ABSTRACT
This research seeks to explore charcoal market in painting using a restricted palette. The palette consists of gray and subdued primary colours employed to build up a structure in painting that evokes a somber mood and aesthetically document a charcoal market. The inspiration was derived from an environment that is overwhelmingly black and capable of absolving other colours thereby making them to lose their identity. Various aspects of the charcoal market were explored focusing on the activities of elements inherent in its different patterns. The paintings epitomize inquiry that embodies the processes which interpret and question social phenomenon through studio experimentation. It looked at the underlining aesthetics of charcoal market to capture the metaphor of the human spirit, of labour of ordinary people in an everyday situation. To achieve the set objectives, a conceptual framework was developed from the works of Piet Mondrian, Rick Stevens, John Virtue and Pablo Picasso to explore this pictorial design concept in series of six(6). The works are divided into two main areas of exploration and development stages. In the exploration stage, preliminary studies explored various notes and sketches for the main body of work. The development stage explored the possibilities of developing the sketches and colour study. The significance of this research describes visual experience from a charcoal market that can help probe more into colour relationships and design concepts. Findings reveal the development of conceptual allegories which transmit cryptic content relating to the environment and create aesthetic space for multiplicity of reading. The tendency to interpret a work in different perspectives can be from social, cultural, economic and philosophical or peculiar visual view-point. The executed paintings reflect environmental influence of charcoal on other colours making them assume another personality.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Cover Page – – – – – – – – – i
Fly Leaf – – – – – – – – – ii
Title Page – – – – – – – – – iii
Declaration – – – – – – – – – – iv
Certification – – – – – – – – – – v
Acknowledgements – – – – – – – – vi
Dedication – – – – – – – – – vii
Abstract – – – – – – – – – viii
Table of Contents – – – – – – – – ix
List of Figures – – – – – – – – – xiv
List of Plates – – – – – – – – – xvii
Catalogue – – – – – – – – – xx
CHAPTER ONE – INTRODUCTION – – – – – 1
1.1 Background of the study – – – – – – 1
1.2 Statement of the Research Problem – – – – – 6
1.3 Aim and Objectives of the study – – – – – 6
1.4 Research Questions – – – – – – – 7
1.5 Justification – – – – – – – – 7
1.6 Significance – – – – – – – – 8
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1.7 Scope of the Study – – – – – – – 10
1.8 Conceptual framework – – – – – – – 11
1.9 Definition of terms – – – – – – – 13
CHAPTER TWO – LITERATURE REVIEW – – – – 15
2.1 Introduction – – – – – – – – 15
2.2 Issues and Influences from the Environment – – – – 19
2.2.2 Jerry Buhari (b.1959) – – – – – – – 19
2.2.3 Rick Stevens (b.1958) – – – – – – 25 2.2.4 Burns Effion (b.1965) – – – – – – – 29
2.3 The use of allegories to depict societal issues and human conditions – 31
2.3.1 Jari Jacob Jat (b.1960) – – – – – – .31
2.3.2 Robert Motherwell (b.1915-1991) – – – – – 35
2.3.3 Kolade Oshinowo (b.1948) – – – – – – 37
2.3.4 Pablo Picasso (b.1881-1973) – – – – – – 42
2.3.5 Obiorah Udechukwu (1947) – – – – – – 48
2.4.1 Aesthetic Considerations in developing concept in painting – – 50
2.4.2 Piet Mondrian (b.1872-1944) – – – – – 51
2.4.3 Paul Klee (b. 1879-1940) – – – – – – 58
2.4.4 Song Su-Nam (b.1938) – – – – – – 62
2.4.5 John Virtue (b.1947) – – – – – – – 64
2.4.6 Willem De Kooning (b.1904-1997) – – – – – 68
2.4.7 Franz Kline (b.1910-1962) – – – – – – 70
2.4.8 Cathy M. Woo (b.1949-) – – – – – – 73
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CHAPTER THREE – METHODOLOGY – – – – 79
3.1 Introduction – – – – – – – – 79
3.2 Ideas/Interrogation – – – – – – – 81
3.3 Structure/Design/Sketches – – – – – – 81
3.3.1 Study sketches – – – – – – – – 83
3.4 Critical Process/Exploratory and Development – – – 91
3.4.1 Exploratory Stage – – – – – – – 92
3.4.1.1 Colour Sketches – – – – – – – 99
3.4.2 Development Stage – – – – – – – 102
3.5 Visual Practice/catalogue/Exhibition – – – – – 105
3.6 Source of Ideas – – – – – – – 105
3.7 Translation of Ideas – – – – – – – 106
3.8 Reference to Establish movement – – – – – 107
3.9 Adapting variety of methodologies – – – – – 107
3.9.1 Direct Painting – – – – – – – – 108
3.9.2 Indirect Painting – – – – – – – 111
3.10 Systematic illustration of process/procedure – – – – 113
3.10.1 Colour Scheme/Palette – – – – – – 113
3.10.2 Composition – – – – – – – – 113
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3.10.3 Process – – – – – – – – 114
3.10.3.1 Size/dimension – – – – – – – 114
3.10.3.2 Media – – – – – – – – 114
3.10.3.3 Transfer of Sketches – – – – – – – 114
CHAPTER FOUR
DISCUSSION
4.0 Introduction – – – – – – – – 116
4.1 Description and analyses of works produced – – – – 116
4.1.1 The Head that Labours – – – – – – 117
4.1.2 Selling the Future – – – – – – – 121
4.1.3 Contemplation on Patterns in Nature – – – – – 127
4.14 The Woman – – – – – – – – 137
4.1.5 Grays of Life – – – – – – – – 144
4.1.6 Palace of Oppression – – – – – – – 151
CHAPTER FIVE
CATALOGUE
5.0 Introduction – – – – – – – – 158
5.1 Artist Curatorial Statement on Works Produced – – – 158
5.2 Portfolio – – – – – – – – 160
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CHAPTER SIX
CONCLUSION – – – – – – – – 205
6.0 Summary – – – – – – – – 204
6.1 Colour – – – – – – – – – 204
6.2 Artists referenced – – – – – – – 205
6.3 The Social question – – – – – – – 206
6.4 Cultural and Symbolic value – – – – – – 206
6.5 Methodical progression – – – – – – 207
6.6 Conclusion – – – – – – – – 207
6.7 Contribution to Knowledge – – – – – – 208
6.8 Recommendation – – – – – – – 209
References – – – – – – – – – 211
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CHAPTER ONE
Background of the study 1.1 Introduction
Charcoal market is a place of influence, metaphor and dynamics of colour relationships in pictorial illusion; an environment that is overwhelmingly black/dark and capable of absorbing other colours in a manner that makes them loose their original identities. In the colour field, black, according to J. Jari (personal communication, 2013, may 17), is the absence of colour. Oyedemi. J (Interviewer), and Buhari J.(Interviewee).(2013,march13) corroborates this position stating that it is the absence of light, adding that when there is no light, all colours will agree in the dark. That is, black absorbs energies of other colours without reflecting them. The value of a colour turns grey and subtle after coming in contact with the charcoal environment. Any charcoal market can be ignored at a glance but it has an aesthetic edge that can evolve into an orchestration of colour harmony and value. This reveals different realities that lie concealed in strange juxtapositions, each line portraying endless energy that exists in nature causing the viewer to ask, “What is this”? Two things are at play in this engagement: aesthetic reason describing human experiences and the force of nature. This is especially noticeable in the movement of values from light to dark in the charcoal market that epitomizes the interaction of elements of design for development of visual concepts. Aradeon (1997) sees a market as „the meeting space for people between places, the living stage where a collage of scenes are acted and played out without a script‟. Berthoud (1999) postulates that, in the minds of a growing number of decision- makers, it has become increasingly self-evident that the market should no longer be viewed as an
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institution which must be regulated by external social forces, but on the contrary, that it should be used to regulate society as a whole. Market thus becomes the leading principle for guiding individual interaction and collective action. Exploring the charcoal market in painting is therefore to create a conversation between an organized structure (mechanical) and organic (nature) spontaneous effect. This visual exploit can arouse different understandings of the subject.
A variety of new configurations in the elements of design are emerging which makes an artist to start looking for concepts that have bases for visual interpretation from equally new sources of interest. This brings a new imaginative dimension to visual experience in a given space. The experience can be derived from two sources. The first is based on cognitive experience. Arnheim (1969), in Constantino (2007), defines „cognition as a process of active exploration, selection, grasping of essentials, simplification, abstraction, analysis and synthesis, completion, correction, comparison, problem solving, as well as combining, separating and putting in context‟. Visual thinking, as this is known, is the ability to see and process information in mental reasoning through identifying, categorizing and generating images as foundation for a piece or body of work. Arnheim further states that these images which are directly encountered, as well as generated are referred to mean some kind of quality of object stored in memory as visual concepts. The second experience is based on a sense of nostalgia and that is familiarity with certain forms and colours in the environment which helps in visual concept development, making it easily sustainable in a studio practice research. This multiplicity of concepts are developed using various associations put together to express aesthetic experiences that challenge our emotion. Visual concepts could
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be objective or subjective depending on the simplicity or complexity of the message they carry as they open up interactive space. According to Fosu (1986), creative expressions are not controlled by strict duplication of the exactness of nature. It is the idea rather than the object purely perceived in its natural state which determines the nature, meaning and function of the work. Babalola (1995) corroborates this by stating that artists are not only merely concerned with the expression of their nationality or traditional ideologies but the intrinsic value of art which lay in its universal and timeless element. It is this search for concepts that draws artists to familiar areas in the visual field in which relationships and interaction of elements of design influence each other. Selz (1981) observes that the fascination with patterns in nature brought about an intellectual interpretation that creates lively dialogue among objects, words, painted imitation and pasted reality. Lawal (1984), notes that artists like Obiora Udechukwu (b.1947) have transformed the Uli from mere body decoration into an aesthetic hot-line for communicating human emotions and aspirations. His concepts developed from lyrical inscription on the body to an aesthetic cultural identity.
Artists over time are therefore guided by certain perceptions in articulating a position when exploring a concept using a restricted palette. An early attempt of the use of a restricted palette in developing a concept is shown in Fig.1,a wall painting in chauvet Cave, Vallon-Pont-d‟Arc, Ardeche, France, ca.30,000-28,000 or ca.15,000-13,000BCE (Kleiner and Mamiya, 2006). The significance of this philosophy of using a restricted palette with bold black lines to define each animal brings out artistic idioms that can help probe into elements in nature. The images are easily recognisable animal forms engaged in common
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activities for their every day survival.They are depicted to show three-dimentionality with a use of expressions of bold lines,colour,texture and sensation of perspective.A sense of overlapping is created in this work.According to Hodge (2011) „pre-historic art are found to reveal various social systems and religious ideas that were probably generally understood thousands of years ago…‟ Fig: 1. Hall of the Bulls, Lascaux,Dordogne,France, ca.15, 000-13,000BCE.
Gimenez (2012) confirms that Paleolithic artists developed a primal visual language using charcoal and simple pigments to express and document their way of living. Most of the works created are in a wide range of sizes from tiny figurines painted on walls and ceilings to over-life-size animals, as in the cave at Lascaux. The influence of this is evident in the work of Picasso„s exploration with a limited palette (See Fig.26 p48 Marie-Therese, Face and Profile, Paris 1931).These instances cited so far, have shown that sometimes, artists
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therefore adopt a limited palette to interpret different phenomena in simple decipherable ways. Olive (2008), writing on issues like species extinction, pollution and deforestation, holds that artists are challenged to create works that promote greater awareness on environment and bring about the renewal process of depleted environment around the globe. He further reveals that there are four categories of understanding that artists have delved into on environmental issues through their works which include, Restoration, Mediation, Integration and Reflection. The concern in this research is Integration, where artists use imagery and metaphors to reveal patterns and relationships that exist in nature. In Nigeria, foremost artists whose works are a synthesis of elements in nature include Jerry Buhari (b.1959), Burns Effiom (b.1965), Kolade Oshinowo (b.1948) and Mu‟azu Mohammed Sani (b.1959). These artists remind the society of the hazards of environmental degeneration by depicting the environment that is devastated, deforested and exposed to heat (sun), and thereby causing global warming. Also, other artists around the world depict issues of life and the environment using allegory. These allegories created are interpreted in socio-cultural parlance as the futile attempt of our system to solve the issues of energy demand and societal tension. To this Eze (1995), states that the … artist clothes his concepts with such aura of factuality that the object being represented seems uniquely actual and at times not exactly the same thing, they become complex of the symbolic dimension of the social events they reflect, like the psychological or the metaphysical, and not abstractable from those events to which they refer.
These artists develop a visual concept that represents an idea and not necessarily representing actual things. This makes us to reflect on how common issues in nature can
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represent human conditions. Artistic dialogues are interpreted in ideas based on a wide range of engagements with elements in nature. With lines and colours, artists create discursive platforms that question global phenomena on social, political and economic matters such as Picasso‟s “Guernica” in 1937. 1.2 Statement of the Research Problem Artists have painted markets as they perceived them in terms of colour, lines and forms. They employ colours that depict the interaction in a market setting, depending on the article of trade making the market recognizable. Using grey and a restricted palette to portray market scenery has not been the concern of artists. It is anticipated that contemplation with the usage of grey to develop a body of paintings would result into possible allegories. Kleiner and Mamiya (2005) opine that rather than simply describe nature, poets and artists often use nature as allegory. In this manner, artists make spiritual, moral, historical and philosophical commentaries. 1.3 Aim and Objectives of the study The aim of this research is to explore charcoal market in painting using a restricted palette to create allegories through a combination of various elements in the market. The specific objectives are to:
i. use a restricted palette largely consisting of grey and subdued primary colours to build up a structure in painting that evokes a sombre mood,
ii. develop paintings that encompass abstraction, quasi-figuration and landscape that have a multiplicity of reading,
iii. explore the possibilities of creating a body of work that is imbued with philosophical issues relating to the environment,
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iv. portray and document aesthetically a charcoal market,
v. create paintings that mimic the structure of Piet Mondrian‟s Neoplasticism.
1.4 Research Questions
i. How can the use of a restricted palette consisting largely of grey and subdued primary colours build up a structure in painting that evokes a sombre mood?
ii. What is the possibility of a painting that encompasses abstraction; quasi-figuration and landscape generate multiplicity of reading?
iii. Does the conception of a charcoal market help in fashioning out our perception of
philosophical issues in painting?
iv. Can the works portray and document aesthetically a charcoal market?
v. How can the works produced mimic Piet Mondrian‟s structure of Neoplasticism?
1.5 Justification of the study Expressions of a market in painting especially of vegetables (tomatoes and onions) and clothing may easily elucidate a joyous mood that can inspire artists to explore. Danjuma (2010) observes that “the environment of such markets is usually charged with a lot of movements, noise, and clashing of colours…”A direct engagement with the charcoal market could however stir emotion of gloom, poverty, and chaos. This is partly due to its prevalent environmental influence on other colours. (See figs.2-5). The aesthetic possibilities in a charcoal market can represent a metaphor of the society. With this understanding, perhaps artists will look into harmonizing their work, not only to celebrate beauty but also create works that reflect societal issues.
1.6 Significance of the study
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The significance of this study hinges on the development of Painting concept from a charcoal market that speaks to us directly or indirectly. The simplicity and complexity of every design is not only to pass a message but to also make an aesthetic statement. It is hoped that the engagement with the charcoal market will assist in developing visual symbols necessary to communicate ideas and messages advocating for change concerning the environment. Fig.2. Charcoal Displayed in containers. Source: Kosoko, 2010
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Fig.3. Charcoal environment Source: Kosoko, 2010 . Fig.4.Woman Selling Charcoal. Source: Kosoko,2010
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Fig.5.Charcoal Market (bagging the future) Source: Kosoko, 2010 1.7 Scope of the study Based on the study carried out by observatory method of various charcoal markets in Jos, these markets have prevalent similarities in terms of the effect of charcoal on the environment. However, the scope of this study covers a charcoal market at Tafawa Balewa Street charcoal market in Jos, Plateau State Nigeria, that represents the observations made in other charcoal markets. The choice of this market is because of the aesthetic configuration it offers this research in terms of various patterns of trees, women, charcoal, and bowls and muted colours that co-exist in an entity.
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1.8 Conceptual framework The use of different motifs, symbols and icons by artists are guided by a trend of events in the articulation of dynamic elements that reflect on the environment and human existence in an interrelationship of colours. It presents us with the basis for philosophical research in painting. Eastern religious philosophy (Theosophy) and 19th century aesthetic philosophy had influenced artists to develop a unique way of expression far from nature. They developed works that were devoid of emotion and realism. Artists who were influenced include Piet Mondrian who co-founded an art journal, “De Stijl” (the style), where he published the manifesto and philosophy of Neoplasticism, a rigid and extreme form of abstraction which involved the depersonalization of art, abstracting natural phenomena, and making no reference to any recognizable entity. This allows a canvas to be subset into rectangular, horizontal and vertical lines and colours using a limited palette of black, grey, white and primary colours.
Piet Mondrian postulated a „purities‟ (pure reality) approach to art because he felt that Cubism had not separated art from nature. He felt that Cubism had not accepted „the logical consequences of its own discoveries; it was not developing abstraction towards its own ultimate goal‟. At that time Mondrian was set to depart from nature, to create a new construct based on his understanding of „opposites‟. Selz (1981) states that Mondrian‟s highly disciplined works of pure geometric precision do achieve the state of perfect and unalterable equilibrium for which he strove. In view of Mondrian‟s Neoplasticism, this study is restricted to partial visible orientation in representing subjects or elements from the charcoal market including tree trunks, women, colours, textures and lines, boldly and
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loosely defined in grid form bearing semblance to Mondrian‟s line structure. By exploring organic lines, the researcher reinforces the flatness of colour in one instance and yet attempt to create illusion of depth in another. This, in essence, is to push further the Neoplasticism theory of Piet Mondrian and Rick Stevens‟ exploration of symbolic associations and organic lines derived from nature. These combined with the fragmentation of forms as in Picasso‟s (1908) Cubist movement into another platform of illusionalistic rendering. The intention is to achieve aesthetic independence which reflects analysis of forms in a simple plane of gray shades. The limitation of this schematic method or palette renders the motifs subjective within the flow of space.
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1.9 Definition of Terms Allegory: A symbolic representation of charcoal market events and scenes in painting which expresses artistic genre with a multiplicity of deeper meaning than the surface interpretation. Black: Palace of oppression where colour is subjugated. Charcoal market: a conglomeration of patches of muted colours blending together in a composite whole. It is an environment where dark substance is found which absorbs other colours. Configuration: An arrangement of segmented or component parts alienated by lines. De Stijl: „the style‟ an art journal where Piet Mondrian and his colleagues published their theories on Neo-plasticism which is described as attempt to create international art. Horizontal: Conveys a solitary and restful moods especially horizon of a flat landscape Metaphoric: Using charcoal market to depict environmental concern and human conditions. Multiplicity of reading: Tendency to interpret a work in different perspectives from social, cultural, economic and philosophical or peculiar visual understanding.
Neo-plasticism: (New art).This is an extreme form of abstraction which is dominated by geometric shapes, flat colours and interlocking planes where opposing forces of vertical and horizontal agree in harmony, propagated by Piet Mondrian.
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Organic lines: Natural occurrence of lines in a forested environment in vertical and horizontal formation. Restricted Palette: It is used to represent a palette of grey scheme and drops of muted primary colours. Swirl lines: Lines that turn with a circular twisting in different motion, to make aesthetic statements. Synthesis: Combination of different ideas, influences, styles, elements and concepts found in other artists unified on canvas into a new whole. Ulism: Traditional body decoration inscribed for identification found in the eastern part of Nigeria developed as an aesthetic philosophy by artists like Uche Okeke and others to express them. Western Convention (Academic art) of 17th -19thcenturies-Official art academies established across Europe; where art is taught to students with emphasis on formal order. It is an intellectual aspect of art with skillful approach beyond craftsmanship.
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