.
Jane McCormick’s “Not Half Right” at the University of Atypical was absolutely amazing. Insanely strong drawing and sculptural elements.
Ali Cherri in the MAC International 2018. His work was the stand out work for me.
Curator talks as part of Belfast Open Studios from Visual Artists Ireland offices. Speaking at the event: Nora Hickey from CCI in Paris, Ika Sienkiewicz-Nowacka from CCA Warsaw, Dean Brierley from Caustic Coastel in Manchester and Anna Ciabach - formally of Monopol Gallery in Warsaw.
17/11/18
Work is being used as an example to show other artists about finding your own voice. Chuffed.
…someone has been keeping an eye on my progress and that is something!
Another trip to Belfast for more galleries and then a Speed Curating event.
Gerard Carson’s “Submersible Extractions” in Platform.
Patrick Colhoun at the Golden Thread Gallery.
Still of Barbara Hammer’s work at the Golden Thread Gallery exhibition.
Layout of the ‘Speed Curating’ event by VAI held in Belfast Exposed.
18/11/18
It has been a hectic but brilliant few days. Yesterday I called into Platform to see Gerard Carson’s “Submersible Extractions” and a solo show by Dryden Wilson. I followed this up by a quick look at the Barbara Hammer exhibition and Patrick Colhoun’s project space work in the Golden Thread Gallery. Then it was time for the speed curating event at Belfast Exposed.
… do research. What artists i admire….
…Strange. Nothing negative. Just nothing.
A lot of information. A real painter?
19/11/18
“In Defence of Representation” essay by Tristan Garcia.
In western philosophy the representational object is either a copy, a sign or a duplex.
“… according to the semiotic model, there is no representation without signification, that is to say without interpretation.” - Tristan Garcia
20/11/18
“Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” - Screen (1973)
“The Victim” - Saul Bellow
21/11/18
Tried sketchbook work - failed miserably.
23/11/18
Projection onto fog screen.
24/11/18
Thunderchild?
Line of connection between viewer and work - GO’H
Ask the question: what do you see?
25/11/18
Yesterday I eventually got painting around lunchtime - back and forth with ‘Confessional’ but progress made. Great talk with GO’H about ‘the gaze’.
Leaf blowing.
27/11/18
Need to select paintings for Framewerk Christmas show.
28/11/18
“The Trouble with Painting” - ICA (YouTube)
“What you’re interested in in the world will feed back into what you are interested in as an artist.” - Alison Pilkington
…speaking about dreams, a quote from Alison Pilkington’s drawing seminar from the RHA really stuck out. I’m paraphrasing here but the guts of it is this: talking to people about why you make the work you do (or about your inspirations for that matter) is like talking to people about your dreams. People aren’t overly interested when someone else describes a dream. It’s subjective and personal and it’s all but impossible to get the experience across properly.
Sketchbook work.
29/11/18
A difficult few weeks to come.
VAI Speed Curating: Nov 2018
On Saturday 17th November, Visual Artists Ireland held a Speed Curating event in Belfast Exposed Gallery as part of their Belfast Open Studios 2018 programme. It was great to get a chance to speak to curators both from here and also based further afield: Manchester, Paris, Warsaw and Rome.
For artists, I can’t recommend taking part in events like this highly enough. Thanks to Rob, Chris and Siobhán from VAI and to all the curators for their time and feedback!
RDH: 01/10/18 - 31/10/18
01/10/18
… of interest. Attainable small steps to reach big goals.
02/10/18
Delivery mix up.
05/10/18
Booked VAI speed curating slots for November.
…LA… fingers crossed!
06/10/18
initials in ogham
Experiment in the studio with a degree of success. When a fine layer of fixative is lit on the paintings surface, areas of the canvas that are predominantly charcoal or thin layers of colour are singed and blister - creating an interesting effect. Safety first though.
Jan is right —> the lighter background to “Pioneer” was more unsettling. Rectify.
07/10/18
Staring at “Pioneer”. I think I’m hesitant because its… I don’t know. I think the colours are too similar between light and shade. By the same token - you don’t want it to become too contrasting and cartoonish. A foreign colour introduced into the third panel may point a direction.
Flying by the seat of pants but you can’t control the spontaneous. Some detailed work today. It is getting there. Attention directed towards other matters.
… paintings and clusters of drawings - like a shotgun spread of memories. Jumbled - linked yet conflicting. Fighting for dominance.
\\\THE TRAUMA PARADOX\\\
08/10/18
Just realised a connection between “AMATGS” and the ivy crown. Oedipus plays would have been played during the festival of Dionysus - who is associated with a crown of ivy.
09/10/18
“ I gave myself permission to follow my voice and that’s what my whole career has been. I still give myself permission and no compromise. I compromised before but not when I became an artist.” Mark Bradford
10/10/18
11/10/18
13/10/18
“Into The Void Magazine” submission successful!
Sketchbook work and now watching the original ‘Suspiria’ for the first time.
14/10/18
Notes finished for presentation. Pleased with burning effect on triptych.
… was suggested something on Friday. Well it was more of a dialogue regarding “Pioneer”; the first and last sections work. They’re strong but the one that should be the strongest and the anchor, the middle piece is way behind. Changing from a triptych to a diptych? Leave it for a while - continue working on all three before abandoning the middle piece.
Using ash as a painting/drawing medium. Religious links? Why do ideas come in the final minutes of the day? Processing process.
18/10/18
On way to Dublin. Looking forward to talking about work in DLR Lexicon. Not nervous. Yet.
Just saw the most beautiful fox casually strolling across a field outside Armagh.
I’ve been skirting around issues. The ‘recall’ notion might be worth exploring again. Drawing. Painting. Video. Audio.
The DLR Lexicon is stunning. Really enjoyed the other talks - especially work of Cecilia Bullo.
19/10/18
Yesterday’s trip and talks were great. Just wish I had more time to go around some of Dublin’s galleries when I was down. Decided it was best to drop the middle canvas in “Pioneer Studies”. Finished the other two pieces and happy with the results.
20/10/18
A little tweaking to “Afore the Stoop”.
Dad suffered a bleeding eye following his operation.
22/10/18
Have been neglecting practice and methods during the week. Ards - it seems a long way off but it will fly in.
Keeping your finger on the pulse is no bad thing.
24/10/18
Personal history is a source - not the explanation. ‘imagine…’ with Tracey Emin on iPlayer was insightful. Have a new found respect for Emin’s practice and quite like a few of some of her new paintings.
27/10/18
No paints were used today but three canvases were started. The smallest piece - I don’t think will have legs. As a drawing it is strong but I feel it won’t work on canvas. I’ve drawn up “Bereft Clown” again - a different size to the previous square stretcher. Will see how it goes. The third canvas is the one I’m most excited about. It’s a merging of two images but in a slightly different way. First is an image of a German officer stationed in a concentration camp. The other is a negative of a confession screen. The idea is to project light through the lattice onto the portrait. Fright Night in the jungle was great fun!
28/10/18
Slept so much. Slow progress but progress nonetheless.
31/10/18
Spacing error.
“I’m really interested in creating moments of ‘push and pull’ in paintings and having different registers of imagery with different surface qualities - so one thing might be compositionally in the foreground but materially might be being subsumed by whats behind it.” Helen Johnson
Show and Tell: Dún Laoghaire
in visual art, art, artist, contemporary art
I was delighted to take part in VAI’s Show and Tell talks held at the stunning DLR Lexicon building in Dún Laoghaire.
I spoke about my practice and working methods along with other artists who gave insights to their work.
Speakers:
Eileen Malaniff, Des Kenny, Sheena Meagher, Melissa Ellis, Sarah Boyle, Jane Murtagh, Cecilia Bullo and Katherine Halford Greene.
Many thanks to Siobhán Mooney from VAI and DLR County Council for organising the event.
RDH: 01/09/18 - 30/09/18
01/09/18
Detail work to “AMATGS” today.
02/09/18
Lifting unselected works from Belfast.
03/09/18
No point in worrying about things out of your control. Took a while but made good progress in the studio. Gently does it.
Sculpture on my mind.
04/09/18
…mad to think I have two solo shows coming…
Tinker + Research + Ideas = …
What box?
05/09/18
Detail of sketchbook work.
NB: Sketch from objects?
08/09/18
ideas: …soft pink highlights… hints of sandals… bruised colour…
Steps in the right direction. Had a notion to put trees in the background - the nothingness was annoying me. After that attempt and then a further attempt to incorporate reflective lines, i think blank is good. There is plenty going on in and amongst the three figures so to try and confuse it with more ammo may be a mistake.
Gathered objects for perusal. Baby steps.
09/09/18
Seneca on anger documentary. Nero’s tutor. People get angry because they are too hopeful - be more pessimistic and less surprised for misfortune.
Be psychologically prepared from when things go wrong. Dark Symbol - Rudder
“What need is there to weep over parts of life, the whole of it calls for tears.” - Seneca
10/09/18
Playing about with mirror effects.
Change to background. Neutral this time and I think it will work. There was a muck up when I went to put the blood moon back in and I tried to rectify the warmer tones on the upper right or the neutral colour but was then reminded of a quote by Rose Wylie: “I think you’re a lot happier if you don’t mind a bit of imperfection.” It feeds into the Seneca documentary from last night.
11/09/18
Another day filled with distractions.
12/09/18
Eventually got round to doing some sketchbook development.
An afternoon of application submissions and sketchbook studies.
15/09/18
Detail of recently finished painting.
Finished “A Manifold and Truly Glorious Strife.”
16/09/18
A lazy day.
17/09/18
Some interest. Started triptych.
23/09/18
Amazing weekend at the Loughlin wedding!
24/09/18
Jan mentioned something that I think is important. Doing a little something everyday - even if you think there is no point - is better than doing nothing at all.
25/09/18
A weird impromptu visit. Well-intentioned but very sceptical.
26/09/18
The only absolute constant is change.
29/09/18
Painting Peer Critique Session went really well in the Golden Thread Gallery. Hoping it grows and develops.
30/09/18
Studio work. “Pioneer Studies” - good start. Haven’t done a triptych in a few years. Third canvas is all but there.
Close up of one of the “Pioneer Studies” - work in progress.