Half an Update...

The recent absence of blog updates does not mean hands have been idle by any means, and the drawings for the Seventies project have continued at a regular pace as will now be illustrated.

First of all, and continuing with the Northern theme that had been developing within the project, a double portrait drawing - also incidentally incorporating a still life element - from a source image that nostalgically recalls the early evening local television news programme that was broadcast into our homes in the north east corner of Wales, courtesy of the transmitters that brought us Granada TV rather than its Welsh equivalent (for which we required a special aerial adaptor that still proved unreliable). Thus are depicted two of the presenting team of ‘Granada Reports’ in its mid-1970s’ heyday, a young Tony Wilson as apprentice to the legend that was and remains Bob Greaves, with all fashions of the day on display.

Tony Wilson and Bob Greaves, 'Granada Reports' 1970s

graphite and putty eraser on 'Seawhite' cartridge paper/42 x 30cm

Next, the hip, young cultural gunslinger Tony Wilson is his other contemporary television presenting guise as more casually-attired host of ‘So It Goes’, introducing new music to the north west region, including a selection of the punk and post-punk bands from Manchester and environs that had been formed and developed in the wake of the Sex Pistols’ legendary appearances in the city in 1976. As ‘So It Goes’ fell victim to a notorious appearance by Iggy Pop at the conclusion of its second series, so Tony Wilson’s dissemination of the new sounds found other outlets, within ‘Granada Reports’ and also, of course, with the founding of Factory Records, both of which came to feature Joy Division as they grew and became such an icon of the time and place, and proceeded to transcend both as they remain synonymous with.

Tony Wilson, 'So It Goes'

graphite and putty eraser on 'Seawhite' cartridge paper/42 x 30cm

The recently-published volume of Paul Slattery’s photographic record of Joy Division at Strawberry Studios and around the town of Stockport on 28th July, 1979, features the source image for this drawing on its cover. ‘Here are the young men’ indeed, but creating some of the most powerful and resonant music of the era. If I’m absolutely honest, I didn’t acquire my first Joy Division record, the ‘Transmission’/’Novelty’ 7” single, until the February of 1980, after which obsession took hold, but the seeds of my devotion to them had undoubtedly been sown in my soul during the previous autumn, via the auspices of the John Peel radio programme (of course), so their inclusion in the project is entirely appropriate.

Joy Division after a Paul Slattery photograph

graphite and putty eraser on 'Seawhite' cartridge paper/42 x 30cm

More musicians pictured standing (and squatting) around can be found on the cover of The Stranglers’ (my very favourite group of the time) ‘Black and White’ LP, and this image, along with the band’s iconic logo, that I would have drawn/copied often then, forms the content of the next drawing which, in effect, illustrates one of the three music albums that I received as presents for Christmas 1979 (so we’re really pushing at the limits of the Seventies here!).

The Stranglers 'Black and White'

graphite and putty eraser on 'Seawhite' cartridge paper/30 x 42cm

The others were Public Image Ltd’s ‘Metal Box’, originally released as a collection of three 12” vinyl EPs contained within a tin canister (as very sadly I no longer own this object of desire, the substitute utilised as the model for this still life is in fact the reduced-circumstances and feeble impostor CD-sized version of the can, but I’d like to feel the spirit of the original can be inferred from the representation) - I have blogged about this on a previous occasion - and The Clash’s masterpiece double LP, ‘London Calling’, the front cover of which is faithfully reproduced in pencil here. In time, one learnt of the genesis of the latter artefact’s design, by Ray Lowry, in the artwork accompanying Elvis Presley’s debut album, and of such concepts and practices as artistic influence and postmodern ‘appropriation’, but I’m sure that wasn’t of particular concern to my 1979 self!

'Metal Box'

graphite and putty eraser on 'Seawhite' cartridge paper/42 x 30cm

The Clash 'London Calling' LP sleeve (front)

graphite and putty eraser on 'Seawhite' cartridge paper/42 x 30cm

'Here Are the Young Men'...

Further to the series of drawings based upon reference to portrait photographs of then-contemporary footballers as found within the pages of a 1970-vintage ‘Charles Buchan’s Soccer Gift Book’, as currently being processed, at this point of the ‘project’ as it’s developing it’s interesting to collect together the portraits drawn thus far & arrange them in a grid format in order to consider the intended cumulative effect of the series. Composed thus, the images appear in similar fashion & proximity to each other as they do upon the page(s) of the Annual from which the original photographic portraits are sourced, whilst also recalling, in nostalgic manner, the pages of, for instance, a Panini or other publisher sticker album or, indeed, an album of similarly (& addictively, pocket money-draining) collectable ‘cigarette’-type cards of the type illustrated in the recent Bob(by) Gough entry.

In the habitual contextual manner, such a cumulative series, produced with reference to photographic source material, also relates to another such as Gerhard Richter’s ’48 Portraits’ of historically eminent German men & particularly, as mentioned previously upon discovering them, Alan Brooks’ two series of pencil drawings of ‘influential authors’ & ‘artists in their studios’, or indeed any similar endeavour: one might also consider Warhol’s ‘Thirteen Most Wanted Men’, for example, sourced from a particular publication as are the footballer drawings.

For whatever reason, & without necessarily considering a title for the collected series of portraits, the opening refrain ‘Here are the young men...’ from Joy Division’s ‘Decades’ frequently recurs; there’s a certain poignancy, perhaps, in contemplating that the source photographs are now more than 40 years old & those subjects that are still with us (at least a couple of departures having been acknowledged, of course) that much older, even those who might only have been late teens or early twenties then into their sixties now, for all that the photographs (& the drawings from the printed reproductions of) freeze them at a certain moment in & (stylistic) period of time: the images serve as hauntological manifestations, traces, memorials, of other times & places - those, personally, just beyond the boundaries of memory & yet redolent & with a powerful ‘idealistic’ attraction.

Head Over Heels

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour/30x20cm

Continuing with the series of 'roadkill' diptych drawings, with here another slight twist to the habitual proceedings, (re)presenting the found subject/object matter as an inverted 'pair' of forms across opposite sides of the pictorial divide, the shape into which the original had been transformed suggesting such a device & dialogue.

Soundtrack:


Nick Drake 'Made to Love Magic'
Joy Division 'Unknown Pleasures', 'Closer' & 'Substance'
Cabaret Voltaire '2x45'/'The Crackdown'

By no means an intentional pairing of Nick Drake & Joy Division, but rather, in the case of giving the latter a spin, acknowledging the 18th May 30-years' anniversary (albeit a day late, in typical slightly out-of-step TOoT fashion) of Ian Curtis's premature passing: the power, poignancy, freshness & wonder of the music endures as a fitting tribute, ever relevant & contemporary.

Joy Unconfined

graphite & putty eraser/20x30cm
original source: 'The Guardian' 09/09/08

Considering again the process by which a photograph might become topical for use in a daily newspaper, this original – dating from 1979 – was printed to illustrate an obituary, of someone other than either of the subjects portrayed: the two musicians are/were members of the band Joy Division, pictured in performance at a venue owned by the obituaree concerned, undoubtedly chosen for their own iconic status (see this recent post & related drawing, & also this earlier critique of the film ‘Control’), enduring for all their brief lifespan.

Again, the image was chosen for its inherently photographic appearance, its blurred capture of a frozen moment of movement (in this instance Ian Curtis’s famously jerky, angular style of dancing) & the tonal contrast between the spot-lit highlights & the velvety, fathomless blacks that bring to mind the striking chiaroscuro of Caravaggio & a particular tradition of Spanish still life painting.

Soundtrack:


Joy Division 'Unknown Pleasures', 'Closer' & 'Substance'
Sol Seppy 'The Bells of 1 2'

Joy & Happy-ness

graphite & putty eraser/20x30cm
original source: 'The Times' 2 05/09/08

This drawing being processed from an old original made topical through being used in a daily newspaper television guide to illustrate a BBC4 evening’s programming focussing on certain aspects of the Manchester music scene of the recent past. A pleasure indeed to have the opportunity to enjoy once again the excellent documentary ‘Factory: Manchester from Joy Division to Happy Mondays’ charting the history of the record label with particular emphasis on its leading lights Joy Division, New Order & Happy Mondays, & featuring fabulous anecdotal contributions from the main surviving players (including, at the time of its making, the late, great Tony Wilson): essential viewing, filled with any number of ‘madeleine moments’. Also a fascinating ‘Rock Family Tree’ focussing on JD-NO & the Buzzcocks, whose early music in particular endures with a delightful energy: the ‘Spiral Scratch’ EP truly was a seminal release, ‘Boredom’, ‘Breakdown’ et al.
And, positively spoiling anyone so ‘nostalgically inclined’, a compilation of BBC TV appearances by Manchester bands from the 60s & Freddie & the Dreamers to the present day with the Ting Tings, including a performance on ‘Something Else’ by Joy Division of ‘She’s Lost Control’ of such intensity (Ian Curtis & Stephen Morris particularly absorbed in themselves & their roles, Peter Hook & Bernard Sumner, also, studies in cool concentration), the sound exhilaratingly visceral, harsh, essential, the encapsulation of the power & purpose of the band that, as alluded to by Tony Wilson – that they simply had to be on stage, as an act of absolute necessity, making music, communicating their art – marked them out at their all-too-brief time & has subsequently ensured that they have endured, undiminished.

Soundtrack:


Belle & Sebastian 'The Life Pursuit'
Radiohead 'Kid A'New Order homemade compilation of singles & selected album tracks
Tricky 'Maxinquaye'

New Order sounded magnificent, as with Joy Division the passage of time since the music’s original release serving only to reinforce its majesty & quality. Interesting to realise too, just how strongly a band such as Radiohead have been influenced by JD & aspects of ‘the Martin Hannett sound’.

Out of Control...

What are they like..?


The not-so-great British culture of mindless disrespect continues to gather pace.


Coincidental to that saddening newspaper article, picked up a copy of the recent film 'Control' on DVD last week, at a price low enough to dispel the reservations I'd harboured about really wanting to watch this docu-dramatization of the short life & times of Ian Curtis, Joy Division, et al. At least I can say now I've seen it, should anyone enquire, but I must admit to finding the film ultimately disappointing. The cinematography, in monochrome, is beautiful, as one might expect of a work directed by the photographer Anton Corbijn, whose stark images of the band around the bleak wastes of late-1970s Manchester contributed in no small measure to the creation of the myth that grew, snowballed, around them: the whole, whose heart is the back street terraces of Macclesfield, is perfectly realised aesthetically, but this aspect of the film's art overrides all else, it seems to create a distance from any real emotional involvement with the characters & the central Curtis-young wife Deborah (& child)-lover (his) triangle, the dynamic of the essential art-versus-domestic life, dream-versus-duty narrative & its tragic conclusion, which, for all the 3 actors concerned's efforts, feels pretty passionless, cursory & entirely predictable (through familiarity, of course) in its unfolding, all else sketched very slightly around. Although it might be said that the claustrophobic, stifling ennui of the mundanities of daily working & domestic life within the wider context of the decaying industrial cities of the late-70s north of England is effectively communicated, for all that the story is factual, still the film, essentially dramatized documentary (based on Deborah Curtis's written account, 'Touching From a Distance'), somehow lacks the believability, the compelling intensity of fictions such as 'Room at the Top', 'This Sporting Life' & 'A Taste of Honey', of which, in its aesthetic at least, 'Control' is strongly redolent.
Were it not for the reminder of the goose-pimple inducing power of Joy Division's music, actually quite well captured in snippets of live concerts & TV appearances, as sung & played by Sam Riley & the other actors compromising the band, it would seem pretty pointless indeed: there's something very by-numbers about the result, somehow. A shame. And poor Tony Wilson, acted, caricatured again (see also Steve Coogan in 'Twenty-Four Hour Party People' - actually, an altogether much better & more enjoyable piece of cinema, even just the Joy Division segment, suffused with warmth & humour) in a manner that fails to do any sort of justice to the man himself, whose own construction of self was so much more complex & creative: that, perhaps, is one of Control's problems, that the actual people, such larger-than-life characters - also including the other members of Joy Division, their manager Rob Gretton, the producer Martin Hannett - (in) themselves, are so much more interesting than any dramatization, aestheticization of them could ever hope to be, even allowing for the fact that, in the story of 'Control' they are necessarily more minor players supporting the central triumvirate of the Curtises & Annik Honore - you really couldn't make them, or those times, their desperate urgency, the ferment of their creativity, up. See the BBC documentary on the subject of Factory Records instead, especially for the starring role played by the mighty & tragically-late Mr Wilson.

The World Turned Upside Down

Today the opposite of tomato is ‘dance, dance, dance, dance, dancing to the radio’ (& singing along to ‘Transmission’ & other of the songs of Joy Division)


graphite/30x20cm
original source: ‘The Guardian’ 13/05/09

Featuring another drawing transcribed from a newspaper photograph compositionally featuring a distinct grid format (see numerous previous posts referring to the personal addiction to this icon of artistic Modernism), done so on a deliberate, resolved square-by-square basis as much as possible.

The drawing was actually made in the manner illustrated below, i.e. from the original source inverted.


The inspiration for this technique was that of the painter Malcolm Morley, observed doing so in a recently-watched DVD featuring the artist discussing his work in a most interesting, engaging & entertaining manner whilst painting.

The film itself is one of a whole series of interviews with individual contemporary artists produced by Illuminations, going under the umbrella title of ‘theEYE’. The films are most informative, being of a format that allows the artists themselves to talk – at about 25 minutes length – about their work whilst in its company or otherwise illustrated by specific examples of taken from across the individual’s career: the access this allows to the creative process, influences, techniques, etc, expressed in someone’s own words, builds up a fascinating portrait of a particular artist – with instant ‘influential’ results, as can be seen!

Returning specifically to Morley, the technique he currently employs is to take a newspaper photograph, divide it into squares (measuring & then cutting, rather than leaving it in one piece), squaring-up a canvas accordingly, & then attaching the inverted sections of the photo next to the square on which he will transcribe it, enlarged, faithfully, meticulously, in paint, physically working from the top left of the canvas across & down but of course transcribing the photo from its bottom right, upside down. In this manner, the image is only resolved when the finished canvas is inverted to reproduce the photo in its original state, & the working process is thus an accretion of small finished sections at a time – all, in themselves, individual abstract paintings that only exist in relation to their immediate neighbours as the process unfolds.

In this manner, working from the inverted photographic original & from, as habitually, top left to lower right, was the drawing made, being an abstract process disconnected from any figurative considerations, an interesting variation on the usual process of transcription.

Further to ‘theEYE’ films, I intended during the previous post to make mention of Gary Hume’s in the series, which had reminded me of his ‘Water Paintings’ & provided the direct inspiration for the related ‘overlaid images’ composite drawing from the tabloid ‘girlie’ original sources.

Soundtrack:


Scritti Politti ‘White Bread Black Beer’
PJ Harvey ‘Uh Huh Her’
Bjork – homemade compilation from ‘Debut’, ‘Post’ & remixed tracks
Wire ‘A Bell is a Cup Until it is Struck’
Low ‘Trust’
Luna ‘Best of’

and, in memory of Ian Curtis & the anniversary of his death on 18th May (1980),


Joy Division ‘Unknown Pleasures’, ‘Closer’ & ‘Substance’ –
still magnificent after all these years.