“Art puts the empirical (the unquestioned beliefs of the world of everyday life) into question through its insistent engagement in the practice of re-presenting, of relating to the ‘presence’ of phenomena: it does this through offering itself as an experience”. Michael Phillipson
“Art puts the empirical (the unquestioned beliefs of the world of everyday life) into question through its insistent engagement in the practice of re-presenting, of relating to the ‘presence’ of phenomena: it does this through offering itself as an experience”.
Michael Phillipson
What had begun for Arnaoutopoulos as a process of enquiry into the effect of paint "soiling" on surfaces, has resulted in an exhibition which also articulates a ceremonialised objectification of the artistic work process.
Arnaoutopoulos' concerns are about the synthesis of action (both ritualistic and accidental) and the passage of time. Earlier exhibited works were a response to his past observations of the incidental buildup of paint that occurred around printing machines in the industrial workplace. This latest exhibition took him into the studio environment where he endeavoured to re-create or re-present the soiling process that takes place in the act of painting itself.
What becomes apparent, however, is not just the result of an objective approach to the notion of soiling and its reflection of time/space, but also the iconographic/ceremonial arrangement of the art product.
The re-construction or re-presentation of the accidental soiling/weathering process required ritualistic expression, and it became apparent to Arnaoutopoulos that in this process of building and eroding, the history of art-making comes through. It necessitated the gestural application of pure colour on canvas, accidentally or incidentally including other objects which were often innocent recipients in the act. The throwing of paint against surfaces, the subsequent muddying and the lasting image of those final haphazard spots of pure colour called forth memories of the universal act of painting throughout history.
In his "altar-like" installation composed of the “tools of his trade”, Arnaoutopoulos assigns these
Andrew Arnaoutopoulos, Installation View, 1987.
