Terry Winters

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Linking Graphics 2, 1999, Ink, graphite, and colored pencil on paper

 

Double Gravity, 1984, Oil on linen

Morula III , 1983-4, Lithograph on paper

Terry Winters will be exhibiting at IMMA in summer 2009.

"Angel of the South" - Too much money not enough effort

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The five proposals for The Ebbsfleet Landmark sculpture (nicknamed "the Angel of the South") have been cut down to three. The remaining proposals are Mark Wallinger's giant horse, Richard Deacon's construction of triangles, and Daniel Burren's tower. The whole commision seems absurd to me the commisioners seem to think they can recreate the success of Antony Gormley's Angel of the North by commisioning an even bigger artwork. They are forcing artists to work on a scale that is completly inappropriate and which, I believe, will result in a terrible piece of sculpture. I think the project will be a failure, the best that can be hoped for is damage limitation. A dry, conceptualist like Daniel Burren was unlikely from the beginning to produce a work that the public would respond to in the way they have The Angel of the North. I am sure his piece will not be built - it's strange that he was even asked to make a proposal.

Richard Deacon is one of the top contemporary sculptors in the world today and he is the only artist on this shortlist who can truthfully be referred to as a sculptor. His proposal for the "Landmark" is far from his best work, though I think it is the best of the five original proposals. I don't think the public would warm to the work and it would probably be ridiculed by as just a pile of sticks.

Wallinger has proposed a sculpture of a giant horse. The computer generated visualisation of the piece in situ looks like a photograph of a real horse photoshopped onto the site. The work will be actually be coloured to look exactly like a real horse! This proposal is the only one that I think has the potential to become a landmark and to be well recieved by the general public. I think Wallinger is going to win but I also think this horse will be one of the worst piece's of sculpture ever produced.  I think this is the laziest proposal of the whole lot and the lack of effort it displays is charactertistic of Mark Wallinger's work since winning the Turner Prize. He has too many opportunities to create ambitious works and has the resources made available to carry them out too easily. The demand for the artist and the ease with which he now can realise these ambitious projects seems to have resulted in a lack of real work, a lack of the struggle that is at the core of any artist's creative process, and a lack of vitality in recent works such as his contribution to the Folkestone triennial.

The horse is a five second idea. If you took to the streets and asked people at random what kind of sculpture they would like to see I'll bet a horse would be one of the top five responses. It seems to me to be an idea that the artist has just thought up rather than arrived at through a creative, sculptural process.

Wallinger does not have enough experience of large scale sculpture to successfully undertaking a commission of such extraordinary scale. Few, if any, artists actually do. The potential for failure is a large part of any artists process. Any artist produces a certain amount of crap work which never sees the light of day. Once work begins on this sculpture there is no going back. The desctruction of the work is not an option. When producing work on a momentous scale there is the potential for momentous failure. 

Wallinger is out of his depth. He is an artist who dabbles in a range of media one of whic is sculpture. There is no room for dabblers when commisioning a sculpture of this scale and expense. I'm convinced they will commission Wallinger's piece and in do doing so they will get their "Landmark" and they will get their stories in the press. What they won't get is an excellent piece of public art and this is ultimately the fault of the commissioners. They created a ridiculous brief in an attempt to imitate the success (in terms of popularity and iconic status) of the Angel of the North the extent of which could not have been planned or predicted by either the artist or the commisioners. 

Where do you get your ideas?

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There's a booklet with today's Guardian called "How to write fiction". There's a article by Kate Pullinger addressing on of the most common (and most annoying) questions  asked of artists and writers.

Writers are often asked the question, "Where do you get your ideas from?" as though there is a special place where you can buy them: Asda for chick-lit, perhaps, Waitrose for literary fiction. But, even though this question gets asked a lot, most writers find it difficult to supply a decent answer. The truth is that ideas are all around us, in the people you meet, in the things you read and see and hear and experience, in your own childhood and family, in the wilder reaches of your imagination.

The complete article is here

Adrian Searle on Francis Bacon

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There have been a lot of articles in the press recently about Francis Bacon due to his major at Tate Britain. Most I have seen mainly focus on his personal life and those that deal with his work are full of unquestioning praise of his genius. Adrian Searle has an article on the Guardian's website that offers a refreshing alternative perspective on his work. Searle admits that certain works by Bacon are "essential" but also makes the fair criticism that Bacon had a tendency towards mediocrity and repetition in his later work.

The top image is from 1988 and the bottom one is from 1944

The article is to be found here.

Serious Studio Space Problems in Dublin

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The Irish Times have an article today about the objection proposed demoliton of the Hendron Building which houses artist's studios including Broadstone Studios. The article claims 60 studios will be lost. (This figure seems a little high - I hope there has been a mistake though there certainly will be a substantial amount of studios lost).

Pallas Studios will be forced to leave their building on Foley St. in February resulting in the loss of a further 14 studios (including my own). Some of these studios are shared by more than one artist . If the Times' figure is correct there will be more than 74 artists in need of studio space in Dublin in the near future!

The proposed development of the site of the Hendron Building is to include "a gallery or studio" but these seems a perfuctory concession and I am sceptical as to how substantial this will actually be. The fact that they are unclear as to whether it will be studio space or a gallery shows this has not been thought through. I imagine this will either materialise as a very commercial painting shop or will be dropped from the plans entirely.

A 14-storey "landmark" building at the centre of the site, which is on a hill, would be visible from the city quays.

The proposed scheme does contain plans for an artists studio or gallery, however it is primarily a residential and office development.

Labour city councillor Emer Costello, who lodged a joint objection with Labour TD Joe Costello, said the inclusion of the studio or gallery space was "sheer tokenism" and the height of the 14-storey tower was excessive.

"The Broadstone Studios is currently home to 60 artists studios and gallery space on this site with 10,00 square feet. These studios are very successful and make a significant contribution to the local community."

Ms Costello said she was also concerned about the inclusion of an aparthotel. Plans for the restaurant appeared to be more of a "communal dining room for the aparthotel than an actual restaurant local people could frequent".

© 2008 The Irish Times

Full article here

Image: High Hopes by Lee Welch

Another Reactionary Christian Trying to Censor Art

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There is a woman who is suing the Baltic art gallery in Gateshead, England for exhibiting a statue of Jesus with an erection. The Guardian have sensationalised the story slightly with there choice of image which is below:

Here is the complete installation which gives a more accurate sense of the scale of the work and the fact that Christ forms one small element of it (sorry its so small).

 

Lawyers for Emily Mapfuwa, a 40-year-old Christian who was offended by the artwork, launched a private prosecution against the gallery for outraging public decency and causing harassment, alarm and distress to the public. Mapfuwa, of Brentwood, Essex, argues the Baltic would not have dared depict the prophet Muhammad in such a way.

She complained in writing to Northumbria police earlier this year, asking for an investigation, and was informed in May that there was no case to answer.

But the Christian Legal Centre - an organisation that aims to "promote and protect the biblical freedoms of Christian believers in the United Kingdom" - agreed to pay her legal costs. The CLC also funded the case brought by Stephen Green against the BBC over Jerry Springer - The Opera. A CLC spokesman said Mapfuwa believed in freedom of expression, but "this statue served no other purpose than to offend Christians and to denigrate Christ".

(She may be only suing the gallery now but she did try and have the statue removed by complaining to the police while that work was on show.)

Link to Guardian story