christophermadden

Mirror art – reflected spheres

Ring of Spheres – a study in the hierarchy of forms

Mirrors, wood, papier mâché 15x28x30cm February 2022

Two mirrors set at an angle to each other with a hemispherical object placed between them.

The reflection of the hemisphere in the mirror on which its base rests creates the effect of a complete sphere, while the second mirror generates multiple reflections to give the effect of a ring of spheres. The number of spheres can be changed by varying the angle between the mirrors.

It’s interesting to notice that when you look at this work you see reflected spheres although in reality you’re seeing reflected hemispheres. The sphere is visually, conceptually and metaphorically a more dominating form than the hemisphere, and thus its apparent presence in this work swamps the actual reality of there only being a hemisphere present.

This work taps into my interest in the generation of forms from more basic forms, with simple forms being the building blocks of more complex entities and objects (see also my abstract moving image work). In this case the hemisphere can be interpreted as being an incomplete form which transforms into a complete sphere which in turn creates more spheres.

The sphere can be thought of as a symbol of perfection or completeness, while a hemisphere is axiomatically incomplete (as its name implies).

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Humour in Contemporary Art

In the history of modern art and contemporary art a noticable number of practitioners started their careers working in areas of commercial art such as graphic design and illustration. They had to earn a living after all.

Pop artist Andy Warhol is probably the most well known, but he’s joined by others such as Philip Guston, Ed Ruscha and Edward Hopper.

Some artists started out by trying their hand drawing cartoons. Philip Guston enrolled in a correspondence course from the Cleveland School of Cartooning.

A lot of artists tend to take themselves very seriously, so drawing funny cartoons isn’t necessarily the best fit for them.

If you look at the cartoons in Punch magazine from around the year 1900 and you compare them to the style of cartoons drawn today you’ll notice how good the draughtsmanship was in the earlier cartoons, but also how unfunny they often are (at least to us in the twenty-first century). That of course may be partly a symptom of humour not aging well, but it could also be partly that in those early Punch cartoons the cartoons were drawn by artists of high technical skill but with low senses of humour, while today it’s more likely that cartoons are drawn by people with high senses of humour but low technical skills.

Humour in contemporary art

The contemporary art world is generally a very serious place, in which the deeper meanings of art are to be prized and where works are scrutinised for evidence of profound political, social and psychological insights in every brushstroke or choice of colour.

In the world of contemporary art seriousness prevails, however, at the same time serious issues (currently dominated by identity politics) are tackled in a totally different way within the genre of comedy, especially stand-up, where the main purveyors such as Ricky Gervais can earn a fortune from a single Netflix special.

Humor in contemporary art

Cartoons are often dismissed as being trivial and unworthy of serious consideration. I would strongly disagree with this, being a cartoonist myself (See the book below). The same criticism can be applied to all disciplines of creative endeavour after all.

A book of humour about art

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Assemblage from discarded objects

Assemblage of discarded objects

Ball and other detritus. September 2021

A sculpture or assemblage constructed from old objects such as a discarded ball, clips for holding paper on a drawing board and a discarded homemade ‘constructivist’ toy.
An example of up-cycling in art, with associations to art movements such as arte povera and environmental art.

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Assemblage composed of G-clamps

Assemblage of G-clamps

G-clamps and speed clamp. September 2021

A sculpture constructed from G-clamps attached to a speed clamp.
Normally clamps are used in order to hold other objects together (such as glued pieces of wood while the glue dries). Here the clamps are holding each other together. The assemblage can be interpreted as a metaphor for human society holding itseld together by using its own inherent qualities and strengths.

An version of this concept shows the clamps at an angle – possibly a metaphor for the precariousness of the cohesion of human society.

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Blinds and light

Patterns of light

Photograph. Zennor. July 2021

A photograph of patterns of light created by the sun shining on blinds in a conservatory.

The bright dots of light on the wooden beams are created by light shining through the holes in the blinds that accommodate the blinds’ threads.

Cast light holds a particular interest for me.

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Sunshine and Shadows.

Sunshine and Shadows.

Video. 30 sec. May 2018

A video of the sun creating complex patterns on the ground.

The video was shot in the gardens of Hatfield House in Hertfordshire, UK. The shadows are created by the branches of a pleached lime walk and the structure that is supporting it.

The video points to, amongst other things, the concept that the earth is connected to the sun in complex ways, with the sun creating the intricate patterns of life on earth (here portrayed by the complex patterns in the shadows of the branches). The fact that the pleached lime hedge is partly a work of artifice emphasises the link between the human race and the natural world (here portrayed by the shadows of the hedge’s supporting structure).

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Angled mirror art

Angled mirror piece

Wood, acrylic, mirrors. 18x23x18cm. June 2021

A sculpture formed of two painted wood blocks placed between two mirrors at angles to each other.

Unlike with most mirrors, which are vertical, the mirrors in this work are at 45 degrees to the horizontal, producing a reflection that includes the vertical axis rather than just the usual horizontal one.
I think that reflections on the verticle axis are inherently more interesting than those on the horizontal axis because they invert the image top to bottom rather than just flipping it right to left – a right to left reflection simply puts the right side to the left, with the only striking evidence of anything being unusual is when writing becomes back-to-front. Vertically reflected images however turn the whole world upsidedown.

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A visual metaphor for mental states.

A person with a padlock as a head

Digital sketch 2014

A sketch of a person with a head in the form of a padlock. The person is carrying a walking stick in the form of a key.

I’ve used a padlock as a head in several works. I think that it probably signifies mental states of various kinds. States that need unlocking.

The key in this sketch probably acts as an aid or a crutch.

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Contemporary art crucifix

Cross

Wood, plastic, acrylic, torch, 18x18x11cm. November 2020

This sculpture suggests a contemporary art Christian crucifix.

A sculpture formed from a wood block, plastic hands and a small hand torch.
The work is composed of very simple components (the wood block is a piece of 2×2). In this version the cross is dramatically lit by a pocket torch.
The work bears a resemblence to a Christian crucifix, although this is actually an emergent property of the work rather than a primary aim. The initial concept behind the sculpture is of hands that also resemble wings attached to a geometrically simple form (In this case a rectangular block, in other cases spheres).
The position of the hands give an impressing of offering embrace, while also giving the impression of being elevating (when the hands are seen as wings). These are properties that enhance the work’s identification to the ideals of Christianity. The feeling of elevation in the work is enhanced by the fact that the cross seems to be suspended in the air. It is actually firmly rooted on a dark blue, flat horizontal surface, with the atmosphere of elevation being provided by the simple dramatic light of the hand torch.
You may also notice that one hand is black while the other is white, which may be seen as a symbol of inclusivity and universal human togetherness.

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Environmental art – black flower sketch

Environmental art. Black flower sketch.

Acrylic and watercolour on paper. 2023.

An acrylic and watercolour painting of a black flower.
This painting is an example of my work relating to environmental issues, a subject with which I’ve been involved since the late 1960s. In this painting the flower’s petals are black, the flower’s stem is black, and the grass is black. The flower’s petals are shrivelled and misshapen and the stem is crooked. It’s an image of foreboding.
In contrast to all this blackness the centre of the flower is reflective gold. But it’s a dull gold, which may act to reinforce the bleakness of the black rather than creating a glimmer of brightness. It’s ambiguous.
The gold centre to the flower and the spiky petals give a hint of a dying sun or star, with the accompanying implications for life on earth (such as the flower). It’s a dying sunflower.

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Environmental art – Earth in a Builder’s Skip II

Environmental art. The Earth in a builder’s skip

Video (1min 1sec). November 2023

A video camera moves towards a builder’s skip and travels through a hole in the tarpaulin that covers the skip to reveal the contents of the skip.

The contents are seen to be a view of outer space with planet Earth suspended or floating in it. The builder’s skip may be thought of as a portal to another dimension.

A meaning of the artwork is that the Earth has been reduced to the rubble and rubbish that is disposed of in builder’s skips or dumpsters, which are primarily designed to hold the debris and waste from construction projects and demolition projects. The work is a critique of our disposable consumer society and the environmental crisis that we are currently living through. In the area of London in which I live there are frequently builder’s skips positioned on the road in front of houses as the owners rip out perfectly good kitchens and replace them with new kitchens. It’s happening just a few doors away right now.

A video still from the Earth in a Builder’s Skip video.

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Environmental art – Sinking Time

Sinking Time. Environmental art.

Digital sketch. October 2023.

A digital sketch or painting that reflects my concerns about environmental issues, showing a watch sinking in a stormy sea.

The watch or clock is a metaphor for time (as usual). The watch is being buffeted by a stormy sea and is in the process of sinking. The sea is a metaphor for climate change, global warming and other environmental concerns, both generally and specifically as they apply to the sea. The fact that the clock or watch is sinking is a sign that we are running out of time. The clock is not just a metaphor for time, it is also a metaphor for civilisation and the technology on which we rely ( A clock being an elaborate piece of highly sophisticated engineering). The fact that it is impossible for a watch to float in the first place may be a factor to consider too.

The theme of this sketch reflects my interest in creating environmental art because of my concerns about the state of the planet due to climate change, environmental degradation and other aspects of environmentalism (which has been a concern of mine since the 1960s).

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Insect sketch from the imagination

Imaginary beetle sketch

Digital. 2012.

A digital sketch created for a print. It features a stylised insect drawn from my imagination.
The insect is drawn in a sketchy black and white style that is perhaps suggestive of images produced using traditional printmaking techniques such as woodcut, woodblock or linocut. It also reminds me of scraper board.
The black sky makes me think that it’s a nocturnal insect of some kind. It also looks a bit like a tortoise for some reason, with perhaps a bit of rhinoceros thrown in.

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Abstract in acrylic and gouache

Stripes with smoke

Acrylic and gouache on paper, collage. 14x14cm. September 2020

An acrylic and gouache abstract painting composed of a square of brightly coloured stripes embedded within a smoke-like form in gouache. The coloured square is revealed through a hole in the paper on which the smoke is painted.

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Geometric abstract painting on paper of coloured rectangles

Stacks. Geometric abstract painting.

Acrylic on paper 26x61cm. July 2020

A geometrical acrylic abstract painting composed of two separate rectangular areas each with a stack of smaller coloured rectangles embedded within it. The rectangles in the upper area form a ladder while those in the lower area are more brightly coloured.
The amount of white paper on which the shapes are placed is important, as the forms seem to float on the surface rather than the surface simply being the base onto which the image is painted.

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Geometrical abstract acrylic painting on paper

Geometrical abstract acrylic painting – yellow square blue diagonal

Acrylic on paper 8.5×8.5cm on a 21x29cm sheet. July 2020

An acrylic minimalist geometric abstract of a yellow square on a black background, with a blue diagonal. The interior of the square is very dark grey, not black.
The paint is high viscosity acrylic, so it has a slight texture. The edges of the forms in the painting are generally sharp due to the use of masking film. A very small amount of bleed under the film was allowed in places (by not pressing the film too firmly onto the paper) so that a few imperfections could occur, thus preventing the forms being too clinically precise.

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Ants on an art gallery wall. Proposal

Note: this work has coincidental similarities to House Taken by Rafael Gomezbarros.

My concept predates that of Gomezbarros, mine being originally conceived in the 1990s to accompany an article in the Guardian newspaper, while Gomezbarros’s work was created in the 2000’s (as far as I can tell).

A proposal for an artwork about ants as a super organism

Artist’s impression for a gallery installation. January 2020. Based on a work from 1990

A proposal or concept for an artwork showing ants crawling across an art gallery wall, with the ants grouping together and coalescing into the form of a single gigantic ant.
The artwork depicts the concept of the superorganism, in which multiple individual organisms of the same species (in this case ants) interact by a process of synergy to give rise to a collective body that can operate in ways that the individuals can’t. The individual organisms within the superorganism usually display a degree of division of labour or specialisatoin of function, meaning that the individual organisms can’t survive for long on their own. Human civilisation is often defined as a form of superorganism, although this isn’t strictly accurate, as humans can survive alone.

The ants in the work may be two dimensional, such as in a mural, or three dimensional such as in a sculptural work.

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Contemporary body part art

Finger
Cardboard cereal carton, acrylic gouache, finger. June 2020

A cardboard cereal carton of the type with an oval window in it to reveal the contents, painted with black acrylic gouache. A hand is placed inside the carton, with one finger protruding through the window.
The photograph here has a strange unsettling quality partly due to the disconcerting suggestive appearance of the finger, which looks like a penis. If it had been a penis the image would have definitely been a piece of fetish art. The fact that it’s actually only a finger gives the image an uneasy air of dissonance. It’s meant to be quite humorous.
Another unsettling element to the image is that the physical context of the components are quite hard to read. The black box is not on a surface, as it is on the end of the arm that the finger belongs to (mine). The background includes an open door The door handle is visible upper right, with the door frame to the immediate left of the box) and there is the edge of a chest of drawers at the extreme left.

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Environmental art – smoking globe

Global warming art – Smoking Globe

Digital print. November 2023.

A smoking globe. Planet Earth suffering the consequences of climate change or global warming.

The globe in the image is resting on the ground rather than floating in space. It may be a giant sculpture of the earth smouldering as a result of climate change. It also has the appearance of being some sort of crashed or abandoned man-made structure, as though the earth is an artificial artefact, which in many ways it is, and that this is the reason for its stricken state.

The globe is resting on the ground in a very large field. In the background is a row of trees. These trees give a hint towards the existence of nature and the natural world, however on a second look it may be noticed that the trees themselves are in a perfectly straight line and are all the same age and species – they are in fact part of a completely man-made landscape.

This is one of my many works dealing with environmental issues such as climate change and global warming.

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Expanding and radiating forms

Expansion I

Digital animation August 2019

A video still from the work.

A work from my series of abstract animations depicting radiating forms expanding outwards from a central point of emergence. The work is linked to my interest in the process of creation on a cosmic scale, such as the creation of the universe at the Big Bang or the expansion of a star or other celestial object.

A video still from the work

The work is ideally viewed on a large screen.

This work was exhibited in the London Group gallery, Waterloo, London in December 2019 and the Penwith Gallery, St Ives Cornwall in February 2020.

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