Creasing Up...

Courtesy of the workplace access to particular resources, in this case the handful of visual arts journals to which are subscribed, the freshly-arrived March (& 100th) issue of ‘Art of England’ includes a most interesting feature on the latest work by Mat Collishaw, soon to be exhibited at Blain|Southern in London.
‘This is Not an Exit’ features oil paintings based upon the source material of folded scraps of paper, torn from ‘lifestyle’ publications, such objects then lit & photographed to provide the visual references to be enlarged greatly in scale for the execution of the paintings. The subject of the paintings is the void experienced post-cocaine ‘hit’, the folded papers being in fact used as cocaine wrappers (which apparently have their own particular geometry of folds in order to function effectively as packages), but it’s this folded paper object, referencing our old friend the modernist grid of course, with subtle & more dramatic tonal shifts, represented as two dimensional surface, especially via the medium of oil paint, that particularly interests me, as does Collishaw originally finding inspiration in the form of a folded rail ticket, relating as this does to my own explorations of folded & lightly crumpled pieces of paper, primarily in/for themselves but initially also incorporating printed imagery, in a small series of drawings made during October & November 2010, with a further couple of examples from last January.

Also recently featured in ‘Art of England’ (the January edition) was Keith Coventry & his latest ‘Junk Paintings’, their ‘readymade’ formal imagery sourced from found discarded flattened McDonald’s packaging, with its branded identity consequently reconfigured, thus relating in some way(s) (at least as source subject-object matter) to the so-called ‘readymade Cubism’ of those found ‘roadkill’ aluminium drinks cans I formerly collected & drew from for some considerable time during 2009 & 2010 & which led, eventually, coincidentally, to the drawings of crumpled paper sheets.

World Cup '74 #10 (Vicente Pernia)

graphite & putty eraser/30x20cm

Continuing with the current World Cup ’74 ‘hauntological’ project, this drawing is another to take as its original source (then undergoing various digital procedures of scanning & size manipulation before emerging as an A4 print that serves as the immediate physical reference) a ‘stamp’ taken from the FKS-published collectors’ album ‘Wonderful World of Soccer Stars World Cup 1974’.

Via the drawing process (that itself is the subject), the portrait subject that coalesces within the matrix of toned graphite squares, in a representation of the pixelated print, is on this occasion Vicente Pernia, another of those players selected for inclusion in the FKS album but, subsequently, not actually the final Argentina squad for the tournament, thus establishing a particularly ‘ghostly’ & peripheral relationship with the 1974 World Cup, hazier even than my own memories.

Soundtrack:

Moon Wiring Club ‘Today Bread, Tomorrow Secrets’ & ‘A Spare Tabby at the Cat’s Wedding’ LPs

A first listen to the new Moon Wiring Club LP release of ‘Today Bread, Tomorrow Secrets’, having already sampled the related CD issue, most atmospherically ‘soundtracky’ in its nature, jolly good accompaniment to both the contemplative drawing process & the snow scene outside, & a rare & long-overdue outing for the vinyl version of ‘A Spare Tabby at the Cat’s Wedding’, stonkingly good & a worthy companion to the CD of the album, both played on our rather lovely old 1960s’ vintage Ferguson record player which itself seems to be enjoying its relocation to our new Sixties-built bungalow.

World Cup '74 #9 (Ramon Heredia)

graphite & putty eraser/30x20cm

Sometimes a drawing as it appears, in itself &, as here, on screen, simply can’t even begin to hint at what’s been going on behind (the scenes), the circumstances that have played out during the course of its processing. And, rather than signifying a failure to communicate, to express, sometimes that’s not necessarily a bad thing, that art can serve as the anchor in a veritable sea of changeable events, as is & has been the case in this particular instance.

Whatever, & being the latest in the ongoing World Cup ’74 series, the grid structure of graphite-toned squares that this drawing presents, in the now-familiar manner as that has developed, manages, as otherwise blank façade, to conceal not least the physical relocation (eventually) of the operations of both TOoT & Faire-la-Bise, to a place where rather attractive studio space & light is available. This being the case, the drawing was actually processed in no fewer than three separate locations, also including a session at the site of TOoT’s original physical base in addition to the new & previous ones (where it began life).

What the drawing represents, re-mediated & de-photographized via the drawing process, is an A4 monochrome print of a scanned & digitally manipulated image of an original sticker from the FKS collectors’ album ‘Wonderful World of Soccer Stars World Cup 1974’, featuring, as its particular subject, Ramon Heredia of the Argentina squad as proposed by that publication &, it transpired, as actually selected for the tournament, during which he played in all six of his country’s matches & scored the first of their goals, in the 2 – 3 defeat to Poland. Prior to the World Cup, Heredia had very recently featured for his Spanish club, Atletico Madrid, in both of their matches against Bayern Munich in the European Cup Final & its replay which, alas, resulted in a 0 – 4 defeat.

Soundtrack:

The Triffids ‘In the Pines’
Broadcast ‘Haha Sound’
Vic Godard & Subway Sect 'We Come As Aliens'
Moon Wiring Club ‘Today Bread, Tomorrow Secrets’ (CD)