Raiding the Past : Understanding the Present

Now normally 60s 70s fashion isn't my thing by I enjoyed Dominic Lutyens talk due to how much contextual knowledge he has to surround his areas of interest. He backed up the growing Eclectic culture by challenging it against modernism, in the same way the new black and gay rights movements were battling against the establishment in the early 1970s.

With the origin's of style established he threw the audience in to Kitsch culture, one of my true favour          words in describing the way some people choose bad taste. After looking in to it further I established the opposite of bad taste this sort of heightened beauty, and I found both in Tom Fruin's Glass sculpture.

Over the top, multicoloured shed, the best example of clashing ideologies I actually like.

This example also links on to Dominic's next area of interest the nostalgia of art deco, and the aspect of escapism it offers. I found plenty of graphic examples of art deco being revived as well as plenty of truly visionary work for it time.

I found a personal interest in the early Gay Pride movement as I have worked my local gay pride event in Brighton for years (as security but hay). The brake throughs represented in the fashions worn were something sensational, and lead to the creations of style icons such as David Bowie perfect example of Glam Rock, then Mick Jagger as a fine example for Androgyny.

It wasn't just music but design that was influenced by style, from boutiques such as Mr.Freedom and John and Molly Dove's famous lip t-shirts; to architectural mysteries by Robert Venturi. Celebrities working their ways in to aspects of social change better than any politician. Dominic had tens of examples of great works of culture. The 60s an 70s were a true turing point for a more independent and more adventurous wave of style.

Grayson Perry - The Walthamstow Tapestry

Grayson Perry originally specialised in controversial decorative ceramics but recently has moved on to create a giant 15m by 3m tapestry now displayed in the  Victoria Miro gallery in London.
It's a complex collection of a life journey from birth to death surrounded by brand imagery that literally effects every aspect of someones life.
The contrast between the traditional method of communicating a storyline through pictorial images, compared to the modern use of brands and technological content creates a ironic final appearance. The clash of colours and controversial nature of the representation of such a negative society today makes it difficult to except this work without dividing it up and looking at each section critically. The pure size and mass of content involves makes this tapestry a collage of clashing story lines and controversial effect. I personally can only see the beauty in it as a hole; as a complete collection, as if I look to closely I might loses track of the detail and craftsmanship and only focus on the harsh realities of its contents.

Linn Olofsdotter

Linn Olofsdotter is a women of many talents which she has applied, not just in her art but made them ready for commercial use in Levi designs, Gap t-shirt logos and CD covers to name a few. She has a very fresh style using bright neon colourssometimes juxtaposed with very dull backdrops, like in my selected group of pictures. The attributes of the figures stand out due to the inky green and brown backdrop that they are swimming through.

The contents of her work can seem very natural, she uses themes of nature and animal life but stuffs her designs full of patterns made up from similar materials, yet they explode of the page, quite literally. The first image is of a merwomen slouching somehow gracefully across a dim sky, her tail extending across the page nearly four times as long as her torso. Unlike other surreal work, Olofsdotter’s use the human body is not shocking in it manipulation but fanciful in its composition. The lack of faces, or just single features, draws similarities from early surreal work with distorted facial expressions and combinations of eyes or appendages.

I plan to keep a close eye on Olofdotters work, because as she becomes more commercial with applications of her artwork she loses a bit more of the unusual or uncanny theme, which makes surrealism surreal.