John Myatt
Firstly upon walking into the gallery, I was met by an oil painting called 'Lady with a Fan' by the artist John Myatt. Instantly, this art deco portrait reminded me of the fashion of the 1920's, especially as it had a similar look to the trend setter of that era, Chanel.
Chanel created elegant and versatile fashions for women who wanted freedom from the constrains that pre war society had put upon them. She primarily shaped an image of an independent, intelligent and unique fashionable woman that primarily led to the creation of the flapper look, a practically in women's fashion which had never been seen before and shocked the system.
The 'Lady with a Fan' painting communicates a vision of iconic style whilst the artist also uses colour to explore different synthaesias and emotions in the image. The artist draws attention to the model, who is positioned to the side of the painting to allow viewers to experience the visual contrast between the vivid deep pastel colours in the background against the harsh, distinct monochrome attire the women is wearing with such poise and believable virtue. However, this contrast conveys such a juxtaposition of moods that almost suggest, in my opinion of course, that the smartly dressed women may or may not live in such glory, wealth and fortune that these rich and privileged colours on the outside architecture portray (the 1920's post war, being a time that culturally, economically and politically, uproar and positivity was being spread throughout the lives of individuals due to a decline in social order, a new explosion of exuberance in style and a good financial state in terms of disposable income) but instead, on the inside, the artist has depicted her to appear so empty and her emotion has been darkened and is arguably absent which is reflected through her choice of garment. The only real sense of emotion we receive is the purity and innocence of her white glove that holds the jet black fan resulting in a division between the positivity's and negativities of her outfit. Obviously, it is only a guess of mine that this painting is set in the 1920's but when studying the outfit, there is no other apparent time in history that this style was so significant or could be related to.
'Lady with a Fan' by John Myatt at Castle Fine Art Gallery in Nottingham Exchange
Coco Chanel's fashion designs and own choice of apparel in the 1920's
Xue Wang
Another collection that I was intrigued by as I walked round the gallery was the 'Narcissess' collection by the contemporary artist Xue Wang, whose work was based on popular childhood stories, but ones which had been re-imagined in a rather unorthodox and flawed manner. There were many other pieces to the collection; however, I thought that these oil paintings I have picked out were the most significant to the theme. The artist portrays these fairy-tale heroins in a much more controversial light than expected as he takes away the innocence and purity that each character in the popular Disney adaptations is portrayed as. Controversially, he replaces it with a twisted concept. For instance the characteristics of Snow White and The Little Mermaid are seen to be rather explicit, abusive, frustrated and rebelling against the traditional value expected of a women. Furthermore, Xue Wang's version of Cinderella, can arguably be perceived as a corruption of the happy ending story-line as he shows a deterioration of the pumpkin, her appearance and strangely, her hygiene as she runs away from her dreams of marrying the prince and turns back into the working class maid she was before. If Xue Wang wanted to communicate a subliminal message that happy endings really do not exist, he certainly did with this collection, and instead captured a reflection of what the reality within society can really turn out to be and in a blunt manner, he points out some extreme circumstances of a society. For instance, factors such as prostitution due to financial problems, (a theme fitted to the Snow White painting) depression, physical and mental abuse (a theme fitted with the Little Mermaid painting) and sadness and ill-fortune (a theme fitted to the painting of Cinderella). There is even something strange about the flying half eaten apples that surround Snow White in the piece 'Seven Years Good Luck'. Arguably these apples may have reference to drug taking or the spiking of the 'poisonous apple' which in today's society's nightlife could be linked to the corrupted use of date rape drugs in alcoholic drinks.
'Seven Years Good Luck' £395.00
'Tender Mercies' £395.00
'Fleeting Glance' £395.00
David Rees
Figurative artist David Rees has also preserved a space within the Castle Fine Art Gallery for his collection. Rees works in an articulate contemporary manner to communicate both themes of female beauty and the power of colour. When you look at both of these paintings that I have chosen by Rees, there is a clear visual contrast between the two, due to the differences in temperatures and saturations of the colours. Therefore, this has resulted in an emphasis of the physical features of the females he has chosen as models due to the distinct linings and darker shades that outline each face. Harlequin Dreams is filled with cool, icy pastel tones whereas Echoes from Corsica consists of a warm exotic, seasonal colour palette. Therefore, as viewers we receive such different feelings from both painting's narratives. Neither models look too happy however, due to the projected colours within Echoes from Corsica, there is naturally, a much more welcoming, vibrant and glowing tone to the piece. Although he leaves the narrative to the thoughts of the viewers, Rees' main objective is for the viewer to embrace the design of composition in the piece and the power of the beautiful figures. He designed his composition with the intention that the viewer would study all areas of the canvas and embrace the blending of colours which have developed deeper tones and complex shades.
Harlequin Dreams 2015 £695
Echoes From Corsica – 2015 £695
Peter and Jayne Smith
'Sometimes the last place you look is the first place you find it'
Last but not least, my final find in the Castle Fine Art Gallery that stopped me on my way out, was the display of 'Lost Alice -Wonderland Unwound', an adaptation to the novel 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. This would be a third instalment to the series however, this creative project was developed through the eyes of artists Peter and Jayne Smith, who accompanied their short novel with a set of sculptures and paintings to mark the 150th anniversary of the original story. As an artistic duo they intended to move the story on and although they wanted to pay respect to the character Alice, Peter and Jayne Smith, instead chose to direct their adaptation down a route that would be filled with their own twists and plots to allow some originality and to give the story a life of its own as Alice revisits the land of Wonderland decades after her first arrival. However, on the way to Wonderland she is faced with giant peaches, Wonka bars and she even opens a door to blue skies and rolling yellow fields divided by a yellow brick road. Sound familiar?
Obviously, the artists have made reference to other well-known childhood stories by legendary authors but the piece still includes similar elements of the original story such as the appearances of the Cheshire Cat, the White Rabbit and the Mad Hatter as it could not truly be about Alice in Wonderland without them. However, we do see certain characters and features of the novel become not so familiar anymore, especially as Alice has forgotten her memories of Wonderland. Therefore, in her mind, they are almost different to what Alice had came across before and she must step foot back into the corrupted world of Wonderland to make the place wonderful once again and pick up from where she left.
A Most Curious Way To Wonderland
'Mirror, Mirror On The Wall, Who’s The Fairest Of Them All'
'Tweedle Do and Tweedle Don't'
'Mad As A Hatter'
'I'm Late, I'm Late!'
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