WEEK 3 – ANALYSIS – TASK 2 – VITAL FRAGMENTS: NIGEL HENDERSON AND THE ART OF COLLAGE – TATE
VITAL FRAGMENTS: NIGEL HENDERSON AND THE ART OF COLLAGE – TATE
Although I did not go to see this exhibition, it looked vital for my research into different types of collage as this was recommended to me by my tutors once again. I have discovered this series on Tate called “Animating the Archives” which has proven to be such a useful source as we had a talk on archives previously. Archives are such a reputable source of information which I feel like I have not used enough of within my time at university and now as I am in my third year, I want to push myself to use more sophisticated sources of information as previously I could go to Google for information whereas since it is on a video, I am able to look at it more in depth as someone explains the background etc.
Nigel Henderson’s work has a lot of character to it in terms of people’s facial expressions, contrast used and the subject matter which is what attracted me to his work in the first place. Henderson wrote a lot when he was younger which is shown in the archives. It can be inferred from these writings that Henderson was unconfident and insecure within himself as a young boy. Henderson fell into photography from his mother as well as when he acquired a Leicia camera from a friend as a loan. He also worked closely with Eduardo Paolozzi who helped him within photography. I noticed how different their styles are in terms of colour and process, but they have similar execution when it comes to space on the page and how busy their work can be.
“A Photograph of a Photograph” and “A Photograph of a Photogram” are two of Henderson’s pieces that I am extremely inspired by. I was attracted to the two of them because of how effective they are while in black and white, both extremely dynamic with a lot of character to them while being distorted and surreal which is my favorite type of work. It has made me question the meanings behind them as well as the processes, I would love to create something similar potentially in the darkroom or using my scanner and Adobe Photoshop to create a more modern approach and compare the two processes. Henderson uses an enlarger in the latter, instead of putting a negative for a photography, he places an object or materials he found in the East End and places them on there to create a new image. Something new has come from found material as if he has transformed rubbish into art. This inspires me to go around and start using found material within my sketchbook ort in my artwork as I am interested in the themes of sustainability and repurposing which could tie in appropriately with my studio practice too. In the former, he uses a technique that I have used previously in my own work which I feel like worked effectively before as I enjoy making distorted work. He plays around with images and distorts them by hand by bending them or folding to create new shapes and forms. Once again, this inspires me to take some of my own imagery, print them out, use my scanner or cut them up and transform them, this module is all about experimenting within your specialism and this would be a perfect way to push my work further and make something more unique and dynamic like Henderson’s.
