Holton Rower: Pour Paintings

The total number of exhibitions I visited last year was admittedly disappointing. What with A Levels and the ongoing struggle of trying to find a job I guess my mind was just on other things. Now though, it's 2013 and I have promised myself not to become distanced from the things I love - art and writing. These are things I will never lose my passion for but I need to be more conscious and more active about- they can't really count as hobbies if you seem uninterested or lack any current opinions can they?

Today I thought I'd take a look back on some of the exhibitions of 2012 that I missed. I'm starting with Holton Rower's Pour Paintings as I actually surprised myself by liking this quirky idea and the effects these visuals have.

It's not that I don't appreciate abstract, contemporary, non-traditional art. And the 'greats', the 'firsts' of this movement such as Picasso and Matisse are artists who aren't to my personal taste. So fast-forward to more modern art and I find myself very bored with pieces that are shapes filled with different colours, or random squiggles. You can't generalise art, but at the same time you know instantly if it's to your personal taste or not, and I personally love emotional portraits, and powerful scenic pieces most.

So when I saw Holton Rower's Pour Paintings I almost discarded the work. Yet when I took a closer look I was pleasantly surprised.

Rower's first solo show was exhibited at The Hole in NYC. His exhibition included 19 giant 'Pour Paintings' which literally consisted of paintings that were layers and layers of paint, poured over each other to achieve an almost fossilised effect. He clearly let the material choose it's form, and in that way it's striking as a spontaneous image. In real life I assume that the paintings were so large you couldn't help but be in awe of the profound use of colour, and the interesting way the paint layers itself, or at some points merges together. You can't help but think about how much paint he must have used to achieve this, and it makes you appreciate paint and see it as having a mind of it's own - sort of. Rower's paintings don't conform to anything, there's no set pattern other than the consistent way of pouring the paint and this freedom that he gives the paint is really quite absorbing to the mind. Like an optical illusion I find myself just staring at the psychedelic effects. The paintings remind me almost of science, almost of the hippie era. You can take what you want from them which I guess is the beauty of abstract art.

It doesn't matter that the painting doesn't explore existentialism, that there's no deep rooted meaning that grabs your mind like an epiphany - Rower's work is just f*cking cool. It's fascinating, and there's nothing wrong with art that makes you think like that.

Artists I Love #1: Chuck Close

So I thought I'd start off my first post by talking about the artist who has influenced me most so far in my lifetime, that would be the brilliant Chuck Close. I just love him, and all his work. His skills at capturing the realism of someone's face, the expression of a particular person caught in that one moment of time just astounds me and for a good few years now I have been extremely fascinated by his work and have even sought to emulate/recreate it in some way.

His 10ft+ images are undeniably overwhelming to look at. I was lucky enough to be in New York when his painting 'Mark' was being exhibited - seeing it in real life made me realise not just the grandness of his large scale works but the detail too. They are incredibly life like - I've never seen anything closer to real life in a painting and I personally like to create realism in my own paintings so seeing Close's inspires me to better my own work. I like the fact that Close tends to paint non-famous faces too. His 'Heads' as he calls them are of family and friends, never someone who would instantly be recognised because he says that it keeps the viewers reaction as fresh and not tainted with pre-supposed ideas and assumptions of the person. Well thats what I think he means anyway. The paintings really speak for themselves, no amount of words can justify what you're getting visually and I think that is one of the greatest things to achieve as an artist.

Here are some of my favourite paintings by Close: