MIX/RE-MIX - ARTISTS TALK ABOUT THE SHOW
Guy Denning on MIX/RE-MIX
Since discovering Harry’s work, despite our apparent different styles, I have always felt that we are progressing related, if not near identical, creative directions. I know we have a common mental process underlying our work; the medium and our love for its physicality should also be clear to the viewers of both of our work. Perhaps more importantly we both seem to have an essential need to depict the human form and the spiritual or mental state of that subject - dealing with that hidden physicality both generally and specifically.
Because I knew that my paintings would be shown with Harry’s work I moved away from the ‘external’ political subject matter that has been my subject lately and looked at the personal and internal implications of external social breakdowns. Because of the addition of texts within my work, in the titles as well as within the paintings themselves, the subject of my work is perhaps easier to fall into (for the viewer that needs an explanation) than Harry’s. Harry’s work is less demonstrative in that literal sense but its intensity lies within the viewer having to pull their own interpretation from the subject painted. Though his painting seems less ordered than mine it is this refusal of explanation within the work that shows Harry’s artistic discipline. A discipline of mental measure that I aim towards continually.
All of the paintings I am showing with Harry were made in 2008. I feel that they are the strongest work I have committed to canvas to date.
Harry Simmonds on MIX/RE-MIX
I was excited when it was first suggested to me that I take part in a joint exhibition with Guy Denning at Mauger Modern Art. I was immediately taken with Guy’s work when I was introduced to it four or five years ago and have since followed his development with keen interest. In an age where the use of irony in art is fashionable, it is refreshing to find another artist who is not afraid to make serious paintings that work on a visceral and emotional level.
Change is essential to my own working practise if I am to produce fresh results. In the new series of paintings that I have made for this exhibition I have presented myself with new challenges and explored unfamiliar territory; My current paintings of heads are comprised of individual pieces of paper that have been assembled to form a grid. At the beginning of the painting process the pieces of paper are separate and are worked on individually and in isolation. They each depict different (though adjacent) views of the model’s head from one fixed viewpoint. The individual parts are then assembled to create an unforeseen image that can then be edited to form one view of one whole head.
My suggestion to Guy that we work on top of each other’s paintings/drawings was in part also driven by the notion that challenging ones normal working routine is necessary in order to avoid stasis. Beginning a painting on a piece of paper that has already been worked on by another artist is of course a completely different starting point from beginning on a blank sheet of paper. One can decide to accept or reject the marks that have already been made by the other person. One is presented with marks, images and materials that one would not have otherwise chosen. At the time of writing, we have yet to embark on the project and the results may be unsuccessful, but I appreciate Guy’s willingness to take part in an experiment that many artists may have shied away from.
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