joseph scissorhands

Sunday, 8 August 2021

Walter H. Williams: Butterflies Through Other Eyes #58

Some woodcut images expressing the innocence and joy of childhood, incorporating a range of butterflies and moth motifs by African American artist Walter H. Williams Jr (1920-1998).

Sunday, 1 August 2021

Yinka Shonibare CBE: African Spirits of Modernism

Yinka Shonibare CBE RA - Hybrid Mask (Fang), 2020-2021

“This show is an attempt to understand the legacy of African aesthetics and to connect my own ancestry to contemporary culture. In my view, the African contribution to modernism has never really been celebrated in the way it ought to be. I decided to trace back the story of modernism; how Picasso’s first experience of African art changed the trajectory of his career and how the avant-garde period was incredibly inspired by African objects.

I feel the moment we are in now – with Black Lives Matter and attention to the works of many artists from the African diaspora – is similar to the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s and ‘30s. After the Depression, interest and support of Black culture reduced dramatically. Did that first interest do anything to improve the lives of Africans? Is it a fad? Is it fashion? It is a very important question to ask.” – Yinka Shonibare CBE RA

To Stephen Friedman Gallery once more to experience the latest works of Yinka Shonibare CBE, having enjoyed their previous shows here and their great collaboration with the House of Modernity at the historic 14 Cavendish Square which featured Shonibare's works here. This exhibition described as "Picasso in reverse" by the artist, sees Shonibare turning the tables and appropriating aspects of European culture in much the same way that Picasso did with his personal collection of African artefacts to create a new visual language with his painting Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, 1907. The three main sculptures by Shonibare in this exhibition are hybrids from classical European mythology given heads which are replicas of African tribal masks. The bodies are covered in Shonibare's signature colourfully patterned batik fabrics which hint at trade between the two cultures. In the back room an army of masks covered in vibrant batik designs are lined up to confront visitors whilst a slide show of images reflecting the interest in African art in Paris during the 1920s plays in the background. Across the road are some new quilts by Shonibare which were a revelation. I really enjoyed the loose hanging threads of the embroidery and the patterned batik fabrics appliquéd into the mix. They reminded me in part of those wonderful African Asafo flags of the Fante people with their strong fabric outlines of African masks and statuary. The diamond shapes which form the backdrop of many of the designs again allude to Picasso in the diamond motifs found in his Harlequin paintings.

Hybrid Sculptures - Installation view

Hybrid Sculpture - Pan, 2021

Hybrid Sculpture - Sphinx, 2021

Hybrid Sculpture - Centaur, 2021

Installation view

Hybrid Mask (Banda), 2020-2021

Hybrid Mask (K'peliye'e), 2020-2021

Hybrid Mask (Ntomo), 2020-2021

Hybrid Mask (Fang Ngil), 2020-2021

Hybrid Mask (Fang), 2020-2021

Modern Magic (Studies of African Art from Picasso’s Collection) IV, 2020 - 2021

Installation view featuring Hybrid Mask (Nwenka), 2021

Modern Magic (Studies of African Art from Picasso’s Collection) VI, 2020 - 2021

Modern Magic (Studies of African Art from Picasso’s Collection) IV, 2020 - 2021

Modern Magic (Studies of African Art from Picasso’s Collection) VII, 2020 - 2021

Modern Magic (Studies of African Art from Picasso’s Collection) I, 2020 - 2021

Modern Magic (Studies of African Art from Picasso’s Collection) V, 2020 - 2021

Modern Magic (Studies of African Art from Picasso’s Collection) II, 2020 - 2021

Modern Magic (Studies of African Art from Picasso’s Collection) VIII, 2020 - 2021

Modern Magic (Studies of African Art from Picasso’s Collection) III, 2020 - 2021

Yinka Shonibare CBE: African Spirits of Modernism

until 31st July

Stephen Friedman Gallery

11 & 25-28 Old Burlington Street

London

W1S

Sunday, 25 July 2021

Prunella Clough and Alan Reynolds

Alan Reynolds - Winter Image, 1958

"Prunella Clough and Alan Reynolds were largely influenced by the major developments in twentieth century art. Both with roots in figuration - Reynolds in landscape and Clough in the urban environment - their work becomes increasingly concerned with the formal qualities of painting. Whilst Reynolds’ practice steers into complete abstraction, it could be said that Clough’s paintings retain elements of the ‘real’ world. Both artists were, through their teaching, highly influential to an entire generation of artists that followed them and their impact continues to be felt today." - Annely Juda.

Prunella Clough and Alan Reynolds installation view

As interesting as Prunella Clough's work is I specifically wanted to catch this exhibition as I was interested in learning more about Alan Reynolds' transformation from representational artist to abstract artist. I had witnessed a similar transformation in May at Marlborough gallery's Victor Pasmore show (here). That show was revelatory but gave no indications of Pasmore's path into total abstraction, as it strictly separated Pasmore's abstract and representational oeuvres. Here at Annely Juda, Reynolds' journey from the representational to that of pure abstraction is writ large chronologically across their gallery walls, and makes for fascinating viewing. Reynolds's earliest figurative, colour works, to the stark, all-white, minimalism of his last pieces where he plays with geometric shapes within the picture plane are well documented here. Reynolds (1926-2014), was active as a painter in a period of 20th C. art which has come to be of real interest to me since last year's pandemic lockdowns. I particularly admire the abstract works created by other artists as well as Reynolds in this time frame, and they have become very influential on my own works of late. With Reynolds I particularly like the period in which his works verge on the abstract, but still remain partly representational. There is a particular tension in these images, and the fact that they are in transition and haven't quite reached a resolution into a totally abstract conclusion really intrigues me. You can see the process of the artist's brain wrestling with the puzzles of the formal pictoral elements, and trying to solve the problems he has set himself, and then wondering how he can best resolve them, reconciling his art with his own personal concepts of abstraction. I really enjoyed the colours and shapes created in Reynolds's paintings. My favourite in this show was Winter Image, 1958, a glorious little concoction of harmonious, muted colours and close tonal variations, criss-crossed by a tissue of spidery web-like fine lines, reminiscent of some of Georgia O' Keeffe's finest flower paintings.