antony clarkson
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The Athole House Studio
Self-Isolation Artist Residency
30th March 2020 - 7th November 2021

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Over my career I have taken part in many artist residencies in various parts of the world; I have even organised and run a residency program myself. 2020 has brought new challenges to us all, I however intend to treat these challenges as opportunities. With this in mind today, the first day of my self-isolation having arrived back from my studio in the Untied States last night, I I launch my new blog which will become an integral part of this website as I redesign is over the coming weeks.

Artist Residencies give artists the space and perhaps more importantly the time to make new work; I intend to treat my time in self-isolation in the same way that I would if I were on an artist residency in another studio in another part of the world. Athole House Studio maybe one of my home studios but for me it is a work space, and lets face it, we all now have the time.

THE SELF-ISOLATION RESIDENCY 16th FEBRUARY 2021: DAY 324

2/16/2021

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New work in progress. Working title: "Beyond and Beyond."
Oil paint on plywood block, 150 x 150 mm

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19, 20, 21: Finding a reason to paint, in search of the sublime. 16th February 2021.
Part 31: 'Interpretation, abstraction, illusion.
An Unsettling Appeal: Insearch of the Sublime.

By contrast Bacon’s volumes are pictorially interiors. They are frequently bland, sometimes they even behave in such a way as though their intention is to invoke domesticity or even mundanity. These interiors do vary in their nature, sometimes they are a constructed architectural space with an ostensibly transparent fourth wall, whilst on other occasions they appear to be little more than a suggestion of a glass vitrines suspended in the void, a cage defined by construction lines which we observe from without; however they are structured they remain very specifically a delineated volume which Bacon constructs in order to contain the mass of his figures.

There is also a huge contrast between Tanguy’s and Bacon’s figures; if Tanguy’s are dense, Bacon’s can really be described as indistinct or, sometimes even, ethereal. Although they do, clearly have strong anthropomorphic references and sometimes display weight, the edges of these figures blur and flow, not only into each other but also into the defined volumes specifically forged to restrain them. In a peculiar way this combination of the distinct volumes and indistinct masses, sometime make Bacon’s work feel more surreal than Tanguy’s.

I would argue that both artists own a debt to De Chirico for their volumes and masses; perhaps, specifically, Tanguy for his treatment of mass and Bacon for his handling of volume.  Interestingly, although Tanguy’s paintings conjure indefinite presences into being, the solidity of them often feels more tangible and perhaps even reliable than might be anticipated in surrealism, whereas the occupants of Bacon’s environments tend to be the ones that feel uncannier.


To be continued...
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  • CODEX
    • plane >
      • Apophenia: An Uncanny Presence.
      • Control(s)
      • Personal Topographies
      • The Self-Isolation Residency
      • Americana
      • Mauve Skies
      • Scotland
      • Selected Drawing & Paintings,
      • The Teaching Years
      • Spatial Paintings 2006-2008
      • Paintings 2006
    • mass >
      • The Blind Men and the Elephant.
      • Spatial Conceptions 2014 - 2022
      • Painted Objects
      • Autograph
      • The Newtonian Nightmare
    • volume >
      • Enso nest
      • Someone else's storey
      • Shower, The Process Residency 2013,
      • Concrete Haiku
      • Atypical
      • The Murder of Crows.
      • Composition in White (Painting), The Breathe Residency:
      • Composition in White (Sculpture), The Breathe Residency:
      • Floorplan
      • Paper Scissors Rock
      • Pilgrimage
      • The Fifth Column
      • Tension
      • Arch
    • blogs >
      • The Self-Isolation Residency: Blog 2020-2021
      • Apophenia: An Uncanny Presence. 2022
    • artist statement
    • cv & education
    • contact