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February 02, 2010
MFA Residency #2 @AIB Summary
Laurel Sparks, Arcadia, 2008
Acrylic, marble dust, glitter, paper mache, small objects, marker, pigment, unpainted canvas
56 x 48
Michael Pfleghaar
Group 2 MFA @ AIB
Residency Summary January 2010
Advisor: Laurel Sparks/ Mentor: Jill Eggers
Breaking stereotypical painting rules and being conscious of the act of painting were the explorations I dealt with in my first semester MFA work. The paintings were successful in moving me out of my comfort zone and forcing me to analyze exactly what I am trying to convey. Having digested all the critiques and information from the second residency, it is clear this semester that I need to focus more on intent and meaning.
The work has developed into two distinct directions: interior settings of objects and abstractions of objects. My task is to either blend the two bodies of work or pursue one of the directions. Both the interior settings and abstractions deal with isolation, but each with a different visual language. Interiors naturally become more of a narrative while the abstractions more simply address figure ground relationships.
Most faculty and peers responded to the abstraction paintings positively and suggested the work found a unique vision. It was also suggested that I maybe give up some of my painting facility to make the painting more about painting. I find I am more painterly in the abstracted work than the finished interiors.
The use of photographs as reference materials last semester made the work solid but stiff. I like the idea of working from what’s in my mind, drawing from furniture and objects I am familiar with without direct reference. Working from my head will also force me to focus on the painting instead of what is in the photograph. Another critique questioned the vertical format for the interior narratives, over a more traditional horizontal cinematic or photographic format. This semester I will experiment more with horizontal compositions.
As for more concrete formal, conceptual, and contextual issues to be addressed this semester, I have created an outline below. These bullet points draw from my notes taken throughout the second residency, of issues and questions to be dealt with this semester.
Formal Issues:
1) Painting:
a. More variation in strokes, distortion, looser
b. Use traditional mixtures of mediums
c. Oil ground surfaces
d. Experiment with friskets more, background vs object
e. Designing the painting
2) Surfaces:
a. Board
b. Paper mounted on board and aluminum
c. Canvas mounted on board, or aluminum for large work
d. Small canvas and board studies
Conceptual Issues:
1) What is my intention by painting objects and/or interior spaces?
a. Inside vs. outside/perceived feminine vs. masculine
b. Everydayness
c. Portraits or self-portraits
d. Design
e. Isolation
2) What exactly are the objects surrogates for?
a. People
b. Collections
c. Masks
Critical Context:
1) Research artists who dismantle imagery in the picture plane
2) Research artists who use the figureless interior space
3) Research still life painters in relation to surrogates
4) Read artists statements and reviews to find how they relate their work to contemporary discourse
Artists to Research:
Dinh Q Le
Kelly Sherman
Daniel Sprick
Gerhard Richter
Edward Hopper
Maria Kalman
Tom Friedman
Marguerite Walsh
David Salle
David Carson
Julie Mehretu
Tom Holland
Nicola Tyson
Carrie Moyer
Candida Hofer
Lewis Baltz
Hitchcock films
Georgio Morandi
Uta Barth
Ellen Harvey
DeKooning
Rosenquest
Mark Bradford/art21
Franz West
Martin Kippenburger
Peter Doig
A.R. Penck
Vincent Desiderio
Dana Schutz
Elizabeth Crawford
Maureen Gallace
Karel Funk
Patrick Caulfield
Neo Rauch
Daniel Richter
Reading Materials:
Vitamin P
Painting Today
Gehard Richter “The Daily Practice of Painting”
Art in America reviews
Modern Painters
Parkett
World of Interiors
Arranging Things