Catherine Forster
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Video - "Now for the Painter" (2:50 documentation of 4 videos)
series of multiple vidoes filmed over a year, during different times of the day. |
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The digital seascapes of Now for the Painter are a tribute to Turner’s last seascapes. Ion Warrell, curator for the Tate Modern, described Turner’s later work as
"pared back” paintings… almost pure evocations of light and mood.
The project title is from R.J.W. Turner’s piece Now for the Painter, (Rope) Passengers Going on Board (Pas-de-Calais), 1827. The reference to a painter was Turner’s homage to the Dutch painter Aelbert Cuyp. I have been intrigued both by Turner’s skill with the brush, and by his interest in technology. I couldn’t help but contemplate his likely interest in digital media if he was practicing today. My admiration for Turner’s paintings, passion for kayaking, and the beauty of a near by lake, were the inspiration for the video seascapes.
My video work has always had a painterly essence. Paint has been a seductive material since my early childhood when paint was magical on paper, clothes and especially between fingers. Lately I have yearned for the refuge of the brush, and I was truly invigorated by Renzo Piano’s remarkable Modern Wing at The Art Institute of Chicago. I experienced a re-discovery of my early mentors; master painters who resolved painting puzzles, but who I never really invested the time to know.
A delicious adventure commenced, revisiting Cy Twombly, de Kooning, Rothko, Clyfford Still, Bonnard, Cezanne, Miro, and so many others. I discovered I was searching for work that emanated light and movement - a companion to video. I found what I was seeking in Valley of Aosta: Snowstorm, Avalanche, and Thunderstorm, by J.M.W. Turner, 1836/37. In this extraordinary work, sea, land and sky dissolve into a near abstraction, a whirlwind of texture and light. I yearned for more and discovered Turner’s fascination with the sea. Work from the exhibition “Turner The Late Seascapes”, Metropolitan Museum of Art 2008 (originating at the Manchester City Galleries), became the focus of my research.
Works which are particularly relevant to this project include: Seascapes with Distant Coast” 1845, Sunset watercolors1845–50, Seascape Folkstone 1845, Von Tromp Going About to Please His Masters, Ship a Sea, Getting a Good Wetting 1844. Turner’s late watercolors painted in Folkstone were especially fascinating, possessing an uncanny ability to convincingly ‘suggest” land, sea, sky, time, and mood.
The project was designed with a few simple guidelines. The original footage would be manipulated with as few interventions as possible: time, chroma, and focus. There would be no sound. The “ships” would be made from crumpled pages torn from Art Forum. Light and color would be captured over multiple seasons and different times of the day. My vision of the installation is 4 separate projections, each projection approximating the average size of Turner’s paintings 36” X 48”.
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