Study for painting, The Departed series
The above link takes you to the Tate short film about the
restoration of the Rothko painting, one of the paintings from the Seagram
Murals series, which was damaged with graphiti ink over a year ago.
I have books on Abstract Expressionism in my personal library
and a couple on Rothko. It is a long time since I have been able to look
at them because they have been in strorage for most of the time since I moved
up to N Yorks nearly nine years ago. They have only just recently been
unpacked and placed reverently on a shelf. I have not looked at any
Rothko paintings, whether in reproduction in my books, or at Tate for a very
long time.
It was, therefor quite an experience to watch this video and to
be reminded of the beauty, presence and majesty of the works. I was also
quite taken aback; I realised during the film, that quite innocently and
unintentionally, my recent drawings and paintings have reflected and connected
with the obelisk shapes that Rothko used. Now, I am not so stupid as to suppose
that all art can possibly be completely original, and these connections between
artists works happens a lot. What took me by surprise is the fact that I
had been unaware of my connection/reflection of the Rothko motif. In my
whirring mind as I continued to watch the film, I realised that this was
probably subliminal, that because of such a long lay off caused by ill health
when I moved here, I was not engaging much in art or art history but that my
subconcsious was probably playing a part in the making of my recent works.
I should add here that the recent works of which I speak are not
pastiches of Rothko; they are quite different; it is the connection to them
that I have been reminded of that has taken me aback. The connection in some
way pleases me even as it worries me in the sense that now that I am aware of
it, I need to beware of allowing my work to veer too near towards Rothko's
motif or characteristics. I am not flattering myself here; just writing
my thoughts down honestly as I discuss and try to make sense of what I have
just experienced during the watching of the above video mere minutes ago. (My good friend Matt Lyon, who is a very successful graphic artist just told me on facebook that we cannot escape creative channelling!)
Rothko's great works communicate so profoundly because of the
humanity they reflect back at us, I think. His works deal with the great and
timeless subject of our own mortality, the human condition. When I first began
my recent series of work, which I am still developing, at the very
end of 2012, I was thinking about my own mortality having had to confront it
during my illness, as well as the then recent deaths of four of my best
friends. So the passage of time, the human condition and ideas of memory and
loss began to emerge as the theme of my work; the obelisks within my initial
drawings represented the people I had so recently lost. It is not so
surprising that I should find that I have a connection with other artists given
that this is probably the greatest theme in all the arts there is!
What has surprised me so much is that I had been unaware of the
connection and this is a timely reminder that I need to be making use of my
library of books again and reflecting and noting down my thoughts in visual
form as I do so. Also that a visit to Tate to see the Seagram Murals, to sit
and contemplate things in front of these great paintings is way overdue.
Drawing, The Departed 1V, Graphite on paper
