Surfaces

Lunar like – acrylic gesso and graphite powder (above)

Above painting – going a bit yucky, washed it off mostly then started to get somewhere…

Here I used very watered down acrylic directly on unprimed plywood. I like the granulation and texture – perhaps I should have left it here. I then used a metallic yellow arcylic ink on top to create iridescent/ translucent layers and got excited by this…

I produced these paintings in a flurry one afternoon last week. I didn’t have a clear plan of what I wanted to achieve other than to play with materials and loosely respond to some of the microscopic seaweed images I had sourced. I used a combination of materials including acrylic gesso, ink, acrylic ink, and graphite powder. This felt like a fluid/ organic process. I washed off the paint on the blue painting half way through as it was looking very heavy handed, I then applied the acrylic so diluted that it broke up and created a powdery effect, looking almost sprayed. I liked the translucent layers on the black/ greeny gold piece.

The least successful piece in my view is the one with the black flowing lines and yellow dots, I think this was because they were more of an afterthought and I became preoccupied with creating finished pieces which was not the original purpose. I think that there is scope for this approach in my final exhibit- the process of layering, rubbing away and experimenting with textures is something that I keep coming back to and is definitely part of my practice.

Reviews of Takesada Matsutani: drop in time

This review points out that the exhibition represents a continuum of Matsutani’s work, including pieces from the 60s to new work, including a site specific installation.

“Inspired by blood samples he had viewed under a microscope, Matsutani began to develop his signature style of circular, bubble-like forms from blobs of vinyl glue that he deposited on the surfaces of his canvases. By working closely with the material, he embodied an important aspect of Gutai: letting the material and spirit work in conjunction with one another to create something new.”

‘reciprocity between pure gesture and raw material’  – the spirit of Gutai

“The first room of the exhibition – The Threshing Barn – will house a large site-specific installation, related to Matsutani’s work ‘Venice Stream’, shown at the 57th Venice Biennale and part of an ongoing series the artist has been exploring since the 1970s. The installation will be activated by the artist during the exhibition’s private view, continuing a long-standing performative aspect of Matsutani’s practice.”

“A line can be traced from the imagery Matsutani first saw when looking at blood cells, through his use of vinyl glue, to the imagery on the plates – he is always investigating the cycle of life, death and rebirth and a universal truth that resides in the state of flux.”

Commenting on the ‘wall mounted assemblages’ in the final room of the exhibition this review states that they evoke “notions of the erotic or surreal, these intriguing works initiate investigations between soft and hard material forms. The softness of the glue is countered by the hard objects, yet it’s ability to absorb them allows for organic shapes to emerge, achieving a balance.”

https://www.galleriesnow.net/shows/takesada-matsutani-drop-in-time/

Whereas the previous review presents more of a dispassionate overview of the exhibition, this review from by Andrew Stooke from Art Asia Pacific takes a stance and comments on the connection between the gallery space, specifically the agricultural history of the buildings and Matsutani’s work:

“The gallery’s manicured buildings were previously barns for storing feed, and sheds for cattle; the now-smooth, white walls abut time-worn flagstones and aged timbers. This was an apt setting for Takesada Matsutani’s exhibition, “Drop in Time,” which evoked a legacy of farming procedures, albeit not the cliché of harvest sunshine, but unseemly acts in dark outbuildings, involving forced insemination—the works were produced from semen-like glue, deposited in singular gestures.”

I found the juxtaposition of the work and architecture interesting, but did not find the work overtly sexual in the way suggested in this review, I felt the organic aspects of the work were suggested but not so overwhelming.

This comment about group Gutai which Matsutani became a member of in the 60s was revealing:

“The group’s manifesto called for the false appearances of past art to be consigned to “the graveyard,” and for a close relationship between the human spirit and “the scream of matter itself.” ”

“The blue-chip gallery knows the importance of pedigree and provenance; at Bruton, even the café is billed as being run by the descendents of late artist Dieter Roth. But artistic atavism is usually a quiet understanding shared with discretion among cognoscenti, not brought into the open. Hauser & Wirth’s precise curatorial acumen has married a particular aspect of Matsutani’s oeuvre with the former sheds for livestock, connecting the works to the procedures of improving stock.”

In the comment above, I feel that the reviewer is again getting carried away with the connection between Matsutani’s work and the historical context of the gallery. Though I agree that the millieu of this gallery is very rarified and oozes privilege, money and taste, the main gallery space here is called The Threshing Barn, which would not have involved livestock although I suppose that ‘sorting the wheat from the chaff’ fits with his analogy.

http://artasiapacific.com/Magazine/WebExclusives/DropInTime

This quotation is taken from Gallery Intell, and is Matsutani’s explanation of his initial discovery of vinyl glue as a medium:

“After a period of experimentation, in the spring of 1962 I had the idea of using vinyl wood glue, which you could find anywhere… By laying out a canvas flat on the floor and pouring glue on it, I obtained a sort of circular pancake, and I immediately turned the canvas over so that the glue would start to run. The glue began to drip, and as it dried, stalactites formed. They looked like the udders of a cow. It happened to be a windy day, so that the glue formed blisters as it dried.”

Here, his connection to organic forms, skin, wounds and animal forms is more overt so perhaps I owe an apology to Andrew Stooke!

http://www.galleryintell.com/takesada-matsutani-at-hauser-wirth/

The exhibition was curated alongside art dealer Olivier Renaud-Clémentand

Review task

I have just watched one of James Kalm’s Youtube reviews which were recommended by Duncan or Alan during our initial discussion about what format reviews can take.

I chose his review of Joan Mitchell: Paintings from the Middle of the Last Century at CHEIM & READ as she’s an artist whose work I admire. Kalm is quite playful in his approach, and starts the film with a couple of minutes focusing on a karaoke busker on the street before heading into the sanctum of the gallery. His filming is low budget, presumably on a phone and his narrative is engaging but quite breathy! He does a quick walk around the exhibition to start with and then starts to review and focus on specific works in more depth. He puts the work in context and his commentary shows his knowledge and research but is not dry or overly academic, it’s accessible. I enjoyed the way he gives lots of close ups of the work, he wants the YouTube viewer to experience the exhibition as closely as possible, down to the brush marks and texture of the paint. His zooming in and out is quite dizzying. Compared to the slick official video clips that are presented by galleries this is a refreshing and more personal approach. It feels more like you are visiting the exhibition with him and are in conversation.

For my review I took short snippets of film and have recorded my commentary on top, in retrospect I wish I had had the courage to record my comments live – especially as my mum and I had the gallery to ourselves! This would have been more spontaneous and perhaps authentic, though my comments are based entirely on notes that I wrote whilst walking round the exhibition.