Gregory Crewdson - Cathedral of the Pines

I attended the OCA study day at the Photographer's Gallery recently. I must admit I was expecting to see more of the same with regard to Gregory Credson's work. I was pleasantly surprised. I think most photography students become familiar with his Twilight series early on in their studies and then move onto other interests as they progress. The Cathedral of the Pines is more subtle than his previous work. Maybe it is the reduced colour palette or the all encompassing mist that seems to pervade most of the outdoor scenes. Most of the images are of interiors, a solitary figure pauses to contemplate, their gaze turned inwards. Through windows or doorways the landscape is partly visible and the mist is laden with meaning.

I found it interesting during the post student discussion at the pub how many students had attached different readings to the ambiguous expressions of the subjects. Ironic that in most of the images a half empty glass sat on side tables or in a corner. For a glass half-empty person like myself (I hate to admit that!) I read, sorrow, anxiety, trepidation, longing, on the looks of the characters. Because of this reading I saw the mist as forbidding and ominous. That even if the characters were to step outside their oppressive houses there would be nowhere to escape to. So I was quite surprised when our tutor, Jayne, said that she read the mist as hopeful. That the characters were at a turning point and I assume she saw that turning point as a moment in which the character moved forward in a positive way.

I enjoyed seeing the large scale of the images and that the series was all in one place across four floors. I was pleasantly surprised to re-engage with Gregory Crewdson's work.

Queer British Art - 1861-1967

"The history of queer culture is punctuated by dustbins and bonfires - much has been deliberately destroyed or simply unpreserved... photograph albums rescued from junk shops, drawings and negatives smuggled out of the house of a dying lover - before a family can arrive to scour away any evidence of a life that was less than fully heterosexual." (Barlow 2017:17).


Because of the "dustbins and bonfires" the history of Queer culture is patchy and often suppressed or ignored by historians. This exhibition brings to one place a number of works by British LGBTQ (Queer) artists, spanning the period 1861 to 1967; from the abolition of the death penalty for sodomy (the death penalty! for having sex!) to homosexuality being decriminalised in the United Kingdom.


Coded Desires

Against a backdrop of oppression, secrecy and victimisation, Queer artists have made their art. The first part of the exhibition is arranged around "Coded Desires". Although many Queer artists were accepted in bohemian circles they still had to be very careful when making art for public consumption - being too overt was generally frowned upon. Earlier works from the period tended to concentrate on the male nude using the aesthetic style of Greek and Roman antiquity or from religious stories. There was already an established tradition of male and female nudes in painting so "coded desires" often went unnoticed by the general viewing public although sometimes critics from the newspapers would place knowingly barbed comments in their reviews:

"In style there is something seductive, but it is not masculine."

"That repulsive sentiment that too frequently marks Solomon's compositions."

The Bride, Bridegroom and Sad Love - Simeon Solomon, 1865.

It is stated in the exhibition catalogue that Solomon's "The Bride, Bridegroom and Sad Love" depicts the relegation of the bridegroom's male lover to the shadows. The groom's hand is touching the groin and stroking the palm of the angel figure. According to the catalogue a palm being scratched is an indication of lust - although I've not heard of this before symbol. To me this composition indicates that while the groom appears to show affection for his new wife his hand indicates where his sexual desire is really focused.


Crafted objects were also displayed alongside paintings and sculpture. This cup made by Charles Robert Ashbee for his homosexual friend James Headlam bears the inscription "To the ancient, from CRA, on the mournful occasion of his transition into matrimony." The handle and stem appear to show stylised balls and a penis.

Twin handled cup - Charles Robert Ashbee, 1893

Public Decency:

This section holds some of the artifacts relating to the trial and imprisonment of Oscar Wilde in 1895. His cell door from Reading Gaol hangs on the gallery wall and is a striking object. To take such a banal item and change its use; to make it an artistic statement of oppression for LGBTQ people is really quite powerful. This object has actually solved some visual problems that I've been thinking about in regards to an upcoming assignment in my body of work. The famous calling card that the 9th Marquis of Queensberry left, accusing Wilde of being a "sodomite" is also on show - along with photographs and letters between Wilde and his young lover Alfred Bruce Douglas.

These artifacts are pertinent to the exhibition as they show that although LGBTQ artists are given a certain free reign in bohemian circles, they can easily overstep the bounds and end up as targets for blackmail and victimisation.

Cell door, Reading Gaol - National Justice Museum, Nottingham.

Bloomsbury and Beyond

The Bloomsbury group of artists and writers famously "lived in squares and loved in triangles". In 1911 Duncan Grant was commissioned to create a mural for the dining room of Borough polytechnic. The naked swimmers are shown diving into the Serpentine, a well known hangout for homosexual men. The mural of a muscular naked man as he dives, swims, and climbs into a boat made some critics uncomfortable. "The National Review described the dining room as a 'nightmare' which would have a degenerative effect on the polytechnic's working -class students." (Jones 2017:99)

Duncan Grant lived with Vanessa Bell at Charleston in East Sussex and had a number of homosexual lovers; one of them, Paul Roche, who Vanessa Bell did not approve of was forced to camp on the South Downs and wasn't allowed inside Charleston. The famous economist John Maynard Keynes, bought a house with his wife adjoining the Charleston farm to be close to Grant.  

Bathing - Duncan Grant, 1911.

Defying Convention

Claude Cahun's photographs depict the interaction between the body and the natural world. Her self portraits are staged, often made on the coast or in the grounds of the home that she shared with her life partner, Suzanne Malherbe. Cahun's explorations can be seen as a way to work out issues of gender identity. Originally named Lucy, Cahun swapped to the masculine Claude and published a book on the themes of gender identity in the form of poems and montage. Cahun continued to use feminine pronouns and indications of her ambiguous gender-fluid identity are further noted when she states that "Neuter is the only gender that always suits me". (Young 2017:130).

 

I Extend My Arms - Claude Cahun, 1931-2.

Physique and Photography

Gay culture was still underground in the 1950s and 60s. Police attempts to stamp out homosexual behaviour meant that body building magazines were often extremely popular under the guise of health and fitness. Many of the photographers were themselves homosexual and the small ads in such magazines often enticed readers with the option to buy full frontal nudes and 'action' shots of the same models. Using the public postal system to send illegal images was often highly risky and photographers and recipients were sometimes caught and jailed. This practice almost completely died out when magazines specialising in Gay porn became more readily available in the 1970s.

Physique Photograph - unknown photographer, c1950s.

Queer British Art 1861 - 1967 is an extensive show and features work from artist's too numerous to mention here; the paintings of Francis Bacon and David Hockney; Joe Orton and Kenneth Halliwell's subversive art practice of doctoring book covers from the public library before returning them to stock. There are also categories dealing with LGBTQ input into the world of theatre and female impersonation. This show and its accompanying catalogue will be a useful reference point for me when researching hidden history and LGBTQ artists that are often sidelined or pushed into the shadows.






















References:

Barlow, C. (2017) Queer British Art 1861 - 1967. Tate Publishing: London.
Jones, E (2017) Queer British Art 1861 - 1967. Tate Publishing: London.
Young, L (2017) Queer British Art 1861 - 1967. Tate Publishing: London.

Physical Learning Log Scan

The Frank Album

Alec Soth's "The Frank Album" is a project based on a photograph album he purchased. It was made by a Westerner whilst in Japan in the 1950s and shows 'Frank' with Japanese people in both formal and casual settings. Soth posts the images on his website and asks participants to create a story around each image. The final result is published as "The Frank Album". I haven't seen the book myself and other than the original production website (https://thefrankalbum.wordpress.com) access to it via the web seems to be difficult.

In this instance I am not particularly phased by ethical issues arising from using the work of a real person for a creative project such as this. It is almost 70 years since these images were taken. The fact that Soth was able to purchase the album means that it was more than likely discarded by the family and was part of the vast found photo market. Once a photograph album such as this is released onto a market for consumption it fails to become a private object. Although if this was my project and after publication the original family objected to its new creative use I'm not sure how I would feel.

Sophie Calle - chance encounters

I would have no problem using opportunistic encounters to make my own art. I think that the element of chance or accident can take an artist on incredible journeys of discovery. Chance encounters with strangers such as Sophie Calle's work "Suite Venitienne", whereby she followed a stranger she had briefly met to Venice and documented his and other's movements, can produce all sorts of unanticipated connections. There is a good reason for making art in this way. The element of chance makes for intriguing and unconscious art that can be dynamic and not laboured. I think to make good work an artist needs to be inspired and to remain engaged and in the creative moment.

Has Calle been deceitful? Well, maybe... In "The Hotel" Calle took a job as a chambermaid and rifled through the belongings of the people staying at the hotel. She closely photographed and documented what she found in meticulous, almost obsessive, detail. Although I admire her approach I can't imagine doing this myself. There are limits and boundaries to what each of us would be prepared to do in the name of art. What I do enjoy in Calle's work is the element of performance involved in the process of making the work. I think performance is an approach that Calle uses to keep herself engaged with her own work. It is a useful tool. At some stage I will be taking my triangle pieces and props to a woodland to set up and photograph as a kind of unknown memorial. There is an element of performance in doing this that may transfer to the photographs or be read into the visual narrative from the accompanying artists statement in the same conceptual manner as Calle's work.

Physical Learning Log Scan

Chance

"Is there anything that you feel compelled to do at this point in your work but you can't figure out exactly how it will fit with your overall project?"

My body of work is still developing (slowly). I know what events I want to depict and conceptualise from the book "The Men With The Pink Triangle", but how I will visualise those events and make them into art is still very much an ongoing process. I'm not too worried about this as I approach assignment 3. I have learned from previous course modules that it all works out in the end. I have plenty of ideas, I just need to keep plugging away at them until I achieve a desirable outcome. I've learnt after a number of assessments now not to get too stressed about the artistic/creative process - just relax, and let the ideas flow...

With regard to the above question, I do have a strong interest in making work from found photographs. I'd like to explore ideas and emotions using this technique to pull together a narrative from unconnected images. I already make exploratory work using props within constructed images and incorporating found photographs would create an interesting mix and match approach. I remember discussing this with Johanna Ward (a visiting photographer/artist at a Thames Valley group event) who created a body of work around old family photographs and her own accompanying images. I remember being quite enthused by her approach and the subsequent discussion led me to produce the Rubber Flapper work in a particular visual style.

While I've been typing this I've mused on the idea of using found photographs and I think I have a seed of an idea that could be incorporated into my body of work. I need to make some sketches in my workbook so I can pull the ideas together in the next few weeks.