Themes of McMahons Work - Essay Example

Name of Student Name of Professor Subject 11 September 2008 COLIN MCCAHON Introduction Colin McCahon is New Zealand’s prominent artist. He is a well renowned painter known for being visionary for his paintings. He started painting in 1930s representing the culture of New Zealand as an expression of youth. Later on he succeeded in making a mark as a professional painter of New Zealand regarded as the country’s greatest contemporary artist. (Rolla d Collections). This essay presents the stylistics and thematic features of Colin McCahon’s work as culled out from varied sources. It strives to provide a descriptive presentation and analysis of how this artist presents his work of art. Themes of McCahon’s Work A theme that kept repeating in McCahon’s paintings is the use of landscape which he portrayed in his work with essence of spirituality particularly during his earlier works in 1930s. He usually paints the mountains and environmental view of New Zealand in a metaphorical way as shown in his painting entitled Gate III (1970). His representation of these views is generic but symbolic of other meanings. For example, the said painting is represented with a storm looming over New Zealand’s landscapes which symbolizes a stage of darkness to light. During the 1940s, his works showed a representation of landscapes in its bare environmental raw form. (Victoria University of Wellington). Between 1950s and 1960s McCahon painted landscapes from his travels within New Zealand (Ferner Galleries). During the early 1970s, McCahon’s work revolved around the theme of Muriwai, Auckland’s prominent beach frequently visited by tourists (Auckland Regional Council). Days and Nights and View from the Top of the Cliff are some of his paintings that followed this central theme. Later on he focused on Kaipara Harbour, the largest river system of North Auckland that was drowned with a narrow shoreline (Brittanica), as the central theme of his paintings. These paintings focused on the environmental impact of activities in these landscapes such as tourism and other economic activities. (Ferner Galleries) McCahon works on many paintings representing religion particularly related to the life of Jesus Christ and the Bible’s Old Testament. He painted it within the context or environment of New Zealand. He incorporates the use of captions and numerical representations in his paintings which are a first among New Zealand artists. In his painting Gate III (1970), he used the phrase I AM which a caption from Exodus of the Old Testament. He wrote it to represent his declaration of Jesus Christ’s divine persona as the Son of God. (Victoria University of Wellington). Verses from the bible are common edifice in McCahon’s paintings which affiliates his work with religious and spiritual connotation using New Zealand’s landscapes as symbols. Brown (Art New Zealand) shared that McCahon’s work embodied his feelings on certain situations he experienced roaming or looking around New Zealand’s various sceneries. His thoughts and feelings about his experience are symbolized by metaphors and verses from the bibles alongside the landscapes he paint. This is evident in his paintings Landcape: Theme and Variations wherein his main purpose is to get his audience involved or feel the raw land through representation of his painting. In his painting Takaka; Night and Day he states that he uses landscapes as subjects of his paintings to symbolize certain places commonly found in New Zealand as well as to the condition of humanity embodied in it. (Gordon). It is said that he paints those landscapes as part of his memory for a certain time and place mostly in New Zealand. In portraying his memories and experience of sceneries in New Zealand, McCahon himself started drawing an illustration of his own perception on his experiences of these landscapes at certain times. He supported showing these perceptions with a representation of symbols of landscapes. This symbolical aspect of his paintings gives it depth and requires thorough grasping from its viewers; hence making his simple work more interesting and unique. Lastly, McCahon considered his paintings as that of his autobiography (Gordon). Whatever he paints describes or shows the place he is at, his perception and feelings of his experience being in that place. Thus, his works are as personal to him as his life. It is truly a dedication towards his art. Stylistic of McCahon’s Work Most of McCahon’s work is mostly scorned and misconstrued by his audience and contemporaries. Most of it is considered scrawls or doodles. Thus, most of his earliest works were rejected by art galleries and even direct customers. Still, he persisted and focused even more on his craft. A director, Judy Rymer, (Rolland Collection) who filmed a documentary about him and his works admitted that knowing him and his works made him fascinated with his unwavering commitment to his artistic styles even if most do not appreciate it at that time. His works created a reputation for him as “non-conformist and an anti-academic painter” (Victoria University of Wellington). He intertwined the influences of other artist’s techniques particularly those from the Unites States such as cubism, abstract expressions, and use of monochromatic colours which he used to create his own style of painting which made him unique in New Zealand and later on acknowledge by the international painting community. In fact, John Caselberg (New Zealand Art) affirmed that his paintings are a result of a combination of thorough examination of the arts of the Western world, insightful representation of his subjects and continuously evolving work of arts. He is known for his focus on his art that he labour himself to learn and progress in his it which is clearly shown in the laborious aspects of his paintings. His graffiti like paintings shows order in disarray and provide insights even in a visual image of a painting which makes him distinct from his contemporaries. Garrity, T. (Art New Zealand) describes McCahon’s stylistic art as appealing to its audience understanding of his messages as represented in his paintings. According to him, McCahon’s paintings shows his audience that aesthetics is less important compared to the message that it conveys which is important to the culture of New Zealand. Also, the manner that he conveys his message in realistic or ever present situations makes his audience relate to his work if they would be able to go deeper beyond the unruliness of his representations at times. His style of imagination and his ability to sustain it throughout his works separate McCahon from ordinary artists of his time. It made him a distinct artist in New Zealand capturing the images of the country’s landscapes in his work. He focuses of it instead of the more prominent landscapes in Europe as what his contemporaries did. McCahon’s paintings have simple styles but his technique in presenting his thoughts in his paintings are a mix of clarity and vagueness. The audience can see very clearly what he is trying to tell even though he represent it his painting in an indirect way. He has the uncanny technique of verbalizing his thoughts in his painting through the use of statements or verses that initially would be interpreted by viewers to run in contrast to the landscape he is painting. However, in deeper thought viewers can analyze and relate the landscape with the statement. This is what makes distinguish the stylistic approach of McCahon from other artists of his time. McCahon uses subtitles to verbalize his thoughts clearly to his viewers. His painting titled The Days and Nights in the Wilderness is one example. The subtitles verbalize and clarify what McCahon tries to tell his viewers resulting to a good flow of interpretation of his viewers in line to the things he wants to actually tell them in his paintings. However, some of his paintings still require a deeper analysis for his viewers to be able to know what he actually meant. This aspect of vagueness in his paintings results to multiple interpretations of his paintings that makes it more challenging to view, if not to collect. McCahon’s artistic style in his paintings also feature compression technique wherein it involves showing simplified styles, in his case simplified landscapes which he painted reduced images of these landscapes which gives his viewers to wonder if there is more he is trying to say in his paintings with this compressed images (Gordon). It is highly visible in his paintings such as Moby Dick seen off Muriwai, Necessary Protection and The Jump which shows reduced landscape images making it simple but intriguing. The use of numbers and words in his paintings are another example of how he uses compression in his works. Conclusion McCahon is the greatest artist of New Zealand. His particular focus on the landscapes of the country is what endears him more to its government, citizens and art aficionados. In using the country’s landscapes as central theme in his paintings, he was able to promote the country both to its residents and international tourists. Unlike his contemporaries who uses images more pronounced in the artistic world during his, McCahon thread his own path and chose to focus on his country’s bountiful sceneries. He showed his thoughts and experience of this sceneries in his paintings. The influence of the western art from his travel to the United States in particular inspired him to add styles to his work but it did not make him complacent in copying other styles of artists. He uses these influence to merge it with his own style, experiment with it until he came up with an enhanced style which he can claim as his own. He is the classic example of a true artist. Even though his earlier works got rejected and ridiculed due to its unnatural way of imagery which people are not used to in paintings during his time, he still struggled to continue painting improving himself along the way without sacrificing his main thematic and stylistic expression. Thus, he did not compromise his artistic abilities for the sake of common perception during that time. In doing so, he was able to preserve his own style and in using New Zealand landscapes he is able to promote his own country. He is a true artist with a cause in doing exactly what he does best. References Victory Over Death: The Paintings of Colin McCahon; The Essence of a Young Culture. Rolland Collection. Access on September 9, 2008 from http://www.roland-collection.com/rolandcollection/section/21/603.htm Colin McCahon. Christ Church City Libraries. Access on September 9, 2008 from http://christchurchcitylibraries.com/Kids/FamousNewZealanders/Colin.asp Art Collection: Colin McCahon’s Gate III (1970). Victoria University of Wellington. Accessed on September 9, 2008 from http://www.victoria.ac.nz/adamartgal/ed/artcollectiontour/mccahon.html Ferner Galleries. Colin McCahon. Access on September 9, 2008 from http://www.fernergalleries.co.nz/default,446.sm Auckland Regional Council. Muriwai. Access on September 11, 2008 from http://www.arc.govt.nz/parks/our-parks/parks-in-the-region/muriwai/ Kaipara Harbour. Brittanica Encylopedia. Access on September 11, 2008 from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/309808/Kaipara-Harbour#tab=active~checked%2Citems~checked&title=Kaipara%20Harbour%20--%20Britannica%20Online%20Encyclopedia Colin McCahon: His Work Spanning Four Decades. Art New Zealand. Access from http://www.art-newzealand.com/Issues1to40/mccahon08.htm on September 9, 2008. Garrity, T. Colin McCahon: A Reflection. Art New Zealand. Access on September 9, 2008 from http://www.art-newzealand.com/Issues1to40/mccahon08tg.htm Brown, G. Colin McCahon: A Basis for Understanding. Art New Zealand. Access on September 9, 2008 from http://www.art-newzealand.com/Issues1to40/mccahon08gb.htm . Read More

 

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