Task 1 - Artist Research

                                         Billy Childish.

 

 

Billy Childish is an Artist, Poet, Musician, and has many more talents too.

Though i'm not a huge fan of his work, it was interesting to visit him in his studio, in The Dockyards, to see what he had to say.

I was quite nervous to visit him, because the persona he puts on seemed to be very no-nonsense, however he seemed friendly.

He openly admitted that when he was very young, he used to copy Van Gogh's artwork, (which is noticable by looking at his paintings,) as at home, his Mother had a copy of Van Gogh's "Sunflowers" on the wall. He also mentioned that him and his older brother (who was also into Art,) would use their Fathers paints and brushes when he went away.

I did see a  few pieces that he had been working on that day, and the day before, which was a painting of him and his Daughter, on a walk in the woods. I really liked these paintings, as they showed a softer side to his personality, and didn't have a "im such a rock and roll artist" vibe to them.

 

 

 

 

 

Gillian Wearing

Gillian Wearing is a British Conceptual Artist, born in 1963. I discovered Wearing whilst googling self portraits, and was really intrigued by her work. Wearing also seems to enjoy discovering things about other people, which then allows her to find out more about herself during the process.

She was also part of the "Young British Artist" movement, which happens to be one of my favourite movements in Art History. Gillian Wearing is married to the artist Michael Landy, whose exhibition of "Saints Alive" was one that I had seen at The National Gallery.

In 2003, one of her self-portrait pieces was a series of masks she had made of family members, which she then wore.

"Self Portrait as my sister Jane Wearing"

 

"I tried to make each member around the same age, late teens to early 20s, so we are equals in a way, regardless of the roles we had within the family."- http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2012/mar/27/gillian-wearing-takeover-mask#/?picture=387780735&index=2

 

I thought these were an interesting look on the words "self-portrait" and one of my favourites of the series, was a self portrait of her at 17.

Wearing is wearing a mask of her teenage self, with only her real eyes showing.

This image can be responded to in many different ways, but to me it represents Teen angst. It also reminds me of an 80's movie, where they have their pictures taken in a prom photobooth, although Wearing would much rather be at home listening to Elvis.

(Nope, just me that does that??)

Wearing's work really appeals to me. They have deep feeling to them, but they also seem quite weird and sinister too. They are also extremely realistic.

 

Andy Warhol

 

 

Andy Warhol is an American artist, most famous for his key part in the Pop-Art movement, in the mid 1950's. However he has also created many self portraits, and this is one of my favourites.
It was made in 1978, and is a screenprint on white paper. I love the illustrated look of this self portrait, and the fluid and jagged lines really make the picture for me.

I also like this photobooth strip of Warhol, which was one of his earliest photography experiments, in 1963. To me, these also represent self portraits, and Warhol has created images in the style of Actors he had idolized, as most people do.

"In these little curtained theaters, the sitter could adopt a succession of different roles, each captured in a single frame"

- http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1996.63a,b

Warhol has taken on the Persona of James Dean, "icons of the youth culture that he idolized."