Live Undead
David Bomberg, Brian Calvin, George Condo, Andre Derain, Armen Eloyan, Marianne Greated, Alexander Guy, Alex Katz, Dana Schutz, Walter Sickert
29 January–23 February 2008
Curated by: Michael Hill Johnston
Live Undead brings together the work of ten painters from across Europe and America, some showing for their first time in Scotland. Loosely based around the theme of portraiture, the exhibition looks at the different ways these artists deal with painting possibly the oldest of all subject matters, ourselves. With each approaching this in their own particular way it is interesting to see the links that can be drawn between artists and paintings, separated by generations if not mindsets.
Brian Calvin’s serene Turtleneck (2007) shows a move beyond his earlier, deliberately awkward, slacker paintings. These seemed to fuse the twin influences of Hockney and Alex Katz whose striking Nikki 2 (2007) embodies everything he has become famous for; grand scale, closely cropped subject matter and stylised simplification. These are skills he has been perfecting over 5 decades, as this example from last year proves, painted when the artist turned 80.
The paintings of Walter Sickert and André Derain show two different stages of the portrait commission. The former shows the freedom of having finished the official version, to create a superior work through an economy of technique and mastery of colour. The latter, with its quick gestural marks again shows the freedom of the artist, but this time before the pressures of producing a likeness kick in. Making this study arguably more interesting than the painting of Marie Harriman it led to.
The work of both Armen Eloyan and Dana Schutz take painting to the other extreme with both artists creating their own alternative worlds, populated by characters straight from their imaginations. Schutz’s Man with wooden teeth (2005) seems to be choking on his delicious canines picked out in think impasto paint. While the Eloyan’s unnamed guard seems to be peacefully sleeping while his nose bleeds, or is he in fact already dead?
Finally we have two artists who play with scale and convention to create paintings which are right, because they are wrong. Alexander Guy over inflates Stuart (1989)’s head, while George Condo swaps his blondes face for his trademark minature clown face. It’s the fact we know what these painting should look like that makes them interesting.
If there is one thing which links all these paintings it’s the idea that at one time they have all existed outside of what is considered the avant-garde of the day and yet their merit continues. It is clear there is something about the way people appear in paint that transcends what can be captured in photographs and still says something about the human condition that cannot, thankfully, be expressed in words.
Transmission would like to thank Bob van Orsouw Gallery, Corvi-Mora, Glasgow Museums, Scottish National Galleries, Simon Lee Gallery, Timothy Taylor Gallery, Zach Feuer Gallery and all the private collectors who made this exhibition possible.
Special thanks to Merlin James for writing the essay for the publication which accompanies this exhibition.
Marianne Greated will give a talk on her practice at Transmission thrusday 31 January 7pm, she will be joined by Glasgow based George Ziffo, who will also give a presenationon his current practice.
