Paul Bennett
LandE scape
CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW establishing direct relations with the viewers . German multidisciplinary artist Thomas Demand once stated that " nowadays art can no longer rely so much on symbolic strategies and has to probe psychological , narrative elements within the medium instead ". What is your opinion about it ? And in particular how do you conceive the narrative for your works ?
I ’ m not too sure that I am try to be conceptual in any way or that has never been a conscious goal . I would also say that for me there is also no narrative . If there is narrative , then I would hope that it came from those viewing my paintings . I like the idea that people can find their own stories . Take them back to places that they have once experienced . For me the best abstract work has to grounded a little in the real . Sometimes people need that first line or two to get them started on a journey or their own narrative .
Speaking about oil , that is your favourite media , what are the most relevant qualities you can get in ?
It ’ s the way it can move around the canvas , with its slow drying times . It also feels rich and can be easily manipulated . I ’ ve only tried using other mediums a few times and oil wins every time .
German visual artist Gerhard Richter once stated that abstract pictures are no less arbitrary than all object-bound representations , based on any old motif : the only difference is that in these the ' motif ' evolves only during the process of painting . Do you agree wit this statement ? We are particularly interested in your position about that the process of abstraction provides realistic figures with a new level of significance .
I would say that I do agree with this . It ’ s with the process of painting that there becomes freedom to take any direction and to whatever end . The process of getting the paint onto the canvas is what works for me . Inspiration is secondary to the act of just painting . Chuck Close once said “ All the best ideas come out of the process ; they come out of the work itself . Things occur to you . If you ' re sitting around trying to dream up a great art idea , you can sit there a long time before anything happens . But if you just get to work , something will occur to you and something else will occur to you and something else that you reject will push you in another direction . Inspiration is absolutely unnecessary and somehow deceptive .” This sums up my working process .
Your incessant process of observing and interpreting urges to question the notion of mediated experience . So we would take this occasion to ask you if in your opinion personal experience is an absolutely indispensable part of a creative process ... Do you think that a creative process could be disconnected from direct experience ?
I ’ m sure it could be created from indirect experience . Maybe interpreting the exerience of others . For me , I need to know what a sky looks like or the idea of sky . I also need to know what a sea looks
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