Aberdeen Gallery – Part 2
My favourite piece in the gallery turned out to be byPeter Howson. He is an artist who takes on tough subjects and portrays them in a raw but sensitive way. He uses groups of dark tones with most of the bright coming from skin and white hi lights. In this image the background is light rather than his usual black, perhaps to leave us in no doubt what his troubling subject is.
The figures are inter-twined in a mass of unnatural black and green which is in itself disturbing. Only after looking for sometime is the viewer able to pick out details one by one. I feel that this is a device to echo the sickening horror of the scene. When eventually I identified the woman’s eyes ‘ locked in an upward fearful glance do I understand the full impact. The sparse use of flesh colour around her face and arm emphasise this.
Howson uses big bold strokes and furious scribble strokes – to me this suggests the violence he is trying to put across. For the same reason the background is roughly applied and the strokes change to denote this. Effective linear brush marks in black hi light features such as joints on the hands. This is simple and effective.
I only discovered Howson,s work recently but have come to love it. I would not have realised before seeing it how well what appears at first glance to be rough and perhaps even ‘crude’ is actually extremely poinient in it’s narrative. This is the one picture that fills my mind on leaving the gallery. The woman’s eyes are rough dots but yet they haunt me!
The blocks of colour suggest a feeling of single strokes and as most are sweeping the painting seems alive. A deep grey is used to denote areas of shadow and human features. These devices give a stark contrast to the colour books making them stand out.
The figures are of a ‘naive’ style and shadows shown in sharp contrast of tones rather than using subtle layering.
Angles are sharp, limbs are bent unnaturally and the perspective is deliberately wrong suggesting an awkwardness. I wish to look at more of his work to see if this is is his style at the time or whether it is specific to this piece in which case it could be a narrative for the uncomfortable exploration of youth, health or even portraying a dream?
I also find it interesting that although the figures size and rich bright colourings dominate the painting my eyes are first drawn to the paler horizon. Here the colours are more closely matched and there are gaps in the outline colour which makes it different and softer.
I love David Bomberg’s use of a wide palette. His bold strokes (probably achieved by using a thick pigment medium to keep them distinct ) show perspective through indicating different angles of rocky outcrops and reflected sunrise or sunset on the mountain and swirls in the paler background sky.
McBey features heavily in the gallery. To begin with I was unsure if I liked his style. The Matt finish seemed to dull the painting and to me it looks more 2D because of this. However somehow he manages to use this effect to emphasise features like eyes. Again he outlines in black.
described as ‘brutal ‘ possibly because of the black background contrasting strongly with the white over glaze on the face. Brush strokes are left observable indicating movement around the sunken dark eyes and dabbed areas across the scull area looking like mist.
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