5/8/2012 0 Comments drift, SHIMMERING ALUMINIUMWORKS BY BERLIN ARTIST BERIT MYREBØE LAYERED, ALLUSIVE, REFLECTIVE AND IN FLUX, BERLIN ARTIST BERIT MYREBØE’S EVOCATIVE ALUMINIUM PAINTINGS IN HER RECENT SHOW, ‘DRIFT’, MIRROR THE EBB AND FLOW OF LIFE’S AMBIGUITIES. AT FIRST GLANCE, THE EXHIBITION LOOKED PRETTY SPARSE – GREY PANELS ON WHITE WALLS WASN’T PARTICULARLY ARRESTING. BUT UPON CLOSER INSPECTION, I NOTICED THAT OUT OF THE SILVERY SCREENS EMERGED REMNANTS OF WAVES, SKIES AND FACES. THERE SEEMED TO BE A LOT MORE THAN FIRST MEETS THE EYE. ‘HEAD #4’ DEPICTED TWO IDENTICAL FRAGMENTS OF A WOMAN’S NOSE AND MOUTH. BOTH WERE VISUALLY ERODED, FADING SUCCESSIVELY INTO AN EXPANSE OF ALUMINIUM. THE ECHO OF EACH IMAGE IN THE OTHER CREATED A SHIFTING EFFECT, WHICH REVERBERATED IN THE REMAINDER OF THE WORK. THE SURFACE, ALTHOUGH THREE QUARTERS BLANK, WAS FILLED WITH AFTERNOON LIGHT, REFLECTIONS OF ITS ARCHITECTURAL SURROUNDS AND THE INVERTED IMAGES OF OTHER WORKS. I WAS INTRIGUED BY HOW MUCH WAS ACTUALLY CONTAINED IN THE PAINTINGS DUE TO THEIR REFLECTIVE SURFACE QUALITY AND IN DESPITE OF THEIR INHERENT MINIMALISM. THIS WAS DUE LARGELY DUE TO MYREBØE’S USE OF POLISHED ALUMINIUM AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR CANVAS OR PAPER, AS WELL AS THE UNIQUE PROCESS INVOLVED. THE ARTIST HAS TRANSFERRED PHOTOGRAPHS ONTO REFLECTIVE PLATES ONLY TO THEN DEFAMILIARISE THEM BY OVERLAYING THEM WITH HIGHLY PIGMENTED OIL PAINT. DESPITE THE WORKS’ VISUAL AMBIGUITY, THEY STILL HAD A PHOTO-REALISTIC GLOSS TO THHARRIET LEVENSTON 2012. THE CHOICE OF MEDIUM DEFIES A LONG-STANDING ARTISTIC TRADITION NOT JUST MATERIALLY, BUT ALSO IN THE WAY THAT THE VIEWER IS INEVITABLY INCLUDED IN THE WORKS VIA THEIR OWN REFLECTION. STANDING BEFORE THE MIRROR PAINTINGS, I REALISED THAT I WAS IRONICALLY INSPECTING MYSELF AS MUCH AS I WAS INSPECTING THEM. SO OFTEN WORKS OF ART ARE THE OBJECT OF THE VIEWER’S GAZE. WE OBSERVE, INSPECT AND INTERROGATE THE PICTURE BEFORE US. IN ‘DRIFT’, YOU’RE UNAVOIDABLY A PART OF THE ARTWORK – ON DISPLAY, AND THE OBJECT OF YOUR OWN SPECTATORIAL INQUIRY. INVERTING THE VIEWER’S GAZE FUSES TOGETHER OBJECT AND SUBJECT. HERE, NO VOYEURISM GOES UNDETECTED. THIS ADDED AN ELEMENT OF CONFRONTATION, WHICH SAFEGUARDED THE DEPICTED FEMALE NUDES – OFTEN MYREBØE HERSELF, FROM BEING OBJECTIFIED. PENSIVE, INDEPENDENT AND ALONE, THE FIGURES ARE DEMAND TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY. IN THIS WAY, THEIR NAKEDNESS WAS NOT EROTIC BUT PRESENTED AS SELF-RELIANT AND NATURAL. NUDITY ASIDE, THERE WAS A NUMBER OF OCEAN-THEMED PAINTINGS, WHICH DUE TO THE LUMINOSITY OF THE SILVER PANELS, GLOWED WITH AN EVOCATIVE SENSE OF REALISM AND DEPTH. IN ONE PARTICULAR DIPTYCH TITLED ‘THE TIDE’, AN ERODED SUPERIMPOSED PHOTO OF DARK, TURBULENT WAVES GLISTENED WITH NATURAL LIGHT. AS YOUR VANTAGE POINT SHIFTED, SO TOO DID THE WORK’S REFLECTIONS. THIS INTERPLAY OF LIGHT COMBINED WITH THE SWIRLING OCEAN CURRENT CREATED A GENUINE SENSE OF MOVEMENT; THE SCENE LOOKED AND FELT REAL. THIS WAS KIND OF IRONIC, GIVEN THE MINIMALISTIC AND OBSCURED IMAGERY FEATURED IN THE PANELS THAT WERE FOR THE MOST PART, HALF BLANK. NOT AN AVID FAN OF MINIMALIST OR ABSTRACT ART, I SUSPECT THAT IF THE WORKS HAD NOT BEEN ON A REFLECTIVE SURFACE, THEY WOULD HAVE LOOKED FLAT AND UNFINISHED. AT WORST, THEY MAY HAVE EVEN RESEMBLED THOSE HIDEOUS ‘GESTURAL OCEAN SCENES’ THAT BEACHSIDE MOTEL OWNERS SEEM TO BUY IN BULK. THANKS TO THEIR METALLIC REDEMPTION, THE WORKS ESCAPED THIS FATE, AND OFFERED THE VIEWER LAYERED, CONVINCING AND BEAUTIFULLY ALLURING SCENES. THE SILVERY PANELS WERE ALLURING BECAUSE BENEATH THEIR SHIMMERING SURFACE, THEY WERE OMINOUS, ETHEREAL AND DARK. PHOTO-REALISTIC IMAGES WERE VEILED BY DISFIGURING PAINTS STROKES, REFLECTIVE PATCHES, AND THEIR OWN ABSENCE. THE IMAGES SLID IN AND OUT OF FOCUS AND THE VIEWER WAS OFFERED ONLY AN AFTER-IMAGE OF WHAT THEY WERE SEEING. THIS AMBIGUITY TIED THE WORKS TOGETHER, AS IF TO HINT AT THE EPHEMERAL, INTANGIBLE NATURE OF LIFE’S CONTENTS: PEOPLES’ HIDDEN SIDES, UNANSWERABLE METAPHYSICAL QUESTIONS, AND OUR ALLUSIVE SUB-CONSCIOUS. IMPERMANENCE AND AMBIGUITY UNSETTLES US, BUT IT’S WHAT MAKES LIFE SO DYNAMIC. AT LEAST THIS IS WHAT JAPANESE PHILOSOPHY HITS ON WHEN IT DRAWS A LINK BETWEEN IMPERMANENCE AND BEAUTY. ONE PHILOSOPHER NAMED KENKO WROTE, “IF A MAN WERE NEVER TO FADE AWAY LIKE THE DEWS OF ADASHINO, NEVER TO VANISH LIKE THE SMOKE OVER TORIBEYAMA, HOW THINGS WOULD LOSE THEIR POWER TO MOVE US! THE MOST PRECIOUS THING IN LIFE IS ITS UNCERTAINTY.” THE SUBJECT MATTER OF MYREBØE’S WORKS SHIMMER, FADE, REVERBERATE AND SLIP AWAY FROM US AS MUCH AS THE TRANSITORY REFLECTIONS IN THEIR MIRRORED SURFACES DO. AND IN THIS UNCERTAINTY WE RECOGNISE BEAUTY. REDEMPTION BY ALUMINIUM, ‘DRIFT’ IS DEFINITELY WORTH A VISIT. HARRIET LEVENSTON 2012 ‘DRIFT’ IS ON DISPLAY UNTIL AT THE DOMINIK MERSCH GALLERY, 2 DANKS STREET, WATERLOO, NSW.
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A LOOK AT SYDNEY ARTIST, ASHLEY FROST SLABS OF PAINT – BLUE ON BURNING RED ON NEON ORANGE ON COOL VIOLET ON BLACK – FORM THE THICK, TEXTURAL RELIEFS OF ARTIST ASHLEY FROST’S VIVID CITYSCAPES IN HIS CURRENT SHOW, ‘URBAN PATINAS’. TO FROST, CITIES ARE CURIOUS AND VIBRANT PLACES, SITES OF MODERNITY AND THE HUB OF CONTEMPORARY LIFE. FASCINATED BY INTERSECTIONS, WHERE THE CITY’S PERIPHERY CONVERGES WITH THE INNER SUBURBS AND THE MOMENT WHERE DAY EXHAUSTS ITSELF AND BECOMES NIGHT, HE SHOWS US THAT THERE IS BEAUTY TO BE FOUND IN THE URBANE. ENTERING THE GALLERY SPACE, YOU’RE HIT STRAIGHT AWAY WITH HOT BURSTS OF COLOUR. WHITE WALLS PULSATE WITH LARGE-SCALE AND INTIMATELY SIZED CANVASES WHICH ACT LIKE WINDOWS THROUGH WHICH A LIVING, BREATHING – PANTING – CITYSCAPE IS IN CENTRAL VIEW. ‘VARICOSE’ – ALMOST 4 METRES SQUARED – IS A GESTURAL PERSPECTIVE OF A ROAD LINED WITH SHOP FRONTS SOMEWHERE IN SYDNEY. THE PAINT HAS BEEN APPLIED SO THICKLY AND FREELY, THAT THE SCENE VERGES ON ABSTRACTION. DENSE BRUSHSTROKES HAVE BEEN TROWELED BACK TO ALLOW POCKETS OF FLUORESCENT RED-ORANGE TO SURFACE AND MERGE WITH A GLOWING SUNSET. SKY AND CITY REVERBERATE WITH ENERGY, WHICH IS AT THE SAME TIME ENLIVENING AND EXHAUSTING TO VIEW. THERE IS A REAL SENSE OF MOVEMENT WITHIN THE WORK, CIRCULATED BY THE RUSH OF SCINTILLATING COLOUR, UNDULATING ROAD LINES AND EXPRESSIVE, AGGRESSIVE, BRUSHSTROKES. IT FEELS LIKE A HUMID, HAZY WORKDAY AVO ON KING STREET. SMALLER WORKS REVEALED COOLER, SOMBER, MORE SUBDUED NIGHT SCENES. IN ‘ENTROPY STUDY’, AN OMINOUS NAVY SKY IS FRINGED WITH THE SILHOUETTE OF A DARK CITYSCAPE. PALLID YELLOW GLARE RADIATES AT THE POINT WHERE CITY AND SKY CONVERGE, AND IS ECHOED IN FLECKS OF THE DIM LIGHT OF STREET LAMPS. THE SCENE IS FILLED WITH URBAN REMINDERS: POWER LINES STREAK ACROSS BUILDING FACADES, DRAWING THE EYE ALONG ASPHALT TO SMOG. SLICES OF COLOUR CUT THROUGH BLACK SHAPES, SUGGESTING ILLUMINATED SHOP AWNINGS, CAR BRAKE LIGHTS, METALLIC ROAD SIGNS AND A WET ROAD REFLECTING THE EVENING SKY. IT’S AN INTIMATE VIGNETTE OF THE CITY AT DUSK, WHERE THE WORKDAY CLOCKS OFF AND RESPITE IS FOUND BACK AT HOME, PROBABLY BEFORE THE LULLING GLOW OF THE TV. WHETHER FROST IS SAYING SOMETHING DEEPER ABOUT SUBURBIA, ABOUT WHAT LIES BENEATH ITS PATINA, IS UNKNOWN. YET IT IS CLEAR THAT THROUGH HIS IMMENSELY LAYERED, VISCERAL, EXPRESSIONISTIC PAINTINGS, FROST IS EMPHASIZING THE RICHNESS AND INVOLVEDNESS OF CITY AND URBAN LIVING. THE SURFACES OF THE WORKS, REPLICATING ALSO THE PATINA OF THEIR SUBJECT MATTER, HAVE BEEN SCRAPED BACK, REWORKED, EMBELLISHED AND DEVELOPED. THE RESULT IS A RAW, WORN, LIVED-IN FEEL. THE WORKS’ SURFACES HAVE A HISTORY TO THEM, ONTO WHICH A PRESENT AND A FUTURE HAVE ENCRUSTED. AND THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT AN URBAN PATINA IS THE RESULT OF – ACCUMULATED HISTORY, CHANGE, CONSTRUCTION, AND DAMAGE AS SIGNS OF AGING. BUT PATINA, ALTHOUGH THE CONSEQUENCE OF CORROSION AND EXPOSURE OVER TIME, IS ULTIMATELY A POLISHED, UNIQUELY BEAUTIFUL SURFACE. LIKE METROPOLISES AND SUBURBAN DWELLINGS, PATINA’S UNIQUENESS IS REMINISCENT OF ITS WEAR AND TEAR. ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING IN URBAN LIFE CULMINATES, HEAPS UP, INTERACTS AND INFORMS ITS OUTER FORM. THIS CULMINATION IS ECHOED IN THE WORKS, WHEREIN RIGOROUS BRUSHSTROKES COLLIDE AND CONTRASTING COLOURS CLASH, BUT IN A WAY THAT IS SURPRISINGLY MORE HARMONIOUS THAN GARISH. FROST DEFINITELY PUSHES COLOUR BOUNDARIES TO THE EXTREME, GOING AGAINST THE GRAIN OF COLOUR THEORIES WHICH PREDICT WHAT WILL AND WON’T LOOK VISUALLY APPEALING. IN ‘FLIGHT PATH STUDY 1’, LAYERS UPON LAYERS OF VIOLET AND VARIOUS SHADES OF BLUE HAVE BEEN BRUSHED OVER A BRIGHT ORANGE BACKGROUND, WHICH PERMEATES THE SKY. THE ELECTRIC CONTRAST CRACKLES BEFORE YOU LIKE AN OPEN FIRE. THE DEEP PURPLE HORIZON LINE IS IS MET BY A WINDING COBALT ROAD SWOOPING ROUND FROM THE FOREGROUND. PINK CARS SPEED PAST MAGENTA FOOTPATHS. NO ELEMENT ESCAPES FROST’S OBSESSIVE COLOUR TREATMENT – EVEN ELECTRICAL POWER POLES ARE STREAKED A MUTED RAINBOW. IT’S EXCITING TO SEE SUCH A COLOURFUL TRANSLATION OF WHAT WE USUALLY DEEM MUNDANE, INDUSTRIAL AND UGLY. FOR AS MUCH AS FROST EXPLORES AND DISPLAYS ‘URBAN PATINAS’, HE EXPRESSES A REAL FASCINATION AND ENJOYMENT OF COLOUR AND TEXTURE. ‘FERRY STUDY’ IS SO ABSTRACT, THAT WITHOUT THE CLUE OF ITS TITLE, IS FUNDAMENTALLY A HAPHAZARD PATTERN OF COLOUR AND LIGHT. YOU’RE MADE TO FOCUS ON THE MATERIAL QUALITIES OF THE WORK – ON THE DENSE SMEARS OF IMPASTO PAINT, WHICH HAVE BEEN ETCHED INTO WITH A PALETTE KNIFE, FINGERTIPS AND THE END OF A PAINTBRUSH. IT’S A VERY INVOLVED, HANDS-ON APPROACH TO PAINTING WHICH ARGUABLY OBSCURES THE BOUNDARY BETWEEN PAINTING AND SCULPTURE. FROST HAS ENERGETICALLY SLAPPED ONTO CANVAS AND BOARD A MULTIPLICITY OF IMAGES FROM HIS TRAVELS, RANGING FROM SKYSCRAPERS IN NEW YORK TO ICE CAPS IN ANTARCTICA. ALL OF HIS WORKS REVERBERATE WITH A LIVELINESS THAT’S UNRELENTING, EXCITING AND HIGHLY CONTAGIOUS. HARRIET LEVENSTON 2012. ‘URBAN PATINAS’ IS CURRENTLY ON DISPLAY AT THE STELLA DOWNER FINE ART GALLERY UNTIL 19 MAY AT 2 DANKS STREET, WATERLOO NSW. |