Paper Questions - 8 Particular Places

Particular Places

Canaletto

Some people credit photography as being the catalyst for changing the art world; when the photograph came along the world had a way of recording things except through artistic media so artists had to reinvent and branch out into modern art and other diversions from realism. But before cameras it was up to great artists like Canaletto to depict the world. Canaletto is famous for his paintings of canals, few artist’s names feature their muse, artists can rarely have aptonyms. Canaletto painted hundreds of pictures of Venice and the two remain intertwined to this day, although much of Venice has hardly changed from Canaletto’s time his paintings are so vast and complex they are like windows into another time. Unfortunately had it been my job to aptly depict Venice we would have no idea what it looked like for I have as much talent for realism as a stone has for blood donating. So what can I learn from Canaletto’s work? Perhaps the philosophy that an accurate representation of the world isn’t necessarily a boring one.

Toulouse-Lautrec

Toulouse-Lautrec and numerous other artist all painted a particular place in the seedier part of Paris, The Moulin Rouge was the subject of many of the greatest examples of French paintings and features in works by Renoir, Seurat and Degas. The Moulin Rouge dance hall in Montmartre Paris (the French one) was frequented by middle class gentleman and women of dubious character. The rapid impressionistic style of the painting ‘Dance at the Moulin Rouge’ describe the pace and character of the place as well as the imagery.  Toulouse-Lautrec would spend long nights painting and drinking in this very particular place, I’d be curious to know if his works quality raised with his blood alcohol level.  What really interesting about Toulouse-Lautrec as a person is that he was by birth an aristocrats but found more happiness in the company of the marginal classes in places like the Moulin Rouge, some people really are happy surrounded by drunks and harlots. The Moulin Rouge was a place which served and a cultural hub few things except Absinthe had more of an effect on the 19th century French art scene.

Frieda Kahlo

In the past talked at length about the work of Diego Rivera however for a change I’m going to talk about his far more famous wife, Frieda Kahlo. Kahlo is an extremely famous artist and her life story is as interesting as her work. She was of course Mexican and her work and life is celebrate all over her country. Her work is so heavily influence buy her surroundings that it does really show the zeitgeist of Mexican culture.  In all her works little elements of Mexican culture creep in, all sorts of bright fauna and flora contrast the generally sad morbidness of her work. The truly wonderful thing about thing about Kahlo’s work I the true diversity of themes, you can link her work to any of the questions on the paper because she is so diverse. Artists are often assumed to be interesting people and this isn't always true but the massive amount of emotion that Kahlo can mine in her work gives it so many depths and layers. Frieda Kahlo is a massive cult figure and it is genuinely hard to think of any single artist so connected to one country, you ask anyone to say ten things about Mexico and most likely she’ll be on the list, right between guacamole and drug cartels.  

Particular places is such a wide and varied question I am quite smitten, when I think of all the places I've been in my life I brim with ideas. It hard to think of an artist that hasn't been inspired by where they live or grew up people are often defined by their background environment and culture. In past projects I've discussed the resonance we place on buildings and places as vessels of memories, everyone has place which are special to them and very often we remember the place event in our life’s happened as much if not more than the events themselves. Particular places is such a vast question because its anything from a patch of sun on a summers day to a continent. Now where I grew up may not be as inspiring a landscape as Mexico or China but there are certain places which have defined my life. There are two places which have had cataclysmic effects on my art and my life, my grandfather workshop and my own. Many children want to be rich and famous when they are young but I always wanted to have my own workshop and now I do even if it is a converted conservatory. I honestly believe that my artistic seed was planted from spending time in my grandfather’s workshop so it would be interesting to look at my interest in engineering through the places I’ve been which have inspired it and the places in which I honed the few skills I have. As much as emotional attachment to place is interesting however I've always preferred things to places and people to memories.