I’ve visited the Pierre Bonnard The Colour of Memory exhibition at Tate Modern. I was there because of a recommendation from Isabella Cotier . I’ve found something quite interesting from the exhibition that can be somewhat useful to my new found sense of photography. Me and my friends were discussing how his work differentiate from other painters like Monet or Gaugin. Cher pointed out about how his work is very clear and easy to digest. You can see what is what in the painting which creates a different feeling.
One explanation is that Pierre Bonnard’s paintings are very connected to photography. His paintings are like snapshots of private life. He would photograph a lot of his intimate moments with his lovers and use them as inspiration for his compositions.
“Photography helped him to move away from the conventional poses of artists’ models.”
This photo was displayed side by side with the painting. The photo of the woman in the bath tub acts as a reference for the actual painting. The painting feels unique from its reference because it is more of a recreation than a replication.
I’m intrigued by this because I want to use photography in my expanded practice in some kind of way. The photos can be my system and my art work that stems from the photo can be my whimsical part (using the same method from the V&A project).
The idea of drawing by memory and memory itself is also a very interesting subject for me. I once mentioned about memory when I was writing about Jonah Brucker-Cohen, Ph.D.’s talk at LCC. No one has explained my concept of memory as well as the one panel in Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli.
The idea of recreation, of changing the details bit by bit, of recollection of something or someone, might be usable in my expanded practice project.
td @ ual 