“Motherwell Revisited - Little Aussie Cell”
(Mixed Media with found objects on Belgian Linen)
Size: 80x65cm
ABOUT THIS PAINTING:
I drew my inspiration for “Motherwell Revisited – Little Aussie Cell”
(“LAC”) from the American Abstract Expressionist, Robert Motherwell's painting
"Little Spanish Prison" (“LSP”).
I painted this painting around the time of 9/11 so it has political
connotations similar to Motherwell’s which was painted in 1941. I created my painting by taking specific
elements from Motherwell’s painting and using them in mine. So in this post I will compare and contrast
the two artworks.
Motherwell also did this. He is
said to have painted “LSP” as a kind of homage to Mondrian and that “LSP” is
more remarkable for the ways in which it differs from Mondrian than in the ways
in which it resembles him. Therefore my
painting “Little Aussie Cell” (“LAC”) is similarly a homage to Motherwell.
The title of my painting is a play on words meant to point out the duplicity
of Australian and American government around that time. The words “Cell” and “Prison” have similar
meaning and are used in the title of both paintings. The word “Cell can also means, prison cell,
terrorist cell, and living cell. Therefore the title of my painting is a bit of
a joke or “tongue in cheek”.
Also the images in my painting are taken from my local environment. This accounts for the word “Aussie” being
used in my title. The yellow amorphous shapes (like living cells) are from a photo of the pitted
rock formations taken at Point Cartwright headland, and the red symbol is an
actual found object from Mooloolaba Beach (on the east coast of Australia) near
where I live.
Artistic techniques used in the painting:
Motherwell is an Abstract Expressionist. He said he
painted for two reasons: (1) to generate new imagery or work out pictorial
problems, and (2) for what he calls the sheer pleasure of it. Like Motherwell, I experiment with space and
colour, juxtaposing flat planes of spatial expression punctuated with focused
interludes of rich colour. My colours
are orchestrated in an informal but playful way, thus generating a sense of
ordered limitlessness.
In Motherwell’s “LSP” the pale, bar-like vertical
field of yellow and white and the horizontal red form, seem at odds with each
other. This serves to give drama to the image.
In my “LAC” I have kept the same colours but deliberately changed the
bar-like vertical forms. In so doing I
began to appreciate that the white lines in Motherwell’s “LSP” are anything but
casual – although they do look that way.
The shades of grey are carefully placed to achieve the drama that his
painting exudes. I have utilized the
white/grey in my painting to achieve a similar affect but instead of having a
vertical emphasis I have created a circular movement in the white/grey plane.
Collage plays an important role in Motherwell’s
art. He takes elements from the real
world and places them in the artificial environment of his paintings. This is,
in a sense, similar to what we know as modern life. I have also used collage but wherein “LSP” the
red form is horizontal, I have placed my red collage in a vertical position reminiscent
of Motherwell’s overall vertical emphasis in “LSP”. The
red upside-down circle in my painting symbolizes the "land down
under" which is an affectionate reference to where the continent of Australia is
located on the Earth. It also refers to the
instability of those times when things seemed turned about. I painted this around the time of 9/11 when
terrorism and The Patriot’s Act was in the forefront of the news media.
Initially I removed the orange border on my
painting so that it was more consistent with Motherwell’s painting, but later decided
that the painting looked better with it, and so repainted it. Also the orange border gives the feeling of
viewing from outside, or re-viewing a similar theme that was presented
by Motherwell.
Doing an exercise such as this, provides a learning
experience for all artists and gives one an appreciation of just what goes into
a truly great painting. I urge you to
also try such an exercise. You will
learn a lot.
Reference:
“Motherwell and Post Modernism”.
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