Analysis and comparison.

Analysis and comparison of artists found within the theme of abstract expressionism.

Testament, oil on canvas
40x30x0.5 inches

During this week I discovered that the work I had been mainly interested in, from pinterest and books within college was characterised under abstract expressionism. Armed with this knowledge I chose three artists that fit with this style of work. The first artist I looked at was Simon Kenny, an abstract artist from Dublin whose work shows a combination of both the ideas materialism and spiritualism with his use of both colour and form. His pieces are designed to trigger emotion that may have been suppressed over many years by allowing the paintings to build and develop their own connections to the viewer as they are not based on any specific time or place. By taking this idea and applying to our theme it allows me to create an extremely expressive piece that may be based on a memory of my own but would allow people to make their own connection to my work, creating an idea of interaction and personal connection with my work. Another key characteristic of Kenny's work is the viewers opinion of the piece and the flexibility that comes with that. Some of his work may at times look harmonious and tranquil and invoke memories of happier past times if at the time of viewing the painting you found yourself in a peaceful mood. In contrast to this his work could also be seen as graphic and violent, due to the way in the which the paint collides and could invoke memories of painful experiences. Kenny's ability to depict an image that is so dependent on the audience of the piece fascinates me and is something I would like to portray through my own work. The image to the right is testament by Kenny I was particularly drawn to this piece due to large section of pale hues dominating the image from the left top corner and flowing through the piece, and the separation created by the harsh contrast on the darker tones at the base of the portrait. The form of the image is a portrait, the composition of the painting is balanced due to the heavier tones being mainly at the base of the image. The focal point of the image is fabricated by the illusion of crashing waves where sections of the two tones seem to merge together, at this point of the piece the main section of colour is seen with blue and red hues collide. As these two primary colours are complementary it causes the readers eye be drawn to this point of the painting. The use of oil paint and Kenny's use of a pallet knife to apply the thicker ripples of paint, this links to the work I've been creating in collage with the uses of texture, mainly created by the burning of acetate and cello tape transfers, as these create bubbles and folds within the plastics mirroring the thicker areas of oil paint.

  

Boon 1957, oil on canvas 180.3x173 cm.

The second artist I decided to look into was American artist James brooks his work being far more abstract than Kenny's with expressive and rhythmic brush strokes with contrasting patterns and very little form in the mark making unlike Kenny's almost scenic style. His work developing a brash and almost chaotic nature, mirroring the work of his friend Jackson Pollock, in the 1940's with the rise of abstract expressionism in a post world war II America. With a fairly dark yet juvenile nature to his pieces, fabricated by large areas of block colour his work takes on a rather expressive mood. The piece Boon was one that particularity stood out to me with the large amounts of contrast between the light yellow hues and black tones. Brooks described boon to be completely improvised and when listing the mediums used within the piece mentioned that there may have been traces of substances such of rabbit glue but he couldn't be sure, the experimental and unplanned nature of the way the painting was constructed is mimicked in the picture. A rather uneasy feeling s fabricated when looking at this piece, in my opinion the particular tone of yellow used within the piece looks rather out of places with the other wise clinical paler hues in the image. The vast amount of black that dominates the piece also fabricates the illusion of a sinister mood as the dark shadows of the piece paired with the brash nature of application cause a chaotic finish to the image. Similarly to the work by Kenny oil paint has been used on canvas, looking further into abstract expressionism this is something I have noticed is a common media. The bright colours created with this type of paint gives a different feel the way more liquidous paints would leave, the vibrancy of the colour and the viscous nature of the medium is shows through with every brush stroke. 

Ohne Titel 1959 oil on canvas.

On a very different scale to both Kenny and Brooks, the third artist I chose to look at was Peter Brüning whose work is on a smaller scale to the work of the others artists i have looked at. Brüning works on a smaller scale in order to allow for a more expressive nature to the way his paint touches the surface. As when working smaller even slight movements can change the whole dynamic of the entire composition. As an Artist Brüning belonged to the 'art informel' which was used to describe abstract pieces of work as more gestural pieces. The lack of a subject which is common to most abstract and expressionist work allows the audience to decide on what they believe is the true muse of the piece. Within a lot of Brünings work his pieces have a sharp and fragmented style, his use of gestural work makes the main composition of the piece to be created through the quick movement of his hands. A common characteristic of Brünings work is the idea that the painting is framed by the rest of the surface with the main bulk of the piece occupying only the central line of the surface. In the image Ohne Titel seen above the idea of line is illustrated through the use of a dark brown tone being pulled through the image, mimicking the idea of figures in a crowd. To me the piece could show a crowd scene as many of the expressive marks made by the paint create the idea of figures. A lot of the paint within the piece is muted by the addition of white oil paint this blurs the main gestural marks and in doing so gives motion to an otherwise stationary piece. A warm harmony or colours is used in this image with black, brown and orange hues which also adds to the idea of a crowd this mimicking the idea of peoples faces in a crowd. 

Verve Simon Kenny, oil on canvas 36x24 inches.

Both brooks and Brünings work takes on a far more expressive style than the work of Kenny. I like how that style of work allows for a more free flowing style of painting allowing for the true characteristics of the medium to be shown, this is something i would like to explore further. Within the studio I have already looked at the way emulsion can be used in such a way that expressive movements create a fluid type of appearance this could be something I could use in my experiments with working in this style. Kenny's work out of the three is much more controlled, and structured many on his images take on a surreal idea of landscapes. The way he uses the medium of oil paint to look like crashing waves or winds through forests, would mean that when I experiment in his style it would be a good idea to use a landscape image or multiple photographs to inspire the piece, this could link with the idea of memories as I plan to use photographs from my childhood or family to inspire pieces.

Ohne Titel oil, Peter Brüning.

Bound Simon Kenny. Mixed media 40x30 inches.

Both Kenny and Brüning use colour in similar ways using complementary colours to create a chaotic feel to the painting. Similarly using the main sections of colour in the centre of the image makes the viewers eye be drawn to the centre and from there is taken on a path through the image following the direction of colour through the piece. By looking at abstract expressionism I have realised that I haven't experimented much with colour within the studio and briefly touched on the idea with mainly oil pastels or chalk. To be able to complete a strong image in this style that is something I would have to explore more thoroughly. Using the ideas that I have looked at in the studio by looking mainly at undertones of objects and photograph and creating a piece with sections of these colours is something that relates to the work of these artists. As with their work there are bock sections of colours mainly complementary many of these could have been tones of the muse of the image.