Artist Ged Quinn and Please Vote today (UK) - I reckon the results will be very interesting

You may well  have heard phrases in the art critiques of newspapers and magazines  describing the 'active viewer' and what you 'bring to the work' well I suppose these terms are even more the case when you experience  works of art  as a group - initially the dynamics of a group are almost intangible but as time moves forward roles are given and taken - one can almost predict the reaction from some.


So yesterday as a group interested in Contemporary art we spent some time at the Stephen Friedman

Ged from The  Independent newspaper  article

Galleries in Old Burlington Street looking at works by the British artist Ged Quinn and as a visit to look at works by a knowingly post modernist artist it is significant what the group brought to the show.


Looking at the Wikipedia entry on Ged one can see he's an interesting guy having co-written a pop hit and studied at some impressive institutions.
Now on to what I thought/we thought of the works in the exhibition, well the first paintings  we saw were  big ones  (and as time goes by I now  realise this big is not necessarily a good thing with paintings) the works were Tarsus, From a Distance (2013) and Ava Gardner Loves our Country (2014).

The works also appeared to me as  pastiches (but this I'm told is/can be  a description of post modern works) the influences were immediate Magritte, Dali but also the British  Romantics of the 19th Century like Sir Charles Lock Eastlake ( Byron's 'Dream' and  The Colosseum for examples).

In hindsight and having looked at more of thew works I now think that Ged is not only a technically proficent artist but also saying some interesting things and producing work that repays some effort- I wouldn't say that I have achieved an understanding of what he is doing and I am conscious of the danger of feeling that I''m being 'privy' to some knowledge by my experience which may be illusory and in itself detracts (perhaps) from the 'value' of the work.

There is a danger of playing spot the  reference - I think I saw a touch of the Mondrians (The Tree A ?)  in Happy Unbirthday Margerete (2014) but  with a title like that you can be sure there's some painterly equivalent to  'sampling' going on.

As a former band member of various rock/pop groups  I suppose that Ged is bound to indulge a magpie like picking from others - if you get a chance do take a look at what Ged is doing, I think he is ploughing his own

The Sun

furrow and this in itself is meretricious.

If you are near the Friedman Gallery you might take a look at this it's called 'The Sun' and is in Berkeley Square it's by Dale Chihuly


Talking of paintings I remain grateful to Nick Pearson for highlighting  another British artist Patrick Caufield - I often find life reminding me of his work - I suppose an interest in Art can help you observe and enjoy the everyday. this photo felt like something in Caufield's works to me (perhaps Entrance 1975.....

After Entrance 2014