Yesterday I was in riot torn London, well that is how the papers are portraying the capital. The reality was that i was in central London and there was not sign of any trouble at all - in fact it was a very pleasant day out - so much for what the papers say!
The first port of call was at the National Portrait Gallery, a wonderful place to get lost in the history of the nation. Anyway I went to see the BP Portrait Awards and as usual with any open competition it provided the viewer with a wider variety of styles and approaches. However, the one theme that came through to me at least was the crises of confidence that some artists had when facing up to the challenge of photography. This was somewhat surprising as it is not new. However, there were a number of photorealistic paintings that whilst were incredible examples of the craft of painting nonetheless left me wondering why? Why produce something that, well, was a carbon copy of a photograph. Of course I don't know that this is the case but that is how it felt to me - indeed it is interesting that the photographs of the works in the catalogue have more of a painterly feeling than the actual works.
So have said what I found unrewarding let me now set out what really rocked my boat. The first painting called 'I could have been a contender' by Wendy Ella. Here we see the artist nude in front of a large mirror painting herself whilst all around the the small things in family life go on. Anyone who has children would really find the humour in this painting - well I did anyway.
The second painting called Holly by Louis Smith. Here we see a reclining nude painted in a classic pose which was meant to be in the style of a renaissance master. Whilst technically this was a very competent work the think that made me smile was the sheer hutzpah of the artist. It had a huge gold frame that was meant to look like a 19th century frame and the whole effect was to make me chuckle - I am not sure whether this is the reaction that the artist might have wanted but it made a really good impression on me.
The next paining was the smallest in the show but it's power knocked me over. Abi by Nathan Ford looks like a half finished oil sketch but it was a simply a beautiful expression of a person - it's power made the photo realistic paintings around it look pale and uninteresting.
However, the best of the show for me was George o'Dowd by Layla Lions. This was a portrait that captured the spirit and life force of the artist formally known as Boy George. The most striking thing for me is was the wonderfully constructed use of colours that made the public personal of George come alive. Simply brilliant.
The only painting that really made really annoyed me was Epic Miritotissa by Paul Beal. This was a series of four canvases series which made up a large panorama of a nudist beach in Corfu. I felt it was too pleased with itself and too self indulgent, the painter had won the BP travel award to help make this painting. I just felt it was far too pleased with itself - again I suspect I am projecting onto the work but then that is all we can ever do.
Overall it was a really interesting show that gave a great window onto the art of portraiture. Sent from my iPad
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