Jenny Saville

Closed Contact #8 


This photograph makes it look like parts of her has been sliced off. It has a very strong meaning behind it, you can tell just by looking at her face. It gives off distorted, painful emotions. The feeling behind this picture is a sense of loss. The deep anguish across her face and the way she has squashed herself against the glass, give the picture a sense of brokenness and sorrow. 

Reverse 

This painting looks like a woman who has been physically abused, her face is distorted and bleeding. It seems as if she is lying on the floor after being assaulted, there is obviously a lot of emotion behind this piece. The texture of this piece is quite loose in places, it is obvious where large dabs of paint have not been blended in. This is quite effective in presenting the figure more abstract and coarse. The colours in this piece are harmonious and warm toned. Red is an intense colour and this painting comes across to me as a very intense, painful and lifeless. 

Shift 

This painting is very true to its name as the bodies in the piece seem to shift sizes. Although Saville tends to focus her pieces more on larger women, this is one of her artworks that include women of all sizes. The women look grotesque, especially because they are naked, all squashed in one place. The first few bodies start large and end on an overly thin women whose thin shape looks unnatural. The use of red in the top part make the painting seem more even and give it a focal point. I find this piece is trying to show how our perception of how women should be is distorted, by the looks of the overly thin bodies towards the end. Even the more wholesome bodies are not perfect. That is the meaning of this painting, our bodies are not always so beautiful and perfect. 

Propped 

This picture is another distorted view of this woman's body. The way she grips her thighs and tilts her head back give the painting intense emotions. There is nothing beautiful about this lady, she seems very disturbed. Her whole body is tensed as though by some force she is burdened and strained. Her exaggerated form gives it more meaning. The word 'propped' usually refers to an object being supported by something. The woman focused in this painting seems to be supported by reality. Most pictures and art give us the beautiful side of bodies, Saville shows us the not so nice side. Even though this side of the human body is more disgusting, it is realistic. 

Louise Feneley

Louise Feneley 

Cycle of Tides

I love this artwork because of its smooth & silky texture. When I look at it I can almost feel the fabric. The folds in the material are complicated but gentle. It reminds me of a soft blanket, all cozy and warm. The emotion of this piece is very restful. It looks like something you would want to crawl into on a cool, stormy night. I love Feneley's artwork!

Endless Beginning 

This painting is my favourite because of the meaning behind such a simple thing, fabric. How Feneley is able to twist and shape the cloth to give it a purpose. The shape of this fabric is similar to a rose. Its meaning has to do with the contrast in colours. The darker shades and the bright, light reflections give a direct meaning as well. The circular form of the sheet twisting along with the title 'endless beginning' give the meaning to this piece that it is like the circles of life. The contrast of colours are like the good and bad sides to life. The rose incorporates a two sided meaning as well, though beautiful it can also bring harm (by its thorns). That is the deeper meaning behind this artwork, that although beautiful there are also the dark sides to life. 

Deep, My Heart is always moving

The colours of blue is this art work could be interpreted as a more depressing tone but I find the blue tones represent a deep peace and serenity. As always the material has strong movement. This piece is different to her other artworks as it does not have dreamy, restful emotions or look remotely like something you could snuggle into. This piece reminds me of water or the sea. The emotion of this piece is similar to the title, a deeper sense of peace. A sense of peace in your heart and your soul. I find this piece very calming and refreshing. 

The Dreamer

This is one of her only pieces (I think) that incorporate a human body in the painting. It is a lovely art piece that is very serene and meditative. The connection between the still, calm woman lying naked in her own skin. She may not be particularly beautiful or dazzling but she is happy and in a natural state of peace. This is a different sense of beauty hat is not often seen in society, the beauty of being content with yourself. The women's calm emotions are the same to those of the silk fabric next to her. The light pink's are pleasant, pretty colours that has a similar mood to the painting on the right. It is no wonder this artwork is named the dreamer! No other description could fit it better.

Whispered

Once again Feneley's personal aesthetic is strong in this piece, through light, warm tones and smooth textures and movement. The focal point is strong in the darker areas of material but my eye is drawn to the twist in the fabric. Although the colours and shades are soft, the contrasting areas give it a deep emotion connected to life. The strong twist in the fabric reminds me of a heart beating inside a chest. The heart is connected to the whole body and is a source of energy and life. The mood is light and lively. This art piece represents life and a sense of well being. I love the peacefulness that is portrayed in all of Feneley's work. 

Louise Feneley's art aesthetic is shown in all her art works. The soft, placid folds of her fabric pieces give a serene and mediative feel to all of her paintings. The visual language of her art work is always very focused on light and how it falls on the silken cloth, shade and tone to make the 2D painting look and feel 3D. Without proper thinking, her paintings can be derived as simply a replicate of material folds,  when really her art work has a much more intricate meaning to it. 

Artists

Jenny Saville

Jenny Saville’s monumental paintings wallow in the glory of expansiveness. Jenny Saville is a real painter’s painter. She constructs painting with the weighty heft of sculpture. Her exaggerated nudes point up, with an agonizing frankness, the disparity between the way women are perceived and the way that they feel about their bodies. One of the most striking aspects of Jenny Saville’s work is the sheer physicality of it. Jenny Saville paints skin with all the subtlety of a Swedish massage; violent, painful, bruising, bone crunching.

(Interview with Jenny Saville by Simon Schama)

Saville's work is very expressive. I find her work overwhelming. It is unlike anything we see advertised or in the media. It is unlike the picture of perfection we try to paint in our minds. It is not like the signs we see everywhere saying 'I am perfect and beautiful. Why aren't you?' It is for this reason I love her work. In other cases I find her work almost repugnant. In this case, the transexual paintings. They seem so unnatural, I can't seem to wrap my mind around it. Her artwork seems to exaggerate pain and how woman perceive themselves, as grotesque and overweight. Why do woman feel uncomfortable in their own skin? Why do they strive towards perfection? Because, we are told we are not good enough, we are told we should be perfect. 

Louise Feneley 

"For Feneley, the translucent intimacy of folded fabric becomes the threshold into another reality, wherein the contemplation of the universal in the particular, the transcendent in the banal, drives a project in which the creative and sensuous process of painting itself becomes a material expression of a meditative state, an alchemic engagement with the material that, in her words, 'propels transcendence into being"

Dr Ian Greig, 2004

Feneley's painting's caught my eye because of the ingenuity of the fabrics folds and colours. I loved its emotion, light and reflective. Absolutely diverse to Saville's pieces, as her artworks intention is to shock you. Feneley's artwork reminds me of a rose in the way it layers and of its shades. If it were rotated it would still be beautiful, in fact I think I like it on its right side better :). It's soft nature doesn't not stir unwanted emotions, as Saville's artwork tends to, it instead gives a sense of calm.

I am thinking these will be my artists for my assignment draft, because of their difference and how they explore totally different concepts. I love both artists style and aesthetic.