Sunday 25 April 2021

Charles Gaines: Multiples of Nature, Trees and Faces

 

Another exhibition dealing with the subject of contemporary portraiture, and the first showing in the UK of the work of African-American artist Charles Gaines. Like the works of Frank Auerbach and Tony Bevan in my last post, Gaines adopts a conceptual approach to the genre of portraiture, but forsakes a repertoire of painterly techniques and aesthetics for a rigorously controlled mapping system. Gaines began his 'Faces' series in 1978, and in the works here he creates an amalgam of various faces in one artwork. With these works he investigates the concept of multi-racial/ethnic indentity, by inviting people who believe they are such to become a part of the project and then questioning concepts of genetics, heredity, genealogy and lineage. Each face is photographed in black and white, and forms the back panel of each artwork. The faces are then overlapped and mapped according to the contour lines by two colours. This mapping and merging subsequently creates different patterns and colour effects defining the differences between each face. Each individual coloured square of Gaines' facial maps is assigned a number creating a pixellated facial portrait quite similar in some ways to the squared-up grid portraits of Chuck Close. Seen up close the colours and numbers of Gaines' system, attributing a number to each tiny square is reminiscent to my eyes of the periodic tables laying down the various chemical elements used by the scientific community.

 



A sideways glimpse behind the pixellated, painted grids on the plexiglass facade, to the large black and white portrait photographs of the subjects which form the backdrop of the portraits.

 










 

Having taken in the portraits, I then moved to Hauser & Wirth's next door space to take in the trees that comprise 'Numbers and Trees: London Series 1'. Apparently trees have been central to Gaines' work since the 1970s, and the development of the Tree series here began with visits to see English trees in a variety of gardens and forests before settling on those of Melbury, Dorset in 2020 before the lockdown. He plots each London tree by assigning it a particular colour and a numbered grid reflecting the the full form of the tree displayed in the detail photograph forming the back panel of each work. Each successive work is realised by overlaying the forms of trees one at a time and in progression, following Gaines' systematic sequencing process. These works call into question both the objective nature of the trees within them, and the subjective natural and material human actions that surround them. I think I prefer the tree series to the portraits. I like the fact that areas of the black and white photographs forming the base of each work is still visible and not completely obscurred by the mapping process as in the portraits. I feel the visible photographic backdrop makes for an interesting layered effect contrasting with the colourful, painted pixels of the grid map which appears to float above it. It's such a shame that Gaines' first solo show on these shores was subject to long period of closure (despite being available online), because of the pandemic. These works deserve a wider viewing in person in order to appreciate the colourful nuances contained in Gaines' specific mapping method.

 












 
 






Charles Gaines: Multiples of Nature, Trees and Faces
until 1st May
Hauser & Wirth
23 Savile Row
London
W1
 

Sunday 18 April 2021

Frank Auerbach/Tony Bevan: What Is A Head?

Tony Bevan - Self Portrait after Messerschmidt (PC1011), 2010

 

I was so happy to celebrate the partial ending of the third lockdown with a flurry of gallery visits to see the work of other artists and feed the inspirational well. I really believe that art is as central to our wellbeing as visits to the hairdresser, gym, or any of the other non-essential businesses that opened up again last week. It was so wonderful to engage with the art of others in the physical once more, and the added bonus was that most of the galleries were practically empty, so I was able to enjoy the art safely and socially-distanced. First up was a visit to Ben Brown Fine Art to view this powerful pairing of two artists in an investigation of portraiture by leading protagonists of the genre. Frank Auerbach/Tony Bevan: What Is A Head?, examines the work of both artists, and how the two challenge traditional notions of resemblance through their portraiture. The paintings of the two push the limits of representation into the conceptual, taking their visual language into the realms of abstraction with differing approaches and distinctive styles that are nontheless highly complimentary. Auerbach seems to delight in the sensual qualities and physicality of paint. His early work here - Head of E.O.W. II, 1964, is startling with its thickly encrusted impasto strokes, and ribbons of yellow ochre paint squeezed directly from the tube which dance across the craggy surface to give definition to the face. Another favourite was his Head of Catherine Lampert, 2018, whose form just seems to disintegrate, dissolving into a cascade of purple strokes on a green ground. Bevan's work appears to be more occupied with the examinations of structure, with strong outlines giving definition to the forms of the various heads. His colour palette is purposely limited, with striking reds, yellows and oranges featuring prominently as backgrounds and black or darker hues used to delineate form. Self Portrait after Messerschmidt (PC1011), 2010 (above), looks positively phallic, with that straining, elongated neck and those scrotal jowls. His more recent heads from last year abstract form even more. They resemble mutations covered with busy, linear brushwork which appear like carbuncles and scar tissue. The work of the two presented in this context makes for an interesting dialogue, and one senses the spirit of Bacon's portraiture as the binding influence on both Auerbach and Bevan's works. This exhibition was a fantastic, uplifting re-entry into London's post-lockdown gallery scene. More posts on further exhibition visits to follow soon.

 

Installation View

 
Frank Auerbach - Head of Catherine Lampert, 2003
 
 
Tony Bevan - Head (PC8914), 1989
 
Frank Auerbach - Head of Jake, 2008-9 & Tony Bevan - Self Portrait (PC923), 1992
 
Frank Auerbach - Head of Jake, 2008-9
 
 
Frank Auerbach - Head of Catherine Lampert, 2018
 
 
Tony Bevan - Head (PC8914), 1989
 
Frank Auerbach - Julia Sleeping, 1978

 
Tony Bevan - Head and Neck (PC959), 1995
 
 
Installation View
 
 Tony Bevan - Head (PC961), 1996

 
 Frank Auerbach - Head of Jym III, 1981
 
 
Tony Bevan - Head (PC205), 2020
 
  Frank Auerbach - Head of E.O.W. II, 1964
 
 
 Frank Auerbach - Head of E.O.W. II, 1964 (side detail showing depth of the impasto)

 
Tony Bevan - Head (PC206), 2020
 
Installation view
 
Frank Auerbach - Reclining Head of Julia II, 2011

 
Installation View
 
 
Tony Bevan - Head and Neck with Prop (PC9412), 1994
 
 
Tony Bevan - Self  Portrait Neck (PC885), 1988
 
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Frank Auerbach - Reclining Head of Julia, 2007-8
 
 
Frank Auerbach - Reclining Head of Julia II, 1994
 
 
Tony Bevan - Head (PC9816), 1998



Frank Auerbach/Tony Bevan: What Is A Head?
until 30th April
Ben Brown Fine Arts
12 & 52 Brook's Mews
London
W1