This isn't new, i've done a black frame before, i did a whole series of them back in 2006, on the first year of my course. Then i wasn't quite sure what the point was, it was sort of vague, i liked old films, i liked the cinema screen, and the blackness surrounding a projection, and that was the influence. And most of the images inside of the screen where stolen/copied from films. And i played around a bit by inserting frames inside others, and having 20 frames side by side all took from a film noir, which admittedly people do like.
But now, that black frame is more than just the influence of film coming through. I actually see it as quite an effective way of making a painting.. for me. I almost liken it to Baselitz (who i love) turning all his paintings upside down. The frame isn't being explained or accented, its just there, it doesn't matter what picture goes inside it, it's just taken for granted that this frame surrounds it. Its like a negative, its looking into a viewfinder, it cuts off the image from the world even more, as there is a definite gap between whats 'out there' and painted here. It's almost like my whole style, whatever is 'me' in a painting, has been reduced to that frame. It gives me free reign to paint whatever the hell i like inside of it, it's still got my imprint on it because of that blackness (maybe i'll do other coloured frames.
Maybe it won't stay forever, maybe it's just a transitional phase i'm going through, maybe it's cheating, but it's simple and it's effective, so simple that it borders on cheesy, it might be no more than a macguffin, a 'rosebud', a regretful little quirk, a trick that gets it noticed, which in the end means nothing very much, and certainly requires that there be more substance on the image within. But that's the point i suppose, that's the problem; people notice tricks, they very rarely notice substance, not unless they're exposed to it for a long amount of time... After three years of roaming around Manchester Art Gallery, it was only in the last year that i started to notice the better paintings that i'd ignored the rest of the time. But it was the bolder, quirkier, dumber paintings which made me come back for more. And maybe this is me trying to find a happy compromise between dumb but attractive prettiness, and something more, both within the same image.
It's blunt, and i like that. So for now, it stays.
No comments:
Post a Comment