Yesterday afternoon I was inside the Tate Modern Art Gallery passing time as I was meeting an old friend for a catch up. My experience inside the Tate was a major loss of my time which say a lot as I was trying to throw it away.
The majority of the pieces on display were laughable, and really made me wonder how these "modern artists" get any sort of credit for work that seems so under prepared, with little thought process, little effort put into it, and a big comission off the back of it.
As I wondered around the "Art Gallery" I found myself getting wound up by some of the pieces, and some of the punters being taken for an absoloute ride, stroking their chins trying to see what the "artists" point was, the emotions they felt and the effort put into the work. I was also angered by generations of school children being shown that this is what "art" has come to. A lack of creativity, a lack of understanding and a shocking series of "artists" for the next generation to gain inspiration from.
A few of the pieces on display genuinly made me laugh though, due to the sheer lack of effort put into the work. One piece was a plank of wood floating from the roof, another was a mirror (pictured above), another was an irregular octogan stuck to the wall, and the creme de la creme.... a glass vase on the floor with some cloth slung around it.
Maybe it is just a case that I'm too stubborn to even try to comprehend these "masterpieces", but I don't consider my Dad to be an artist, and he has cloth slung over some planks of wood in the garage as I write this post, and i'm not charging anyone £15 to come and have a look (maybe that's where I'm going wrong)!
It baffles me that people from all across the world come to see this absoloute jargon when it's thrown into a gallery, but if I took a literal shit into a glass box and left it outside, I wouldn't get a huge comission, and major attenion from "art lovers" globally. Maybe the "shit" would represent modern art, and all of it's lovers, but I'm probably getting a bit hasty thinking about it so i'll talk to you about modern art that SHOULD be appreiciated.
If you've got a facebook page, which the majority of you do, I wouldn't be surprised if you have seen some funny looking illustrations with hilarious captions flung around the page.
Chris (simpsons artist) is how he likes to be known, and his style of art represents a good side of modern art, that seems to be lost within all of this utter shite that is being flung about in galleries of recent times.
What Chris (simpsons artist) does is create illustrations that reflect upon a recent event that is either big in the news at the time or within his life. Normally these illustrations are based on quite serious circumstances, but his style of illustration and use of language to support the drawings gives them a such a light hearted feel, that they become lost in within the insignificance of the world and are seen as small things again.
His light hearted approach within his word choices and illusrative style is almost child like, and is so by no accident. The serious issues he documents through his work remain serious but we are reminded that the grass isn't greener on the other side, but will be greener on your side in the future through his child like naivity.
He has become an absoloute hit on facebook, with over 165,000 people liking his page, and averaging about 2,000 likes per illustration.
He is exactly the type of modern artist that deserves to blossom into galleries as his work is so neutralising when witnessed, and really makes you feel insignificant but not in a negative way at all, in a way that contains such power that you are so glad to be part of it.
He is also a fabulous inspiration to younger MODERN artists, as he has developed his own style by using modern day equipment, but combining the old and new togther through a picasso-esque level of abstract with a completly modern day texture to his images as if they were created on microsoft paint, which makes the pieces so simplistic but part of our time also.
I was lucky enough to speak to him through e-mail briefly on facebook to ask him a few questions. Through his answers he held the tone of naivity and innocense which form his style all so well.
I started by asking him how he got into his drawings, his style and how his recent burst of fame started. His response made me chuckle but I grew a larger insight into how he is. This is his response:
"Hi there Alex. thank you ever so much for your kind words to me and i am glad that you love my pictures that i gone and done as well. i have drawn pictures for all of my life but lots of people started seeing them one day in april last year when i moved in to my own house because my mum needed a break she said and she got me my own house and i made a facebook page on the internet so i could still show my mum my pictures even when she isnt at my house and then loads of people jsut started to be friends with me and then loads of magazines and things wanted to do interviews with me and things and then they gave me jobs for them and things to draw pictures for them and now it is my job being a artist and it is the best job in all of the world and all of the planets. i hope that you have a really nice day and you are doing something really good as well and good luck with your blogs as well. forever and a day. Chris (Simpsons artist) xox"
ANNE FRANK"my best bit in her book that she gone and done was when she was showing her brother what she could do with her body and she was lying on the ground and she was making her body look really shivery and she couldnt stop laughing because it was so funny and her dad was saying for her to be quiet or she would get killed and she said that she doesnt even care anymore because she would rather die having a laugh with her brother and making her body look really shivery than die from someone else that she has never met before "
This snippet of his use of language to support the illustrations really touches you, especially through innocent tone through out. On the image of Anne Frank the words read "don't look in here". This choice of language works so well next to the figure of Anne Frank, who also has been made to look as she does texturally speaking on the cover og her book, through the black and white colour.
The word choicing on the illustration reminds me of Banksy's rats, whom all shared very strong political messages with its audience. "Don't Look In Here" really relates to Anne Frank as she was obviously in hiding from the Nazis, but it also relates to all of us in a way, there are somethings we just don't want to share with the world because there is a danger of being caught, and punished. Chris captures this perfectly.
As well as this Anne Frank piece, he has covered a lot of big moments in modern history and further back along the timeline, celebrities, light hearted advice to his audience and also issues that he relates to on a personal level.
Here are two more pieces of his genius, check his work out on http://picturesthatigoneanddone.bigcartel.com/.
"If you feel sick just be sick, if you love someone just tell them."
Chris deserves to be inside the Tate Modern, and paid deserved comission....it makes me wonder how dense some people are the think that a plank of wood hanging from the ceiling is "modern art", and Chris doesn't get a look in.
Some "pictures that he gone and did", I thank him for doing. A real inspiration, no matter how easy going they are, and let's remember that shitting in a box and giving it an audience doesn't make it art because it's still shit in a box at the end of the day. Burning a burger and calling it gourmet doesn't mean you can charge more for it, as it's still a burnt burger, but developing your own style, and giving out a powerful message through such a subtle manor... that's art.
No comments:
Post a Comment