Visual Language Magazine Vol 2 No 6 June 2013 Artspan Mixed Media Artist Gerald Barnes

Artspan Mixed Media Artist Gerald Barnes featured by Visual Language Magazine.
http://geraldbarnes.artspan.com/

Since early childhood in Ireland, images of extraordinary places have always fascinated me. I was absorbed by the albums of pictures taken by my father, a world traveler and accomplished amateur photographer. He worked for a small brewing company and often received letters from suppliers overseas. He would bring me stamps for my collection. These became my window to the world. By the age of 10, I already knew where I wanted to go—Lake Titicaca, Katmandu, and Samarkand, just to start! Everything I have seen on my travels has affected the way I see the world and is reflected in my art.

In the 80’s I was in the middle of my “Japanese period”, and I developed a technique to force acrylic paint through an airbrush, which allowed me to create large areas of saturated color.  I started to incorporate different elements and was especially interested in creating depth by using the illusion of multiple planes.  Subject matter was mostly stylized figures, architectural elements and abstract landscape.

In the 90’s, career demands and the need to fund my travel bug, forced me to put my art on hold.   But I never stopped collecting images and formulating ideas for the day when “ I would get back to my art”.  Finally that day arrived in 2012 when I retired, and I was able to open my treasure trove of material and ideas stored up for so long that they just toppled out in torrents from my imagination.  I had always wanted to try collage – mixed media really, as I still wanted to combine painting and drawing as needed.

Collage allows me to pull all different types of images together to tell a story. The images can be manipulated and changed with paint, pencils and a whole variety of different tools. I am especially fascinated by history – the period from about the 1890’s to the end of the First World War, when empires toppled like dominos, and the world changed forever.  Although I have traveled extensively I don’t speak any other languages fluently although at one time I think I could say “please” and “thank you” in thirteen.  Arabic has to be the most beautiful script in the world and has a versatility that allows it to be written in so many dynamic ways.  But other scripts like Sanskrit, Japanese and Chinese to name just a few are also visually stunning.  Adding text to an image adds another dynamic.  I’ve started adding quotations or comments in Irish (Gaelic) but try to incorporate them into a title or reference in English to help the viewer make the connection.

When I was in High School in the 60’s, Irish history stopped with the Easter Rising in 1916. We were not taught about the resulting War of Independence against the British and its aftermath, the Civil War, among ourselves. Michael Collins, whose picture dominates this piece, led the negotiations with the British for a truce to conclude the War of Independence (1919-1921).  The refusal of some in Ireland to recognize the treaty he negotiated resulted in the Irish Civil War (1922-1923) in which Collins himself was ultimately killed. His photo is superimposed on a copy of the poem Mise Eire (I am Ireland) written by Patrick Pearse, one of the leaders of the 1916 Rising who was subsequently executed by the British.  The poem is known by heart by practically every Irish schoolchild.  In it, Ireland speaks and chastises the Irish people for abandoning her and selling her into slavery. In the upper banner old British stamps and a Union flag dominate. One stamp is overprinted with  “Rialtas Sealadach na hÉireann 1922” -  “Provisional Government of Ireland 1922”.  The female figure on the bottom left is Cathleen Ni Houlihan an allegorical image of Ireland, resting on her harp. The model for this image was Hazel Lavery, an American, married to Sir John Lavery, an Irish artist. She was supposed to epitomize the typical Irish cailin (colleen, girl) and her image graced all Irish banknotes until the introduction of decimalization in 1971.

East of Suez

I am very fond of this old red Egyptian lottery ticket - the central background of the image - but the size was too small for the dimensions I work in so I duplicated and flipped it and butted the two pieces together. Egypt is synonymous with the Suez Canal (as well as pyramids and pharos of course) which my father transited on his way to Australia in the 1930’s but which I didn’t get to cross until 2001. With the added stamps and franks the whole piece looks like it could have been an official transit document in itself -  except for the rectangular frank on the bottom left which is actually a modern-day frank from Cairo airport.   The building of the canal was a enormous feat for its day and took a huge “can do” effort on the part of the French. Slightly tongue in cheek I’ve added on the edge of the photo (of a non Egyptian!) “Is feidir linn” – “Yes we can”!

Entry Restricted

Exotic Arab city. Through the arch of the gate was a tantalizing view of a city of massive domes and slender minarets.. Outside the gate veiled women collected water at a well and nearby a camel caravan rested under the shade of palm trees.  When I came across another image of a mosque with it’s domes and minarets I was immediately taken back to that first coloring book. I anchored the image with an Egyptian stamp (I have a lot of old Egyptian stamps!).   Thomas Daniell and his nephew William were artists and engravers who traveled throughout India in the 1780’s. They made exquisite engravings, which I first saw at an exhibition at the Victoria Monument in Calcutta. I placed a little bit of one of their images in the bottom right and superimposed the face of a British army officer over it.  I never intend my work to be politically, historically or geographically “correct” irrespective of the origins of the images. 

 Despite drawing inspiration from many areas the end result of this piece does have a unity to it. The currency notes adhered to the top have little relevance to what’s going on below (except perhaps for the Egyptian note) but the colors, textures and images compliment the story being told and help add a “universality” to the piece.  Free movement is something that is not available to all of us – whether it is from county to country, across States or within a career or relationship. Sometimes our movement is denied or restricted. Sometimes we are afraid to make it. Sometimes it’s just better to keep our mouth shut.  In the diamond an innocent face is surrounded with the message “ Is binn beal ina thost” – “It’s a sweet mouth that’s closed” or as we better know it. “Silence is golden”.

 Payment in Burma Parts I and II.

I came across these wonderful murals in a temple in southern India.  The murals stretched for quite a long way around an open gallery that in parts were deteriorating due to age and weathering.   The two images I have here were not contiguous to each other, but I painted in a background to unite them and repaired the pallet where necessary.  I loved the energy and movement of the figures, and I thought to bring the two pieces together as a diptych. To link the pieces I used a bank note in the middle divided between the two. The original note did not have an Indian figure so I added one. Although the note was issued by the Bank of India it was obviously intended for circulation in Burma which the British administered from India – hence my title for the piece. In Part One I added a miniature Mughal painting in which a man sports vey elaborate whiskers mimicking those of the dashing man in the mural. A female classical Greek statue hovers in the top left and doesn’t seem as out of place as it should.   A few Indian stamps in matching tones to the mural fall lazily off the top and onto the adjoining piece.  In Part Two the little men seem to be having a great time – could they be playing football?  Again I tried to pair up the mustaches of the central figures with that of the rather somber figure in the top right-hand corner. A made-up stamp at the top is over printed with an elaborate Indian frank.  More regular stamps escape off the page at the bottom right-hand-corner.  In addition to Egyptian stamps I seem to have a lot of Indian ones! On the far right edge an Indian woman counter balances the Greek statue on the opposite image.

The Voyage

I served in the British Merchant Navy in the 60’s and despite traveling around the world a couple of times never got to go through the Suez Canal as at the time it had been closed as a result of the Six Days War in 1967.  The Italian note, (with some added imagery) at the top has nothing to do with the canal or taking a voyage yet it evokes what might be a ticket to an exotic destination on a huge liner.   It blends in atmosphere with the various emphera on the left and the blood red Irish stamp mimics a Chinese imperial chop. The belching black smoke from the ship wafts over the old letter on the left. At the bottom another Daniell ( see “Entry Restricted”) engraving seems to indicate a mysterious world existing under the water of the canal.  A simple black and white image of an Asian man using dramatic hand gestures stares out at the viewer. Let the voyage begin!

Two Shorten a Road

Any journey is enhanced and shortened with the company of a companion.  These two well-dressed women look like they might have a lot to talk about as they start off on their journey together. Card games have been around for hundred of years and prior to the arrival of texting you would often see on planes and trains, people happily engaged in playing a game to pass the time. The middle card says  “Is fada an bothar  nach bionn casadh ann” -  “It’s a long road that doesn’t have a bend”.   The top card says “Guirraionn bert bother” – “Two shorten a road”, both very common and popular Irish sayings.  I’ve placed a tongue-in-cheek comment in the circular frank, You see this sign all over Ireland ahead of road works which brings all traffic to a halt.  Usually you’ll find several men standing around leaning on their shovels not doing much of anything in front of a sign that says ”Fir ag Obair” -  “Men at work”.

Shore Leave Valletta

Traditional Japanese architecture has always fascinated me and many times I’ve stood under massive temple roofs and towering pagodas just in awe at the interlocking puzzle of timbers that  tower overhead and allowed these beautiful structures to stand through the centuries despite earthquakes, typhoons and man-made disasters.  Another fascination for me is the dreamlike woodblock ukiyo-e prints of the “floating world”. I thought such an image would be an ideal contrast to the towering pagoda structure. In the 19th century Britain had hundreds of military bases all over the world – not unlike us today.  Perhaps this captain was based in Malta (Valletta) or just had his picture taken there as he passed through to his final destination in India, Singapore or Hong Kong. The frank says “Tada gan iarracht” – “Nothing without effort” and the Russian and medieval cards have nothing to do with anything except I liked them.