Theme 3 >> Pictorial Space

Artists use different methods to represent pictorial space on 2-D surfaces.  To put it simply, pictorial space is illlusionary depth that gives the viewer the impression that objects are receded back or placed forwards in the picture plane.  The picture plane or picture surface is the 2-D painting surface and harnessing pictorial space creates a 3-D effect.  Methods used to construct pictorial space included the use of geometric projection, scientific and mathematical perspective, layered and atmospheric perspective, multiple-perspectives, fragmentation, colours, lines and tonal variations.

General Questions

1.       Can you identify how the artist develops a push-and-pull effect of pictorial space?

2.       How is the subject matters of the painting affected by the use of pictorial space? Analyse how the painting’s physical and spatial composition places the subject within a certain context.

3.       What impression does the use of pictorial space have on the viewer?  Do you feel disoriented?  Or does this enhance the realistic perception of the image?

Prasong Luemuang (Thailand 1962 – present)

Insanity

Gouache on canvas

122 x 162 cm  1993

Collection of SAM

The Artist

Coming from the rural village in Lamphum province, Prasong enrolled briefly in Silpakorn University where he undertook a Bachelor of Fine Arts course that focused on Thai art.  He left before graduation as he wished to remain a largely self-taught artist.  In 1987, he received numerous accolades in Thailand.  The artist has had many exhibitions in Thailand and around the region but his work continues to concentrate on the Thai rural community, its customs and cultural practices.

The Artwork

Still based in his hometown, Prasong’s art is informed by his rural background.  He employs images from daily life, superstitions and cultural practices to create juxtapositions and contrasts between high art and native artistic practices   Images and metaphorical subject matter alluding to fertility, Mother Nature, folk animism and spirituality such as farmyard animals, provincial fashion, villagers and mythological figures abound on the canvas.  This painting is a frenzy of colour and detailed activity, as is typical of Prasong’s work.  His paintings usually employ a vivid lively palette, so as to convey the complex and warm nature of his rural subjects.  The artist has often compared his paintings to a theatre set where plays are performed and free rein is given to the thoughts, feelings and imagination of the actors or subjects in the painting.  This particular artwork presents a world of playful chaos that caricatures perceptions of human behaviour. The viewer is left unable to judge who the painting’s title describe and if the term insanity is applicable to the world beyond Prasong’s canvas.

Question

When one looks at the work, one gets the impression that the world has exploded into an insane mass of colours, crazy subjects and compositions.  Taking the point that the figures are caricatures of human emotions and tendencies, discuss the painting to see if the seven deadly sins have been illustrated.

Does this remind you of any works by Kandinsky? Prehaps?

Anita Magsaysay-Ho (Philippines 1914 – present)

Ginger Tea

Oil on canvas  49 x 39 cm 1957

Collection of SAM

The Artist

A graduate of the University of the Philippines School of Fine Art, Magsaysay-Ho received tutelage from many renowned artists and formal training from the Art Student’s league in New York and the Cranbrook Academy of Art.  Working in oil and canvas as well as the traditional painting method of tempera, Maysaysay-Ho’s artworks articulate the grace and beauty of Filipinas and their surroundings.  

The Artwork

In common with other works produced in the Philippines at this time, rural life is romanticized and the folk camaraderie Banyanihan (community sharing of tasks and fostering of fellowship) are perpetuated.  A popular subject of the artist is the sensual and earthy Filipina peasant woman.  Drawn characteristically with smooth tanned skin, sharp features, angular faces, slim builds and graceful limbs, these women are captured in the midst of their daily lives.  More often than not, as depicted here, they wear the peasant’s baro’t saya (a handkerchief on the head) immediate markers of their station in life.  Their contentment is emphasized by the rich warm red, brown and orange tones of the palette.  The viewer is drawn into the intimate scene by the painted framework that acts as an enclosure wherein two huddled figures embrace their bowls of tea in unison.  The subjects are unaware of the viewer’s gaze and this portrayal effuses feelings of tenderness and calm, we are privy to this moment of rest and respite.

Tran Trong Vu (Vietnam 1964 – present)

Untitled

Oil on canvas 104 x 252 cm 1994

Collection of SAM

The Artist

Born in Hanoi, Tran Trong Vu is the son of the famous Vietnamese literary figure and dissident Tran Dan.  He began his formal training at the Hanoi School of Fine Arts and later graduated from the Hanoi College of Fine Arts in 1987.  Following his graduation, he taught at his old alma mater for two years before moving to Paris to continue his education at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux Arts.  Living in Paris from 1989 until the present.

The Artwork

This painting is typical of Tran’s early work with its minimalist composition and glimpses of everyday life in Vietnam.  His decision not to proceed down the same Realist path of highly traditional subjects such as pensive maidens and picturesque blossoms provided subtle critique of narrow generalizations and French Orientalist notions of Vietnamese art.  In this minimalist scene a street stall vendor prepares oil lamps for his tables whilst in the far right hand corner, a child plays with a ball and studies some mathematics.  The subjects have been reduced into objects – forms defined by lines, limbs broken up into separations of shape and colour. Pictorial space is immediately defined by a thin line running across the width of the painting, hence creating an obvious horizon marker.  This is further complemented by the placement of the figures and tables.  Tran’s painting uses pictorial language and palette to illustrate characteristics from Vietnamese art history such as the simplicity of folk art, traditional sense of everyday subjects and influences from modern Western art.

Question

Notice how a single line is deployed in this picture.  The line establishes the foreground and the background, almost as if against a vertical backdrop or wall.  Whatever is in front of the line is in front, while the objects place behind are further back or against the wall.  Notice how the topmost low table, which has crossed the line, appears to be up against the wall.  Could the line suggest a difference in floor height , so then the table could be off the curb?  Does the line also seem to connect the only two figures in the painting?  Symbolically, father to son?  Consider how the legs of the tables as well as the legs of the human figures seem distorted, almost unstable or broken?  What does this convey to the viewer?

Ivan Sagito (Indonesia 1957 – present)

Yang Menghilangkan Dirinya

Oil on canvas  138.5 x 109 cm   1994

Collection of SAM

The Artist

Sagito received formal training at the Sekolah Seni Rupah Indonesia and the Indonesian Academy of Fine Arts (ASRI) in Yogyakarta.  He is well known for his surrealist-style paintings which depict social issues in Javanese society.  His images often draw from traditional myths and beliefs.  

The Artwork

In the style of classical Renaissance drapery, Sagito’s stirringly eerie painting depicts faceless figures being swaddled and suspended by cloth.  The direct translation of the title reads ‘the man just disappeared.’  In a scenic background of golden sand and cerulean blue sky, the figures are a startling contrast – painted without faces and with their backs towards us, they are without identity and emotion.  We are unable to see their reaction to this physical persecution and although the brightly coloured drapery of the cloth is reminiscent of the soft folds of monk’s robes or the deliberate drapery of fashion design, the atmosphere is grim and foreboding.  The artist is known for his discussion of social issues and the plight of the working class in Indonesia, this painting is perhaps a reference to the political turbulence of 1994 when unsettling political manoeuvring and promotion of the elite were instigated by then President Suharto’s announcement that he would step down in 1998.  The situation was further aggravated by workers riots in Medan and claims that proceedings for the trial of murdered unionist Marsinah and graft charges against tycoon Eddy Tansil were unjustly favourable for the upper echelons.  These events contributed to further unrest in an already turbulent environment and the government reacted by tightening the reins on intellectual expression, military autonomy and political opinion.  It was in these circumstances that this painting was created and we can draw analogies between the subject matter of the painting and the situation in Indonesia.

Discuss with the students the translated title of the artwork ‘the man just disappeared’.  While people do literally disappear sometimes, what is being discussed in this artwork, and what does the artist actually mean?

Chen Wen Hsi (China 1906 – Singapore 1992)

Herons

Chinese ink and colour on paper 123 x 245 cm 1990

Collection of SAM

The Artist

Born in the Guangdong province in China, Chen studied at the renowned Xinhua Arts Academy of Fine Arts in Shanghai.  After a teaching stint at the South China College in Shantou form 1946 to 1947, he traveled around Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia before settling down in Singapore.  Considered one of the most influential artists of his generation, the artist gave voice to his creativity in many different genres of expression and styles.  He is known for his studies in Formalism, Cubism and Expressive Abstraction as well as minimalist ink on paper works influenced by Zen painting and the Qing school of Yangzhou ‘eccentrics’.  Chen has an eclectic body of work that harmonizes and unites the best of Chinese traditional painting and modern Western practices.  This ability to experiment and synthesize different styles from a substantial knowledge of art history from different cultures was passed onto many of his pupils at the Chinese High School where he taught from 1949 to 1968 and the Nanyang Academy of Fine Art from 1951 to 1959.  

The Artwork

One of Chen Wen His’s most significant pieces in SAM, this artwork is painted in the medium of Chinese ink and colour on paper and is influenced by the Western art movements of abstraction and cubism.  This painting was created during what is regarded as the mature stage of Chen’s aritistic career during the 1980’s.  Here, composition is carefully structured as interlocking and overlapping herons create the illusion of pictorial depth.  The lack of a defined boundary or use of pictorial framing device in the painting imbibes feelings of continuity and eternity.  Symbolically, the heron connotes favourable omens in Greek mythology, contentment in early Chinese text and a progressive path in Chinese culture (because of the homonym of lu meaning path or way), Chen perpetuates these meanings through his composition and also through the use of repetitive elements in the angular shapes and complementary variations in the earth-tones palette.

Question

Where realist paintings are about faithfully capturing details, abstractions only loosely capture general features and rely on other significant features including colour to suggest forms and meanings.  Try to recognize the anatomy of the heron in the depictions.  It may take some imagination, which in a way makes this piece of artwork more interesting and appealing.  Pay careful attention to the suggestion of water level of this lake or body of water with some small fish swimming in the foreground.

Although this artist was strongly inspired by Chinese ink painting, it is also obvious that she studied Futurism and Cubism.  Can you see an similarities between his work and that of Picasso?

Chen Chong Swee (China 1910 – Singapore 1985)

Mountain Scenery

Chinese ink and colour on paper  106 x 56 cm  1962

Collection of SAM

The Artist

Born in Guangdong Province in China, Chen Chong Swee graduated from the eminent Xinhua Arts Academy in Shanghai, China in 1931.  Shortly after, he settled in Singapore where he co-founded the Salon Art Society now known as the Singapore Society of Chinese Artists in 1935 and the Singapore Watercolour Society in 1969.  

The Artwork

The artist adhered to Xie He’s 6^th century ink painting ideal of the Six Principles which professed the necessity of spiritual resonance, structural application of brushwork, naturalistic depiction in colour and form, necessity of good composition and transmission of the old master’s examples.  In this painting, Chen demonstrates the Six Principles and illustrates typical characteristics of Chinese pictorial composition.  The viewer’s vantage point is from below and we encounter a high-distance perspective from a distance.  The long vertical format of Chinese scroll painting holds astute attention to composition by placing a steep mountainside on the right side and tall leaning tree in the centre to further increase the feeling of height and depth.  In the background rests the outline of a mountain peak, building the viewer’s feeling of pictorial depth in the painting.  The naturalistic palette of soft verdant greens, earthly brown, misty greys and absences of colour imbibe a feeling of airiness and serenity.  This palette is expressed with fluid gentle brush strokes, generating a soothing and contemplative atmosphere.

Question

The painting is an example of a vertical scroll.  One is meant to unroll the scroll from the bottom, gradually taking in the scenery as it unfold’s before one’s eyes. Notice how the distance is portrayed as going up the canvas with a gradual fading of colour.  This is a typical Chinese perspective meant to suggest distances which is quite different from Western perspective.  This is called Aerial perspective.  Discuss how the colour tones gradually fade from the darkest tone to the palest.  A traditional Chinese painting would use nine tones. 

Dede Eri Supria (Indonesia 1956 – present)

Amongst Red Beans

Oil on Canvas  95 x 149 cm   1992

Collection of SAM

The Artist

Dede trained in the studio of Dukut Hendranoto and at the Indonesian Fine Art in Yogyakarta.  In the late 1970’s, he became a member of the Gerakan Seni Rupa Baru (New Art Movment) and this was to be a great influence on his work.  Supporters of this movement sought to critically illustrate social, political and cultural issues using aesthetic language that was not contained within local Indonesian understanding but were instead influenced by international contemporary art movements such as Pop Art.  

The Artwork

This piece is a fine example of Dede’s characteristic photo-realist style that discusses social issues.  Here he weaves an atmosphere of the surreal within the harshness of developing urban sprawl.  At first glance, the scarlet of the metal construction beams creates a festive atmosphere but this framework is one that separates and creates confusion.  In the foreground, an unused railway track leads to nowhere whilst the children stand puzzled and aimless.  They are alienated from one another, desolate and separated in different groups by the physical barriers of the construction beams and the play of light that creates pictorial space.  We can view the painting in three sections that have been created using the devices of composition and pictorial space.  In the first, two boys stand with their backs towards us surveying the scene.  In the second, a group of four children gaze into the distance in puzzled anticipation whilst in the third a boy apes Auguste Rodin’s the The Thinker pose with a metaphorical labyrinth echoing life’s journey lurks in the background shadows.  The waiting and watching youths are trapped, mentally caught in a mocking labyrinth of confusion and disillusion – Dede eloquently conveys the dismal situation of the young working class in the Indonesian society.

Question

What do you see as barriers for you or your families?  Discuss how do locked gates, doors, horizontal beams and other restricted entries present physical barriers as well as other barriers that are less tangible and subtle such as ‘glass ceilings’ wage caps, quotas.  What are other barriers you can think of?