In this module we will look at ways of extending your analysis of an artwork from description to interpretation

1. KVB117 Visual Art Open Studio 1
Week 11 : Writing your Rationale II:
Interpretation

2. VISUAL ANALYSIS
Good visual analysis involves a combination of DESCRIPTION and INTERPRETATION:
DESCRIPTION
Objective
‘Factual’
INTERPRETATION
Subjective
Personal
In this lecture we will focus on ways to connect our DESCRIPTION to an
INTERPRETATION of an artwork
(Interpretation here is the attribution of conceptual or affectual content)

3. Ghada AMER
(Egyptian b.1963)
The Turkish Bath, 2006

4. Good description will lead you to an interpretation
…Amer's current work in Singapore continues the erotic themes she's
been exploring for the last 14 years — images "lifted" from
pornographic magazines, but blurred by the embroidery technique she
uses on her canvas. Stitching in small point, she leaves the long, loose
threads after knotting them on the front of the canvas, then uses a
transparent gel to glue the threads on the surface. The effect is similar
to paint dripping, a mass of abstract lines from far away that only
reveals her erotic figures on closer inspection.
Kolesnikov-Jessop, Sonia 2007, ‘Ghada Amer: Defusing the power of
erotic images’ New York Times, Monday, March 12
Here the author is emphasizing concealment – the way that the
female body is hidden by the mass of threadsGhada AMER
(Egyptian b.1963)
Checkers, 2006

5. Good analysis will address the contrasting and
correlative features of the work
[Amer’s] imagery [is] derived from American soft-core porn
magazines. White women alone and together, in acrylic and
embroidery on canvas, the same figures often repeated in bands or
clusters, stitched in thread with the tailings gathered in knots or
drawn in bundles, obscuring the figures or connecting them like lines
of communication, extending the colour gesture across the
surface…. [Amer] said, "I had to have lots of thread so that I could
drip, because the threads are my drips. That's my Pollock." … It's not
possible to look at Amer's work without thinking of veiling and
layering, obscuring and revealing, of the languor implied in the time
necessary for images to be apprehended.
Reference:
Enright, R., & Walsh, M. (2009). The Thread of Painting: AN
INTERVIEW WITH GHADA AMER. Border Crossings, 28(3), 24–37.
Here, the author notes that the threads connect the figures
while also obscuring them (contrast) and the correlation
between the time taken to make the work and the
apprehension of the image.
Ghada AMER
(Egyptian b.1963)
Checkers, 2006

6. Brainstorm the direct and indirect contentof the work by
considering the material, form and subject matter of the work
Material : Thread
Both hide and connect the figures
Act as veils and lines of communication
Figurative (women’s bodies and paint drips)
Refer to traditional women’s labour
Decorative – non-high art associations
Form (compositional elements and relations):
Pattern: wallpaper
Colour: like broken blood vessels
Line: tangled, like body hair
Subject matter
Female body – soft porn, nudity : reference to objectification of the
female body
So:
Amer uses stitching to engage with conflicting ideas about female
subjectivity. On the one hand, the soft porn sources of her figures
explicitly refer to the objectification of the female body; but the delicacy
of the stitching suggests ideas of domestic labour. In either case, Amer
seems to use thread to draw a connection between two very different
poles of women’s work. The fact that her threads are tangled and
intertwined implies the psychological and cultural dissonance that these
roles have on women.
Ghada AMER
(Egyptian b.1963)
Checkers, 2006

7. Nava LUBELSKI
(American b.1968)
A Story About Frogs 2008
Reading other writers’ analysis of an artist’s work will enrich
your interpretations (this is why it is useful to find good artists
that relate to your studio interests, materials etc)
Working with hand and machine embroidery on ink-splashed and
torn muslin, Ms. Lubelski calls attention to the contours of spots
and holes in the fabric. ...
In "A Story About Frogs," a large hole is edged with knotted
threads that look like a cluster of soap bubbles. Paint splatters,
outlined with black and blue chain stitches, amplify the
cartoonish sensibility. …
Ms. Lubelski cites as inspiration the science of recombinant DNA
(synthetic molecules of genetic material taken from different
sources), but it's easier to think of her art as a chromosomal
abnormality: the prototypically "male" arts of paint-splashing
and canvas-piercing fused to "female" fabric-staining and
needlework.
Rosenberg, Karen. 2009. ‘Nava Lubelski: [Review]’. New York
Times, Late Edition (East Coast), January 23, sec. C.

8. Nava LUBELSKI
(American b.1968)
A Story About Frogs 2008

9. My work is based on processes of stitching and staining.
Stretched canvases are spattered with drips and splotches.
These organic shapes become a pattern to be sewn over
and around, the thread transforming modern art's "drip"
into something new and unfamiliar. The juxtaposition of the
random, fluid shapes, highly suggestive of speed and
viscous movement, with the detailed and labor-intensive
structure of the stitching, both liberates threadwork from its
traditional dependence on functionality, decoration and
order, and simultaneously feminizes these aggressive forms,
which are normally associated with the most
unapologetically macho of 20th century artists.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/kunstraum_richard_sorge/3
987234785/
Nava LUBELSKI
(American b.1968)
Tequila Sunrise 2009

10. Many of his large canvases depict pristine Modernist interiors
that seem to have become dirty with age, their clean forms
and smooth planes upset by the addition of wools and threads
that make the places depicted look worn and ragged.
Raedecker's landscapes also seem melancholic and slightly
comic, like darkened and impoverished versions of old
Romantic subjects.
http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/michael-raedecker-2693
Michael RAEDECKER
(Dutch b.1963)
the practice 1998
acrylic and thread on canvas
(137 x 177 centimeters)

11. Michael RAEDECKER
(Dutch b.1963)
the practice 1998
acrylic and thread on canvas
(137 x 177 centimeters)

12. ..a first glance at one of his large canvasses will report sketchy
graphite/pencil marks, a few brushstrokes and paint spatters
with a wash ground. Closer inspection reveals that almost
every mark, bar the background wash, is made using thread
and needle punctures. The meticulous control and application
required to successfully render these paintings calls for an
obsessive's touch, and the advantage of being an obsessive
attending to one's obsessive activity is that it keeps existential
anxiety at bay. So, as Raedecker works the speckles, dots, and
strikes that pretend to be splatters of paint or pencil marks,
he may actually be deeply engaged in avoiding the void that
his images reflect.
Donovan, Nicola. 2010. ‘Exhibition Review: Michael
Raedecker’. Textile: The Journal of Cloth & Culture 8 (3):
378–83.Michael RAEDECKER
(Dutch b.1963)
the practice 1998
acrylic and thread on canvas
(137 x 177 centimeters)

13. Characteristically, the image is hand-embroidered in
thread and wool onto washed out, occasionally
shadowy painted grounds that are here and there
infested with hairy clumps of fibre, or suffer from deep
puncture wounds. In this work, however, the artist’s
familiar needlework seems to possess a new urgency
of purpose, as though it is the only thing holding a
torn and tattered reality together – a set of sutures
made in the hope that some terrible chasm will heal.
http://www.frieze.com/issue/review/michael_raede
cker/
Michael RAEDECKER
(Dutch b.1963)
on 2008
acrylic and thread on canvas
overall dimensions (205 x 330 cm)

14. Ghada AMER Nava LUBELSKI Michael RAEDECKER
ABSTRACTION vs FIGURATION
GESTURAL vs ORDERED FORM
MASCULINE vs FEMININE
SPLASHING vs DELIBERATE
MASCULINE vs FEMININE
RAGGED/WORN vs SUTURE/REPAIR
MODERN/CRISP vs FRAYED
similar to paint dripping, a mass of abstract
lines from far away that only reveals her erotic
figures on closer inspection.
…prototypically "male" arts of paint-splashing
and canvas-piercing fused to "female" fabric-
staining and needlework.
threads make the places depicted look worn
and ragged
.. gathered in knots or drawn in bundles,
obscuring the figures or connecting them like
lines of communication, extending the colour
gesture across the surface…
juxtaposition of dynamic shapes and the labor-
intensive structure of the stitching,
meticulous control: obsessive
speckles, dots, and strikes pretend to be
splatters of paint or pencil marks,
…a way of avoiding the void that his images
reflect.
veiling and layering, obscuring and revealing, of
the languor implied in the time necessary for
images to be apprehended.
…liberates the threadwork from functionality,
decoration and order, and feminizes these
aggressive macho forms.
Threads holding a torn and tattered reality
together
a set of sutures made in the hope that some
terrible chasm will heal

15. Following on from last week, we
suggest the following (tweaked)
progression of ideas as you write:
1. Author, Title, Date, Material/Media
2. General description of work (ie
overall compositional qualities)
3. Detailed qualities of work –
especially in relation to material
4. The affect/idea that the work
produces
5. Summing up (clarify connection
between material and this content)Hannah COLLINS
(British b. 1956)
Grapes, 1989
pigment print on cotton paper

16. Hannah COLLINS
(British b. 1956)
Grapes, 1989
pigment print on cotton paper
For example:
Hannah Colllins’ Grapes (1989) is a large black
and white photograph, pigment printed on
cotton paper (1). The work depicts a cluster of
balloons and a flattened cardboard box in a
domestic interior – apparently illuminated from
the right hand side of the image by an unseen
window (2). The image has been printed in two
sections, joined horizontally through the middle
of the image. The seam of this join becomes part
of the composition as the shadows of subject
matter and shadows on/of the paper join
combine in the work The work draws our
attention to the materiality of the image, by
contrasting the surface of the shiny balloons
with the matt texture of the prints. (3) This
combination of the material texture of the
photograph and the scene depicted, draws a
spatial connection between the austerity of the
gallery space and that of the photograph. (4)
The effect is one of quiet melancholy, despite
the playful presence of the balloons (5)
(114 words)

17. Hannah COLLINS
(British b. 1956)
Grapes, 1989
pigment print on cotton paper
INTERPRETATION: things to consider
•What is the mood of the work?
•What are the direct or indirect symbolic
qualities of the work?
•Are there any other qualities that you
can identify?
•Read up on the artist – what do other
writers, reviewers say?
•Remember to look for
•CORRESPONDENCES
where features are reflective of one
another;
•CONTRASTS: where features
oppose/contradict one another

18. Hannah COLLINS
(British b. 1956)
Grapes, 1989
pigment print on cotton paper
INTERPRETATION: things to consider
• Avoid generalisations - use a thesaurus to
deepen your analysis of affect
For example: ‘The work is expressive’ is too
vague.
Better to say: ‘The work
• conveys a sense of urgency
• gives an impression of frenzied mark-
making
• elicits a feeling of obsession through its
repetition of strokes
• evokes the dazzling arrival of dawn
through its use of yellow light
• creates a sense of vibrant, joyous
activity
• suggests the fragility of social bonds
through the use of tentative joins
• is traversed by hesitant lines to
produce a feeling of insecurity

20. Lynda BENGLIS
(American b.1941)
Night Sherbet A 1968
dayglo pigment, phosphorescence
and poured polyurethane foam
12.7 x 121.9 x 153.7 cm.

21. Dexter DALWOOD
(British b.1960)
Greenham Common
2008
oil on linen, 165 x 188cm

22. Angela de la CRUZ
(Spanish-British b.1965)
Super Clutter XXL (Pink and Brown) 2006
Oil and acrylic on canvas, c.150 x 180 cm