Still Life...

graphite & putty eraser/20x30cm
original source: 'The Times' 2 17/09/08

The attraction of the particular newspaper photograph from which this drawing was processed resided mostly in its recalling the paintings of Vilhelm Hammershoi (as mentioned previously), those of quiet, still rooms with certain architectural features such as mouldings & windows that admit light but afford no view beyond, carrying an indefinable yet mysterious charge: the box, the only object in the space, plays such a role in this otherwise empty scenario, adding a narrative element to a still life, pregnant with possibility, affording opportunity to the imaginatively inclined, but to remain forever unresolved (this isn't cinema or theatre, after all). One might also be reminded of Magritte's ordinary domestic rooms made fantastic by oversized objects or the like.


Vilhelm Hammershoi 'Sunbeams'
oil on canvas/1900

Think of boxes in an art context & an obvious example occurs, courtesy of Mr Warhol, icons of banality, regularity & multiplicity yet possessing a distinct resonance that elevates them from their original context:


Andy Warhol 'Brillo Box'

To those of a Minimalist mind, boxes occur frequently, not least these mirrored ones of Robert Morris, making any space visually fascinating, constantly shifting & unfamiliar:


Robert Morris mirror boxes

and another example as might be experienced at Tate Modern such as Donald Judd's exquisite copper cube, its interior painted a bright red, a most seductive object.


Donald Judd untitled
copper, enamel and aluminium/1972

Also another, earlier box of Judd's, in situ, illustrating the ubiquity of such simple forms, 'specific objects', within the Minimalist aesthetic.


Donald Judd @ Leo Castelli Gallery, New York 1966

On the subject, & referencing such a body of work as Chuck Close's apparently photorealist 'heads' & its conceptual underpinning, this very project, this year's work, has generally followed pretty strict Minimalist guidelines: working exclusively from daily newspaper photographic origins, on an A4 scale (admittedly this mostly for ease of scanning), in monochrome graphite (save for a few deviations into additional splashes of watercolour), & a general concentration on the subject of process rather than any image content other than that related to & referencing art & its history.

Soundtrack:


Teardrop Explodes 'Wilder'
Tori Amos 'Under the Pink' & 'Boys For Pele'
Portishead 2
Mogwai 'Come On Die Young'