- Jenny
Saville
1992
7
x6 Ft. x 1.82 M
Jenny Saville is an
English born artist whose career rocketed in 1994 when Charles
Saatchi displayed her work only two years after she graduated from
university. I feel Saville’s style can be explained initially in
two words: dynamic and controversial. Her gigantic paintings often
top six foot in height (which dominate gallery space as shown in the
picture to the left) with visible flowing dynamic brush marks of
clear contrasting colours.
The image is in a
rectangle format, the back ground is neutral, light to dark. The
image shows an extremely large naked woman, (known to be Jenny
Saville) she is looking down from a gigantic height with an
expression that conveys despair, discomfort and vulnerability,
wearing nothing but a white pair of shoes, sitting on a stool
grasping at her large thighs (the image on a whole is very fleshy).
Her breasts are slightly exposed, her knees and body have clearly
been over exaggerated as they protrude of the image, her head is
cropped too small to fit the body (this also over exaggerates the
perspective of the image and enhances the fore shortening).
Writing has been scratched though the image (scraffito
technique), back to front to reflect a mirror, the text says; 'If
we continue to speak in this sameness - speak as men have spoken
for centuries, we will fail each other again . . .’ I think this
means if we continue to listen to men about how we look we will never
really know ourselves.
Jenny
Saville’s work is compared to Lucian Freud(as shown to the right)
as it argued they share a raw interpretation of the human body
especially the female form. It has been quoted; “(1)Gender
is what distinguishes Saville from other paint-obsessed re-presenters
of the naked human body. To my eye, no other artist in recent memory
has combined empathy and distance with such visual and emotional
impact”
Her
greatest influences are Francis Bacon (displayed left) and
Willem de Kooning (below on the right)... Jenny Saville has quoted;
‘'(2)The
marriage of Bacon’s figurative skills and de Kooning’s
painting
skills would make the best painter who ever lived.'’
To me this means she
admires both of their unique interpretations of the abstract
movement, and applies this to her own practice;
“(3)I
use directional mark-making to move your eye around the flesh.”
all her images use this technique. Her work often contradicts the
'norm of beauty' as she uses larger women most are obese, these
images are then exaggerated further; her work also explores
deconstruction through cosmetic surgery; (photographs and paintings
to explore this.)
My
Work In the Style of Jenny Saville;
These piece's
are
from my life drawing studies created in 2011, here I have attempted
to use Jenny Saville's fluid mark making, excessive use of tone and
colour, the two uses oil pastel, whilst the other (laying down image)
uses oil bars, these images are just over a2 in size apart from the
cropped image of the breast which s just under a3 I think these
images are really successful, I'd like to do them too a much larger
scale.
References;
Quote 1- Sourced
from;
Linda Nochlin, Art
in America, March 2000- Jenny Saville- interviewed by Simon
Schama(Author), published by Saatchi gallery Publication Date: 12
Oct 2005 | ISBN-10: 0847827577 | ISBN-13: 978-0847827572
Quote 2- Sourced
from;
Art
Bank Website - Jenny SAVILLE Biography
http://www.artbank.com/DisplayArtist.aspx?id=63
and
cross referenced with
Brain
Juice website- Jenny Saville's Biography
Is
also mentioned in The Saatchi gallery's publish book on Jenny Saville
titled 'Jenny Saville' - Simon Schama (Author) -Publication Date: 12
Oct 2005
| ISBN-10: 0847827577
|
ISBN-13: 978-0847827572
Quote 3- Sourced
from;
The
Saatchi Gallery website- Jenny Saville- Contemporary artist, Passage;
http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artists/artpages/jenny_saville_passage.htm,
and cross referenced with
Rant
It Up – The Politics Of Flesh
Pictify-
'Your Social Art Network'
