Colleen Ahern
Angels on Airwaves
Neon Parc
1/53 Bourke Street Melbourne, May 2006
Bedtime 2006 oil on board 30x30cm
Colleen Ahern is kind of like Elizabeth Peyton. She makes art about pop music. Whereas Peyton’s works look like they have been made by a music fan, Ahern’s paintings have a studied and, in some cases, Old Master look about them. Most of the paintings are portraits of people like Tom Waits, PJ Harvey and Leonard Cohen, but there were also pictures of a concert, a girl playing guitar and this weird triptych of naked chicks on bicycles. While the show was hung pretty sparse, the arrangement of the works seemed to reflect different sensibilities in the treatment of the subjects. The Harvey painting looked rushed and was probably the least successful work in the show. On the other hand, paintings like Winter were Richteresque in their execution; as were Cohen, London and Asylum. Overall it was a really good show, but I think that it could have benefited from more works and works of different sizes.
Jules
Neon Parc
1/53 Bourke Street Melbourne, May 2006
Bedtime 2006 oil on board 30x30cm
Colleen Ahern is kind of like Elizabeth Peyton. She makes art about pop music. Whereas Peyton’s works look like they have been made by a music fan, Ahern’s paintings have a studied and, in some cases, Old Master look about them. Most of the paintings are portraits of people like Tom Waits, PJ Harvey and Leonard Cohen, but there were also pictures of a concert, a girl playing guitar and this weird triptych of naked chicks on bicycles. While the show was hung pretty sparse, the arrangement of the works seemed to reflect different sensibilities in the treatment of the subjects. The Harvey painting looked rushed and was probably the least successful work in the show. On the other hand, paintings like Winter were Richteresque in their execution; as were Cohen, London and Asylum. Overall it was a really good show, but I think that it could have benefited from more works and works of different sizes.
Jules
posted by speech at 8:46 PM
4 Comments:
I went to the exhibition together with Julia a few weeks ago. I liked the setting of the paintings, although the walls looked empty and more paintings could have been displayed. Even though these paintings are generally not of my taste(colour,etc.) I did really like a few ones,such as the one of the concert, just because it is the first time I have ever seen such a painting. The idea is very creative and original. The other painting I really liked was 'bicycle' showing the passage of time. One key aspect that I thought the gallery lacked was actual rock and roll music, because that was the main theme of the exhibition. I believe that having music or any form of relating installation would have enriched my experience.
I went to Colleen Ahern's exhibition together with my partner. I have never been to the gallery before and it took us a while to actually find the gallery,because it is hidden back in an alleyway. The exhibition portraits music in using images that show instruments, a concert and musicians.The images consist of the artist's personal experience with music as well as the inspiration from record covers and music lyrics.All the square paintings, 30x30cm in size reminded me on a record cover, relating very sucessfully to the topic. There are not many paintings and with their small size they did not fill the gallery much ,but I liked the fact that it was not too 'filled up',because the gallery itself is small too.I also liked that some paintings seemed almost photorealistic from far, but looking closely they became almost blurry. Regarding that the topic is music this style of painting creates movement and underlines this. I also liked Colleen's sense for detail, but I did not quite understand the choice of images, especially looking at 'bicycle', which does not relate to the topic at first sight and confused me at first(or without reading the artist's comment). With the little artist's note an explanation of the background is given. However I still found it hard to be clear about the direct context.Although the images are about music there is no clear sign of rock and roll to me(as in 'bedtime').
Well to begin with it seemed to be a real struggle to find someone to take to the exhibition with me. When i heard I needed to find someone to write a response to the exhibition I thought, ah yes perfect, I'll take Ashleigh as she is the only person i know that would really enjoy extra homework.
But then... oh no... on the day set for our exhibition date we found ourselves having a bit of a girlie tiff over the events brought about by too much alcohol the night before.
What was I to do? Who was I too take? I was left without my dear friend and feeling angry and bitter, so i decided it wasn't my fault and i didn't have to do the exercise anymore.
But then I had an ingenious idea! I would use this as an excuse to take a boy.
So I decided Matty would be the lucky (or unlucky) pick for this expedition. He said would love to and i met him after he finished work.
The gallery was not as difficult to find as everyone had made out to be and we were greeted by a very lovely man upon our arrival at the top of the stairs.
Matty got out his pen and paper and studied the paintings very hard whilst i must admit I was not as studious as he.
I was more entertained by the man who had greeted us who now had half his body sticking out the window and was shouting very loudly to someone on the street.
Overall I found this exhibition mildly engaging.
The theme appeared to be "rock 'n' Roll" according to the written piece that accompanied the paintings.
I felt the work did not do much justice to rock culture and I didn't feel it reflected the essence of this lifestyle.
However three out of the eight paintings did grab my attention. "cohen", "Asylum" and "Waits" are all extremely aesthetically pleasing works to view.
Each measuring to a neat 30 x 30 cm these works were painted in a particularly darker palette to the others.
The works were all smoothly painted in a realistic style with browns, greys and blacks merging together to create a gothic appearance.
I found these works engaged with the theme of the show as they seemed to reflect the darker/underground side to Rock 'n' Rock.
Most importantly after the exhibition me and Matty went and had a beer while we "studied" and so my overall exhibition experience was rather delightful.
Eight paintings awaited me at a secluded yet welcoming gallery.
All eight at eye level, standard layout, nothing be-wielding or out of place.
Rock 'n' Roll "law" was placed to my left on a4 with reference given to elements in the exhibition.
Nudity arose in one of the first paintings. Your introduced to "Bicycle". Nothing arises from the painting except the reference to Queens hit "Bicycle race". Unfortunately Freddy Mercury would be rolling in his grave due to the inability of the artist adding to this timeless track.
Fast-forward to 'winter' we encounter a more recognisably stance. Long flowing rick hair with jewelry to match. Rock 'n' Roll experiences are reflected in the painting, sleepless nights and commitment to touring are present giving him respect and acceptance for who he is and what he has done.
"London" brings back the timeless look of a female. A genuine star with blonde hair to match. This look is not that familiar with rock but somehow she likes rock too.
Top left there's a candle. The final item placed in the room before she sits down and excepts "bedtime" is coming.
In the end eight paintings were plenty.
A few raised the brow, the rest just taking up a fresh coat of white paint.
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