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'mini WONDERLAND', March 2009
Slade Project Space
mixed media and light projections
'Drawkwa Nomad', 2009
acrylic, fabric paint, glitter on canvas
165 x 190 cm
'Dark Banquet' 2008
acrylic, glazes and metallic paint on canvas
41 x 51 cm
'The Last of the Summer', 2008
acrylic, fabric paint, glitter on canvas
76 x 102 cm
Having just returned from Berlin, where there is no shortage of German paintings occupying the walls of the increasing number of galleries, emerging artist Sarah Kate Wilson cannot help but notice the lack of contemporary British painters missing from London's galleries. This year Tate Modern's Triennial, 'Altermodern' featured twenty-eight artists of which only two exhibited paintings: Franz Ackerman's mixed media installation, 'Gateway Getaway' (2008-09), which consists of wall painting, oil on canvas and watercolour and Navin Rawanchaikul's acrylic on canvas Indian billboard, 'Places of Rebirth' (2009). Wilson who is currently enrolled in the MFA program at UCL's Slade School affirms that Tate's triennial "represents what is going on in art schools now."
Bob and Roberta Smith's installation prepares Altermodern visitors for a change with its "I wish I could have voted for Obama" poster board. But does this mean that the future of contemporary art includes further marginalisation of the painted image?
These days, it seems that works of art are not "contemporary "enough unless a video, performance, or mixed media assemblage is incorporated. Inevitably, in light of the current downturn in the art market, art will be produced and exhibited in different ways, out of necessity.
In a recent article titled, 'A New Creativity' regarding artists' response to the declining art market, David Ross, Director of New York's Albion Gallery, told Artnews magazine, "Difficult times bring out the best in the best artists. When the economy falters, there can be a remarkable growth of seriousness in art."
In the same article, Tom Eccles, Director of the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard University, theorises, "You'll probably see less video- and film-based work because of the kind of production standards that artists have demanded and the kind of financing they need." The return to more a practical and conceptual approach to art-making utilising ephemeral materials could be one way to go. Gary Garrels, senior curator of painting and sculpture at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, predicts, "We're going to see a shift towards work that's more psychological and introspective and more out of an old fashioned studio kind of work; a return to work that is more personal and exploratory."
Sarah Kate Wilson is responding to the situation by integrating her innovative style and ideas, including viewer interaction into creating an alternative approach to painting. Her fierce and abstract painterly style incorporates globs and drips of acrylic paint, saturated and vibrant blocks of colour, and glitter.
Her current body of work is noticeably darker than her previous work, but no less vibrant. With objects and shapes "moving and flitting" on the canvas, Wilson is creating painted snapshots that explore a frozen moment in time. According to the artist, "This 'freeze frame effect' creates an image that appears to have been on the move before the viewer approaches, upon which they enter a world that has just stopped."
In addition to her degree shows in September 2009 and June 2010, she will be taking over North London's John Jones Project space later this year. Wilson's approach to this experimental solo project is to create a space in which drawings adorn the outer walls of the gallery, while a second room comprised of MDF panels plays centre stage in the middle of the gallery containing large paintings that will cover the walls and the floor. Budget permitting, she is hoping for swings, bridges and slides to lead into her painted world. The viewer will be forced to walk through, swing through, slide through, and get a bird's eye view, willingly or unwillingly becoming a part of Wilson's painted environment.
Inspired by the fantastical world of nonsensical sense in 'Alice and Wonderland', Wilson intends to create a situation in which the viewer "has to play by the artist's rules." By placing her paintings in unusual spaces, like the floor or occupying an entire wall with one painting, she challenges the traditional while cube gallery aesthetic. She holds painters such as Franz Ackerman, Katy Pratt, Fiona Ray, Pia Fries, Caterina Gros, and Jim Lambie in high regard.
Optimistically, Wilson's grand ideas and fresh perspective on painting will encourage more art students to pick up a paintbrush as well as renew art lover's enthusiasm for paintings.
Stephanie Cotela Tanner
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Stephanie Cotela Tanner is an art historian and writer who contributes to Art Review, Soho House, Art Rabbit, Dazed & Confused, Flavorpill and The Art Book. You can read more of her writing on art on her blog. |
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| Published on 22-04-2009 |
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