Listed here are the principal research activities undertaken in this course of study that, together, have re-established my studio practice.
There are links to two appendices ('Tutorial Notes' and 'Examples of Writing for Research'). These are extracts from a journal maintained throughout my course of study. All 'More...' links are also to my journal and should be followed if further detail is required (each page opens in a new window). I have also chosen to include a bibliography.
There are links to two appendices ('Tutorial Notes' and 'Examples of Writing for Research'). These are extracts from a journal maintained throughout my course of study. All 'More...' links are also to my journal and should be followed if further detail is required (each page opens in a new window). I have also chosen to include a bibliography.
Artists
- Simon Carter and others in 'Drawing into Landscape: Contemporary British Painting' - I am reassured by this record of the work of four British painters working now (the others are Amanda Ansell, Emily Ball, Keith Murdoch) of a continuing, and diverse, interest in landscape painting in this country, a tradition to which I consider I belong. | More...
- Paul Cézanne - Principally relying on an idiosyncratic book by Pavel Machotka (professor of psychology and art at the University of California), I have learnt about Cézanne's approaches to painting from landscape motifs. | More...
- Rackstraw Downes - A contemporary plein air painter of figurative landscapes, Downes has an interest in perception and depicts the distortions that result from representing the three-dimensional world on a flat surface. This is a challenge with which I too contend. | More...
- Dan Hays - Hays makes photographic images into paintings to change their status. I have done the same in recent work. | More...
- Ivon Hitchens and others - Half a dozen British painters who continue to act as a touchstone for me. All paint landscapes in their own distinctive way, most using plein air techniques. Exhibitions by Hitchens, Ray Atkins, Patrick George, Peter Prendergast, George Rowlett and Nick Schlee are not common, but in recent years I have been able to view their work. When stuck, I lay out my small collection of books and booklets about them and wonder what it is I'm missing.
- 'Landscape Painting Now: From Pop Abstraction to New Romanticism' - A significant, recent publication containing the diverse work of a large international selection of contemporary artists who choose to include, or use, landscape themes: Lois Dodd, Alex Katz, Alex Kanevsky, Per Kirkeby, Etel Adnan... A resource that has prompted further research, and will continue to do so.
- Sargy Mann - Both in his paintings and his eloquent writing Mann has much to say about perception. This is of interest as I work from direct observation, and it raises larger questions about the nature of reality. In addition, I find his ambition, both for life and art, inspiring, not least because of his extraordinary response, as a visual artist, to a progressive loss of sight throughout his adult life. | More...
- Nicolas Poussin - As a painter of landscapes I believe I must have some knowledge of the Classical landscape tradition. I have started by reading about, and drawing from, Poussin's paintings. | More...
- Gerhard Richter - Overcoming a prejudice against the use of photographic sources in my work has been aided by studying this artist's work. I understand him to be doing something very different to me, but gaining an acquaintance with formal features of his paintings has been instructive. Also, seeing how he chooses to use landscape to pursue his conceptual concerns. | Extract of writing in Appendix 2.
- Veronica Vickery - Vickery describes herself as a 'visual artist and cultural geographer'. I have found her paintings, installations, performances and writing (in the context of 'landscape studies' ) in turns interesting, maddening, exciting and provocative. In her art activity she considers issues of 'landscape' and 'place', pointing up a distinction that has been important to me as I make my work. | More...
Exhibitions
- Tacita Dean: Place (2005) - Dean's 'exhibition in a book' provides an important condensed view of a selection of contemporary artists working with a concept allied to that of 'landscape': Simon Starling, Roni Horn, Thomas Struth... The opening essay is excellent. | More...
- Ivon Hitchens: The Painter in the Woods (2019) Garden Museum, London, 8 May – 15 July (see: Hitchens, above).
- Ivon Hitchens: Space Through Colour (2019) Pallant House Gallery, Christchurch, 29 June – 13 October - I made several soft ground etchings at this excellent show, which featured in a display at Locksbrook Road in early spring (see: Hitchens, above).
- James Tower Ceramic Artist: A Centenary Celebration (2019) Victoria Art Gallery, Bath, 21 September – 24 November - The immediate inspiration for my experiments in ceramics. | More…
- Sargy Mann: Let it be said that the painter was there (2019-2020) Attenborough Art Centre, Leicester, 9 November – 23 February | Extract of writing in Appendix 2 (see: Mann, above).
- Strange and Wonderful Beings: The Work of Clifford and Rosemary Ellis (2019-2020) Chippenham Museum, Chippenham, 5 October – 18 January - An opportunity for a close up look at the process of colour lithography. | More...
- A View From the Edge: Contemporary Landscapes in the Digital Age (2020) Cardiff MADE, Cardiff, 6-22 February - An exhibition by eight contemporary painters for whom 'landscape belongs as much to the virtual, invisible or imaginary plane, as to describing the topography of what is before one's eyes'. Being explicitly concerned with the question of landscape's possible contemporaneity, this show was thought-provoking and of direct relevance to me. | More…
Practice
- [Method] January 2020: Plaster mould-making and slip casting | More...
- [Method] January 2020: Glaze mixing | More...
- [Method] January 2020: Lithography | More...
- [Exhibition] Inaugural (2020) 4 - 9 February - A group show that proved to be the motivating force behind the creation of my multi-part 'River Walk' presentation of paintings, which nudged my activity in a new direction. | More…
- [Exhibition] This and This and This (2020) 13 - 24 May - I felt that I couldn't present my linked series of paintings only as individual images on a screen, hence the creation of my exhibition at home (with online private view) for the MF7002 assessment.
- [Method] Writing - Maintaining a regular journal has been an important part of my research. Occasionally I have gathered my findings in short essays. This practice has been instrumental in clarifying what I have learnt. | Selected illustrative extracts in Appendix 2.
Criticism + Reflection
- [Criticism] Luzar, R., Medjesi-Jones, A. and others (2019-2020) Tutorials Bath Spa University, October - May - Regular discussion has been critical in provoking and encouraging relevant research activity. | Selected notes in Appendix 1.
- [Criticism] Andrews, M. (1999) Landscape and Western Art Oxford: Oxford University Press - A clear introduction to the history and significance of landscape art in the Western tradition. Essential orientation, and referred to repeatedly. | More...
- [Criticism] Landscape Studies - In the absence of very much writing on 'landscape' in contemporary art criticism I have turned to books and articles by geographers (John Wylie, Veronica Vickery, Isis Brook, Harriet Hawkins, Brian Wattchow and others), for whom this remains a live issue. Some, like Hawkins, have focused explicitly on art practice in their writing, others have even incorporated their own art practice in critical activity (e.g. Vickery). | Extract of writing in Appendix 2.
- [Criticism] Phenomenology - At a basic level I have attempted to understand this philosophical theme or method as it applies to my interest in representing places. | More...
- [Criticism] Ferber, M. (2010) Romanticism: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press - Landscape imagery is almost inextricably bound up with Romanticism, so I have read this introduction with interest and will read more on the theme in due course. | More...
- [Seminar series] Dalwood, D. (2019-2020) What's the Point? Bath Spa University, November – May - This series of seminars has raised numerous issues relating to contemporary art practice. I have been particularly interested in themes relating to the way that I choose to present the things that I make.
- 15/01/20 [Conversation] Brown, L. (2020) - A visit to Bath Spa University Art and Design Collection, Corsham Court, to view lithographs. | More…
- 18/02/20 [Seminar] Pil and Galia Kollectiv (2020) Artists’ Talk, MF7002, Bath Spa University. 18 February - For me, the principal merit of this presentation was the exemplary clarity with which the artists presented the rationale for their work. | More…
- 28/02/20 [Seminar] Luzar, R. (2020) Philosophy and Contemporary Art MF7002, Bath Spa University. 28 February - An interesting discussion preceded by interesting reading. The issue of contemporaneity is of obvious interest to me. (A valued, accidental off-shoot of this event was establishing a weekly informal crit conversation between a number of MFA students.) | More…