History simplifies. It reduces the past down to clearly distinguishable groups which are derived from but almost totally divorced from reality. In terms of painting it reduces the past into patterns, tendencies and styles. In truth paintings past nothing like as linear in progression or clear in categorisation as we would like to think.
That said, there is no doubt that we now live in a time where the painterly (and wider)landscape is more diverse, fragmented and confused than ever. The lack of unifying concepts, clear agendas or singular centres has made sure of that.
Painting is most certainly alive, fererently so. But amoungst the chaos of its current existence what unites it. more importantly, for me, what ermege as common grounds from which a young practitioner can find some kind of pathway?
What is clear is that any pathway that mereges is tailor made ofr each practiioner. The potential streams of influence are so vast that we can hand pick the aspects which we choose to relate to, be informed by and take influence from.
Amoungst contemporary uniqueness there are tendenceis which are continuous within paintings histories. As shifting permanents it is perpahs important to locate these first.
Style. Style has always been a central fascet of the painters fascination. The formal minutiae of the practise are inherantly important to any person who picks up a fl uid liqud intending to place it across a flat surface to create a ‘painting’. Style transcends subject matter, in that it concerns are regardlessof the what and why of our approach. This is not to say it is not directly related to this, just that it also has a certain autonomy.
Every paintiner is to some extent look to continue, develop and find an appropriate ’style’. I use the word loosley. I don’t mean stlye in tersm of stylised. I just mean the consideration of space, the application of the medium, the use of colour, the formation of line and the combination of these parts to create a whole. We are always looking to consider these to find something of our time, of ourself, different to the past and which stretches the language of painting to artiuclate a variation of past messages. The particular details of this observation are not too important at this moment in time.
Beyond such a general trend there are more specific tendencies which seem to underpin much contemporary practise.
Multiplicity. It becomes very hard to locate yourself when there are so many different avenus being taken by painters. Many still continue directly from the 20th Century obsession with abstraction. From process painting, pure abstraction and continuations of expressionism. Others have full immersed themselves in the rebirth of image making, but this is then broken done into infinate subcategories. A list of stylistic labels would do us no favours as they general blind rather than describe. For me this very multiplicity of approachs is not a denial of a tendency but is a tendency in itself.
The return of the image after its death. The image seems to have been attacked and killed off from enough angles to make its return complicated. If the image, due to its over exposire, is dead and if iconography is now empty of meaning; then what use does it have in this new pictorial painterly landscape? A point Andy made the other day seems to ring true. That we have emptied images of meaning and thus using them seems to become about this emptienss is many ways. I am a little confused as to exactly what I mean here, I shall have to give it some thought.
A while ago now i was considering how the act of imagemaking is aptly described in traditional horror genre terms as a zombification of the ancient, pure, form. I think it reins true. we can think about it as something which was once alive but died and was brought back to something akin to life but not life. anything that comes back from death cannot return in the same form as it was before. the shock of death necessitates a change, rigamortis sets in and petrification of the flesh. in terms of a mental state, one can no longer bask in the naivity of life, but have to deal with the knowledge of beyond life and then being forced back. to this effect painting is now speaking of religion again, just as it was in the rennaissance, only its bastardised. its without a father, because the father left you to return to this horrible existence.
Andy
23 Jun 08 at 8:38 pm
News Release
For immediate release, Thursday 24 July 2008
UK’s Largest Contemporary Painting Prize Announces Shortlist Today
The 25th John Moores Contemporary Painting Prize showcases the best of the UK’s current and future painting talent
The shortlist for the John Moores Contemporary Painting Prize – the UK’s largest contemporary painting competition with a first prize of £25,000 and total fund of over £35,000 - is announced today.
The forty shortlisted entries demonstrate that far from being ‘old-fashioned’, an artist’s decision to paint is exciting and challenging. The paintings have absorbed the legacy of conceptual art and incorporated it into the work; they are not in opposition to it. The works, selected from a record 3,222 submissions, represent the best of the UK’s current and future painting talent. Over the last 50 years, this biennial competition has given prominence to artists including David Hockney and Richard Hamilton, who went on to find fame and acclaim after winning the prize, and Peter Doig, who described winning the John Moores in 1993 as a pivotal moment in his career.
Reyahn King, Director of Galleries at the Walker Art Gallery comments:
“The John Moores Contemporary Painting Prize this year provides an up to the minute report on painting today. The record number of entries demonstrates the excitement and importance of the John Moores as Britain’s pre-eminent painting prize. The judges sought to select works that most reflect contemporary practice, and the resulting selection makes clear that far from being old fashioned, an artist’s decision to paint is exciting and challenging.”
Graham Crowley, artist and juror on the John Moores 25 judging panel adds:
“There’s no art for airports or corporate foyers in this show. There is a great range in subject matter and context, and an urgency to the exhibition that I hadn’t anticipated.”
This year’s impressive selection ranges from portraiture, landscape and still lives to abstracts. The subject matter draws inspiration from the animal kingdom (Oportuno III by Georgia Hayes) to childhood experiences (The Baptism by Neil Rumming, who once witnessed a horrendous car crash and Nought Lovely but the Sky and Stars by Kit Poulson, who found what he thought was a UFO as a child). Woman Surprised by a Werewolf by Stuart Pearson Wright is inspired by the film An American Werewolf in London, whilst Cadet Congo Ganja by Tim Bailey draws from both Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now. The shortlist includes previous John Moores exhibitors and first time entrants.
Now in its 50th year, this year’s biennial prize has seen the highest ever number of submissions, reflecting the continued interest in painting and the John Moores’ position as Britain’s most important painting prize.
The judges for John Moores 25 are artists Jake & Dinos Chapman, art critic Sacha Craddock, and artists Graham Crowley and Paul Morrison, both former John Moores Prize winners. Almost 100 people have sat on the judging panel over the years, including Jarvis Cocker, Germaine Greer, Sir Peter Blake and Tracey Emin.
All shortlisted entries will be shown in a major exhibition at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool from 20 September 2008 to 4 January 2009. The winner of the 25th John Moores Contemporary Painting Prize will be unveiled on September 20. The first prize is £25,000 with plus four runner up prizes of £2,500.
In celebration of Liverpool’s year as Capital of Culture, this year’s popular visitors’ choice prize will be increased to £2008.
http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/johnmoores
Ends
For further information please contact:
Jane Opoku or Elise Oliver, Colman Getty
Tel: 020 7631 2666 Fax: 020 7631 2699
Email: janeopoku@colmangetty.co.uk or elise@colmangetty.co.uk
Notes for Editors
John Moores Contemporary Painting Prize at the Walker Art Gallery runs from 20 September 2008 to 4 January 2009
The exhibition will be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue.
The full list of 2008’s shortlisted artists is:
1. Georgina Amos – No Place
2. Tim Bailey – Cadet Congo Ganja
3. Richard Baines – Mickey’s Trailer
4. Christopher Barrett – Pirosmani in Tbilisi
5. David Bowe – Obst & Gemuse
6. Julian Brain – Special Relativity
7. Tom Bull – Black Flag
8. Louisa Chambers – Mechanical Coat
9. Clare Chapman – Still Life, No. 2
10. Jake Clark – Cornerways
11. Sam Dargan – Middle Management Meltdown
12. Geraint Evans – An Ornamental Hermit
13. Damien Flood – Uncharted (Island II)
14. Grant Foster – Hero Worship
15. Jaime Gili – A132 (AKIKO)
16. Gabriel Hartley – Dog
17. Georgia Hayes – Oportuno 111
18. Gerard Hemsworth – Frightened Rabbit
19. Roland Hicks – Sometimes We Sense the Doubt Together
20. Ian Homerston – Four
21. Neal Jones – Bruegel Camp
22. Stephanie Kingston – 252 Solitude
23. Richard Kirwan – As Above, So Below
24. Mie Olise Kjærgaard – Watchtower with Green Stick
25. Matthew Usmar Lauder – Untitled (Hole)
26. Geoff Diego Litherland - My Flag is Better than Yours
27. Marta Marcé – Flowing 2
28. Peter McDonald - Fontana
29. Michelle McKeown – C**t
30. Eleanor Moreton – Prince (titled)
31. Alex Gene Morrison – Black Bile
32. Kit Poulson – Nought Lovely but the Sky and Stars
33. Sista Pratesi – Black Farm II
34. Ged Quinn – There’s a House in My Ghost
35. Neil Rumming – The Baptism
36. Robert Rush – The Dream
37. Michael Stubbs – Virus Maximizer
38. Matthew Wood – S-CAT LRAB1
39. Stuart Pearson Wright – Woman Surprised by a Werewolf
40. Vicky Wright – Extraction 1
§ The John Moores was founded in 1957 by Littlewoods founder Sir John Moores (1896-1993), himself a keen painter. It is now one of the UK’s most established art prizes, with a rich and illustrious heritage. It continues to be supported in a partnership with the John Moores Liverpool Exhibition Trust.
§ The prize has been a key component of the Liverpool Biennial since 1999, and will be a major strand in the city’s 2008 European Capital of Culture celebrations.
§ Supported by A Foundation and official hotel partner, Radisson SAS Hotel, Liverpool. Visitors’ Choice Prize is supported by Rathbone Investment Management and Radisson SAS Hotel, Liverpool.
§ The exhibition is sponsored by Business2008, National Museums Liverpool’s corporate membership scheme, which provides the opportunity for businesses to gain an insight into the North-West’s leading cultural institution while giving direct support to cultural activity in Liverpool.
§ a-n magazine is the media sponsor for this year’s prize. Exposing the diversity and complexity of artists’ practice, a-n provides an inspiring critical space to research, analyse and debate contexts for practice now and in the future.
§ The fifth edition of Liverpool Biennial (20 September – 30 November 2008) will be even more impressive in scale and ambition than its predecessors. Liverpool’s cumulative experience of curating exhibitions by commissioning ambitious and challenging new artworks by leading international artists for gallery and public spaces enables it to realise exhibitions of a scale and ambition not to be found elsewhere in the UK, and has made its Biennial an example to others worldwide and a magnet to art lovers and professionals. Visit http://www.biennial.com
§ Reyahn King, Director of Art Galleries at National Museums Liverpool is available for interview via Colman Getty
§ Judges may be available for interview via Colman Getty
§ Images available on request from Colman Getty
§ National Museums Liverpool is the only group of national museums in England based entirely outside London. The group includes art galleries holding world famous collections - the Walker Art Gallery, the Lady Lever Art Gallery and Sudley House. In addition, we look after three museums - World Museum Liverpool, Merseyside Maritime Museum and the new Museum of Liverpool plus a venue that houses our conservation department, the National Conservation Centre.
Walker Art Gallery William Brown Street, Liverpool Admission FREE
Open Mon-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 12-5pm Information 0151 478 4199
Jane Opoki
24 Jul 08 at 2:20 pm