I recently visited the Tate in the city of Liverpool. I have travelled to Liverpool multiple times this year, mainly to obtain photographs based on the architecture of Liverpool. Only this time I thought I would attend all of the galleries and museums that Liverpool as a city has to offer. I have been to the Tate a couple of times before, but each time I visit there are new exhibitions and collections of work on display. Below is a selection of the Contemporary artworks I found most intriguing.
Images are my own, photographed works during visit:
Christina Mackie, Falling Boundary 2004
Metal, nylon, acryclic paint, gel, glass beads, sand, polystyrene, paper pulp, varnish, glitter and acetate
This piece was amongst my main favourites, as I instantly felt a connection to it. This being because of the striking similarities between the style of my work within my Fine Art practice with this piece titled Falling Boundary by Mackie. The most striking connection being the association of space and planets. Also the presence of circular forms and spherical shapes which again links directly to my work. This piece features a linear pole, and from it hung spheres covered in different textured surfaces. Below there was a sheet of acetate, which was covered with drips and spillages from the spheres. The sheet of acetate was there to document the change in physical state of the spheres, from a solid to liquid. The colours of each sphere was unique, this enabled me to realise which droplet was from which coloured sphere. The fact that it was hung and displayed the way it was, really added to the space concept, thus enhancing its link to my work.
Michelangelo Pistoletto 1933, Venus of the Rags 1967, 1974
Marble and Textiles
This was another of my favourite pieces from the Tate as it really did stand out in the gallery space. I think this was due to the contrast of a strong white statue, with the bold coloured rags surrounding it. Pistoletto was interested in broadening the material language of arte povera, and in creating complex juxtapositions of modern and historical images and ideas. Venus of the Rags brings together an iconic figure of classical culture, and a contemporary society. The figure props up a huge pile of randomly placed rags and second hand clothes. The fact that that the face of the figure isn’t visible, allows us to relate heavily to the figure, as if we are burdened by a huge pile of clothes. This really being a metaphor for whatever is troubling us as individuals.
Louise Bourgeois 1911 – 2010, Mamelles 1991, cast 2001
Rubber, fibreglass and wood
Mamelles is a large – scale wall relief in which a series of female breasts have been moulded within a horizontal structure. The breasts can be seen as a symbol of a woman’s nurturing role, while also exposing the female body as a sexualised object, stripped bare and vulnerable. Bourgeois has linked his work to the mythical seducer Don Juan and said that it ‘portrays a man who lives off the woman he courts, making his way from one to the next. Feeding from them but returning nothing, he loves only in a compulsive and selfish manner. I really liked this work and enjoy the realisation of how the description and link to Don Juan is evident within the reading of the piece. I think the scale of this piece helps it to be so impactful.
Grayson Perry 1960, Aspects of Myself 2001
Earthenware
I watched a documentary on Grayson Perry about his style of work, so I was fairly aware of the undertones and complexities that are evident within it. But seeing this piece really was something else. Hidden within the ceramic vase were symbols of both female and male genitalia. Perry’s pots combine issues such as identity, class, sexuality and gender and how these are addressed in the art world. This particular piece is an auto biographical work showing the artists in the guise of his alter ego. Perry’s work truly challenges the traditional division between fine art and the applied arts.
Rachel Whitread 1963, Untitled (Air Bed II) 1992
Polyethylene Rubber
For me this was another work that really stood out, due to its simplicity. Not because the work itself is simple, but the recognition of the object is simple. This being an air bed. A simple functional object turned into a piece of art. The bed is made from Polyethylene Rubber. Whitread’s sculptures are casts of carefully chosen objects, often furniture that bears trace of human use. She mostly casts the negative spaces of objects, but for this work the casting process became a vital part of the work itself. For Whitread the air bed suggests a sense of comfort associated with daily ritual, as well as the darker tones of illness, aging and death.
Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian 1924 , Untitled 1976
Mirror Glass, stainless steel, plaster and wood
This work presents a series of volumetric renderings of cubes, placed serially against each other to form a geometric pattern that also reveals interlocking diamond shapes. I really liked the fact that the work changes due to where you position yourself when viewing it, and also changes in lighting affect the way you interpret the piece. This work relates heavily to geometric forms and American architectural monuments. This work really did draw my attention as soon as I entered the gallery space due to its shiny and attractive surface.
Robert Morris 1931, Untitled 1967 – 8 – remade 2008
Strips of Felt
This was one of my favourite pieces on display. I felt somewhat overwhelmed by its dramatic sense, it really did overpower the room. Morris began to purchase rectangular sheets of industrial black felt and cut it into staright linear pieces. He discovered that when suspended the strips of felt would tumble beneath their own weight, resulting in them no longer being straight lines of felt. But more straggled pieces that control their ownm gravity. Morris wanted to question geometric shapes of minamilist sculptures in his essay titled Anti Form. Which about relinquishing control of materials and letting them determine their own fate of the final appearance of them. This means that each time this work is displayed the precise arrangement of it will change and differ. This is what I really liked about this piece, even though we can change the place we hang it up, or the change the part we attach to the wall, we truly have no control over the final arrangement of it. There is something quite exciting about that.
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