Repetition

'Mark E Smith'

graphite and eraser on paper/30 x 21cm/April 2008

In tribute to one of this parish's musical heroes, a repost of a repost of an original (faithfully observing the 3 R's of 'Repetition, repetition, repetition', of course - I'd like to believe the subject would approve) of a drawing, processed almost a decade ago, of Mark E Smith, who sadly passed away yesterday.

His art will endure, as it has already for 40 glorious years.

A Birthday and a Coincidence

Yesterday, 5th March, marked the 60th birthday of the living legend that is Mark E Smith, mainstay of The Fall, whose music constitutes one of TOoT‘s cultural touchstones, and noticing this milestone mentioned via the BBC Radio 6 feed on Instagram inspired me to root out an old sketchbook of 2008 vintage containing a couple of drawings made during the course of that year’s project working from found newspaper photographs, featuring MES as their subject, one a portrait from the time and the other an image captured from a concert performance from earlier days. Both of the drawings are A4 in size, made using graphite and putty eraser - for the originals as posted here on this blog, please consult the April 2008 archives.

Then today, during the course of stock-taking some of the art and design books that form part of the library collection at work, I encountered a slim-volume catalogue, published by the Lowry in 2001 to mark the occasion of an exhibition the artist’s work at the gallery, featuring the paintings of Paul Housley, amongst which were a couple representing Mr Smith, one a portrait, albeit three-quarter, the other in performance, all a rather pleasing coincidence, or at least something that made the day progress that little bit more interestingly.

Paul Housley: paintings featuring Mark E Smith

Falling Again

graphite & putty eraser/20x30cm
original source: 'The Guardian' G2, 14/04/08

Following on from the previous entry, the original source of this transcribed drawing again features Mark E Smith, pictured at a live Fall gig, probably the better part of 25 years earlier than the portrait image.
The diamond patterned sweater of course makes numerous art historical references, from the tiled floors that often feature in Vermeer's paintings to our old friend the Modernist grid, particularly in this instance Mondrian's diamond, diagonal format canvases.

This Nation's Saving Grace...

Today the opposite of tomato is the enduring ramshackle glory of the music of The Fall

Aside from its wonderful photographic quality in terms of the dialogue between various aspects of the image being in & out of focus (similar to the earlier transcription of Chuck Close's daguerreotype of Philip Glass here), the lure of this particular source image - illustrating a G2 feature publishing extracts from Mark E Smith's autobiography 'Renegade: The Lives & Tales of...' - proved irresistible, being a magnificent portrait of a singular character, a great British institution if ever there was. 'He is not appreciated...' (nearly enough).


graphite & putty eraser/20x30cm
original source: 'The Guardian' G2, 14/04/08

Soundtrack:

The Fall, obviously, although, curiously, the delights of '50,000 Fall Fans Can't Be Wrong' proved nigh-on impossible to draw along to: despite the repetitive rhythms of the songs, from 'Repetition' itself to the mighty 'Crop Dust', the sheer insistent quality of their music & Mark E Smith's fantastic, uniquely engaging lyrics (however impenetrable) & delivery made concentration on anything other than themselves difficult-to-impossible, evidence again of the singular characteristics of their sonic aesthetic!

It was left, therefore, to Belle & Sebastian's 'Push Barman to Open Old Wounds' & 'Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant', a band as individual & enjoyable in their own way, to provide 'workable' musical accompaniment.