Wolverhampton University MA in Art & Design Network: Painting
Overall Comments: Peter has maintained regular tutorial contact with both John Myers and Maggie Ayliffe. Peter’s management of his study time and his on-going relationship with the tutorial team has been exemplary. Agreed projects deadlines have been met and the major reorientation of his practice over the first part of his M.A. has been handled with intelligence and good focussed activity. Development: Starting from a previously successful way of making paintings Peter has quite deliberately explored new approaches that have been combined with the use of new materials. At the centre of these approaches has been a continuing battle to rid previous ‘habits’ and expectations about how to make art. Unlearning old skills and employing new strategies are a constant preoccupation and he brings to tutorials a questioning about how (and in how many ways) we can read the resulting work itself. His stance has been courageous - he has been prepared to let go; take risks and this is beginning to pay dividends. Picking the next step will require care. Experimentation and novelty have their attractions and there is an aspect to some of the work that revels in the new – the new material; new cut; new size; new interpretation. I keep thinking about George Braque who learnt artificial wood graining from his time as a decorator; the story goes that he taught Picasso and these painted renderings of wood surface became a staple of cubism. Computer cut religious imagery; why look any further? Conclusion: The impression that Peter has/enjoys choice may be illusory. Computer cut religious imagery could be the way forward. It fits with Peter’s established skills and his commercial practice. The heads of Christ are probably the most complete work so far; but working in this vein may well entail a reappraisal about the possibilities of art – and what next is available to Peter. The work is poised for the next stage. John Myers Maggie Ayliffe 14/02/03 |