Project 1: Process
ARTIST RESEARCH

Tara Donovan: Process – Expansion

Tara Donovan is the epitome of a process artist. She seems to be more of a process-meaningful artist than content-meaningful. She remembers specifics about how her works are created, but less about the idea that sparked it and the meaning behind it. (1) She has been compared to minimalists, but the difference between her work and minimalist work is that she is not trying to convey a message. She even claims that, “a lot of times, things are discovered in accidental ways.” (1) Donovan takes ordinary, familiar items and structures them in bulk and in such a way that the final form takes on an entirely new, unimagined visual than a single piece of the original item. She “sees the marvelous in the mundane.” (3) With her objects, she likes the end result to be something that has nothing to do with the material itself or its original purpose. (3)

Many times, Tara Donovan’s process is quite obvious, and even offered simply in the description of her work. Haze (2003) has the description: Stacked Clear Plastic Drinking Straws. (2) The fact that the word “stacked” is included clues us into how she got the drinking straws to form the shape it does. On the other hand, sometimes viewers are simply told the material used, and how the work was made is not included in the title description.

The description of Lure (2004) states simply that the sculpture is made of fishing line. (2) Somehow, however, the fishing line is contorted in such a way that there appear to be multiple furry balls on the floor that may resemble an underwater sea plant such as coral. Viewers are left to imagine the tedious, but various possible ways Donovan could have reshaped the fishing line. No matter the process, the material is constantly expanding. One notable step in the process is that Donovan selects the material she wants to use before coming up with an idea, (3) however, the final product is always something that is inherent to the material she used. (4) Donovan’s ideas are provoked by, and are a product of, the extent to which she can work with the material.

For example, in Untitled (2003), made of paper plates and glue, Donovan was inspired by the ruffles on the edges of the plates and decided to make something that responded and depended on that. (4) Colony (2002) was made using pencils and glue. This materials list isn’t necessary to see Donovan’s process, as the process is seen simply by looking at the work up close. There are pieces of pencils at different lengths that are standing vertically next to each other. It is clear that these pencils were somehow cut and then placed next to each other on the floor. With this work, Donovan didn’t change the overall appearance of the pencils—the material was still obvious.

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Donovan is not doing this large-scale work alone, however. She works with a team. A piece made of Styrofoam cups is assembled by a group of women who converse and joke. (3) The environment seems to be very casual, though Donovan certainly needs to set guidelines for her crew. The work is, after all, a product of her own thoughts, and in order for the work to be hers, the crew all must operate with Donovan’s ideals.




Bibliography

1. ) Kino, Carol. "Tara Donovan and the Genius of Little Things - NYTimes.com." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. 23 Sept. 2008. Web. 29 Jan. 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/28/arts/design/28kino.html?pagewanted=all>.

2.)"TARA DONOVAN." ACE GALLERY. Web. 29 Jan. 2012. <http://www.acegallery.net/artistmenu.php?Artist=8>.

3.)"Tara Donovan: Art & Design." Wmagazine.com. Web. 29 Jan. 2012. <http://www.wmagazine.com/artdesign/2008/09/tara_donovan?currentPage=1>.

4.) "Artnet Magazine - Material Seduction." Fine Art, Decorative Art, and Design - The Art World Online: Artnet. Web. 29 Jan. 2012. <http://www.artnet.com/magazineus/features/stender/stender4-3-06.asp>.

Paul Wright: His Journey Through Styles & Process

Paul Wright has been known for his painterly style and for his unique, vibrant use of color. He is known to paint with the use of “bold, thick strokes, applied with confidence and economy.” (2) Wright has created a multitude of portraits, and through those portraits, he finds that they are not fully about the subject, but rather about him, and his feelings. While he finds it important to keep the “likeness” of the subject in his paintings, or, as he likes to call them “pictures,” Wright considers the subjects to be “glimpsed rather than exposed.” (1) Wright’s work has developed a great deal since he’s started his career, and his developments are marked by an extreme, and sometimes slight, shifts in not only his style, but also in his theories about his own art-making in terms of what he wants to create visually, and his process of getting there. When talking about his work from a certain time, his specific process goes hand in hand. Comparing his work and process from his early years to the work and his process in his later years, the changes are evident.

At the start of his career, Wright was doing illustrations, but he soon realized the path wasn’t for him—he’d wanted to go back to painting. His first work was a picture of his dad. This was an experimental piece for Wright, and he completed it over the course of a couple weeks, very unlike the pace at which he currently paints and completes works. He was working his way back into painting, finding a style that suited him. The brushstrokes were quite visible, but in a smooth way. Wright was pleased with the way it turned out. The work was a breakthrough for him and got him noticed. From there, Wright became interested in the use of color whilst describing tone. Wright referenced Chuck Close when describing his theory of color use. Chuck Close’s work was about “approximating what an area is and finding a new way to invent it.” (5) Mixing colors was a large part of Wright’s process to get his paintings to be where they needed to be. Wright was interested in using different colors next to each other to describe a larger space. For example, a red, orange, and a yellow next to each other would create a brown. “I’m very interested in what your eye makes from seeing three colors sitting next to each other,” Wright has said. Wright doesn’t like to blend.

He likes to use different colors to describe a color that is inherently different. For example, in a painting of a lemon (from his later work, but the color theory is still relevant), he includes green and red in the shadow on the lemon. Lemons do not appear to be the color of green or red, but these colors can be used to describe a dark yellow that is the same tone. (5)
At this point, Wright felt that he’d mastered his style of painting, but had gotten “tight” with his work, and was ready to challenge himself to try something new. (3) He started working on smaller canvases this time, condensing his energy into something with more movement. His new style also allowed him to finish paintings in the span of one day’s work. One thing Wright did to change up his routine was to start off the day with little “cloud and landscape studies” as he called them. (5) He created a routine for his day. He’d start working at 7 in the morning and finish around dinnertime. Wright needed a routine for his profession. This went against what he had observed of other artist’s routine, though structure was a main component of the day’s work. He spent so many hours in the studio in order to have “a day’s work” completed by lunchtime. (4) Wright didn’t like to leave anything unfinished at the end of the day, so if it were unfinished, he’d scrape the entire painting off and start fresh the next day. Wright became concerned with the surface of his work, and here is when the process of his painting started to change. He’d create a finished painting much like the way he used to paint, but then he’d “obliterate the surface” using a pallet knife, moving the paint around, and then he’d start painting on top of that again until he reached something that he liked. (5) Knowing the right time to stop is always the hard part for Wright. (4)

Wrights further interest in playing with the surface of a picture was achieved by spraying paint onto his paintings through a garden sprayer. In Wet Roads Glisten, Wright was concerned with displaying the weather and conveying the separation between the viewer and the subject matter –the bus. He found that spraying paint could change how far away the bus appears to the viewer.

He eventually furthers his process even more and starts to draw on pictures with the other side of his brush. Wright is constantly looking for new ways to stylize and characterize his paintings with his own meaningful marks.





Bibliography

1.) Paul Wright Artist. Paul Wright, 2010. Web. 28 Jan. 2012. <http://www.paul-wright.com/biography.aspx>.

2.) "Modern Artists Gallery - Artist, ARCHIVES Paul Wright." Modern Artists Gallery - Home. Web. 28 Jan. 2012. <http://www.modernartistsgallery.com/artistdetails/73_ARCHIVESPaulWright.php>.

3.) "Paul Wright Discussing Progression of His Work, Curator on Vimeo." Vimeo, Video Sharing For You. Web. 28 Jan. 2012. <http://vimeo.com/29344358>.

4.) "In The Artist’s Studio – Paul Wright | The Art Curator." CURATOR | Original Artwork and Inspiration. Buy Art Online from Established and Emerging Artists! Web. 28 Jan. 2012. <http://www.theartcurator.com/2011/06/paul-wright/>.

5.) "Paul Wright - Artist on Vimeo." Vimeo, Video Sharing For You. Web. 29 Jan. 2012. <http://vimeo.com/19437956>.