Photo made by Marco Prenninger (http://marcoprenninger.com/gallery/35/2.html)
"mountain spring" 140x100 cm, 2019
also important to me to avoid toxic things like epoxy, which also allows textiles to be enclosed in plastic. A clear textile character is important to me, which is why the surface is processed through manipulation in such a way that it is velvety and soft. Inside the textile stone, but hard as stone. The first textile stone works were more brick-like and even less picturesque. It took a while until I found the best technique to combine and fix the individual textile stone elements in a visually appealing way. The first textile stone work of art was the textile stone lamp. The tones of your works — more specifically the interesting mountain spring — create delicate tension and dynamics: how does your own psychological make-up determine the nuances of tones that you decide to include in your works? In particular, what role does play intuition in the composition of your pallette? Florian Nörl: As my painting teacher Christian Hunzinger said: Art cannot be separated from intuition. I have different approaches. Sometimes I plan a work from start to finish, I know exactly which colors and shapes I want to show and I have Florian Nörl scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Land "Textile-Edel-Stein" (Textilestone-Gems) 13x8x5 cm, 2022 "Textilstone-Ikone" 45x15 cm, 2022
a concrete concept for the corresponding image content. But even here, I often break with my plan and let something unexpected arise. I work partly serially, so that I can also realize my different ideas. Mixing the colors is one of the most important steps. For this I have a large textile collection, consisting of donations. From this I create the corresponding textile stone element by combining different materials. Disposition, intuition, taste, material and years of experience with art play together here and create nuances. As you have remarked in your artist's statement, the overall concept of your work is the transformation of postmodern materials (old textiles) into contemporary art or contemporary gems. We have been fascinated with the way your artworks unveil the point of convergence between scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Land Special Edition "finden, was verzaubert" (find, was echanted) 20x280 cm, 2021
references to traditional materials and such unique contemporary sensitiveness, highlighting that exploring a past experience can enhance the understanding of the contemporary: how do you consider the relationship between Tradition and Contemporariness playing within your artistic process? Florian Nörl: A good example of this is the series or theme "Sedimental" -layers of memories-. For this I have made sure to only use old bed linen. The structure of the image is based on layers of sediment. The title is a game between sediment and sentimental. This sensitivity, or power, is transmitted through the used linens and comes into direct and immediate contact with the viewer than would purchased new fabric. Florian Nörl scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Land "TextilsteinLampe" 2016
"Sedimental" 140x100 cm, 2020
scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Land Special Edition "but...fly?" 64x50 cm, 2022/2023
The textile stone can also be compared well with the limestone. This was formed by depositing shells of fossil microorganisms and under pressure then also marble from it. Textile stone also consists of shells of living beings, but these are human textiles. We’d love to ask you about the qualities of the materials that you include — or that you plan to include — in your artworks: in particular, do you create your works gesturally, instinctively? Or do you methodically transpose geometric schemes? Florian Nörl: It all applies and much more. I want to create a dialogue between the materials, the visual design and the viewer. My art should reflect, fascinate, touch and above all be something timeless and beautiful. We really appreciate the way you laboriously structure your process in order to pursue such visual impact. A visual and tactile quality that marks out your artworks is their velvety feeling, and it's important to remark that only by touch can one truly understand the textile material: how do you consider the importance of the physical act of creating your artworks? Florian Nörl: The physical act is very important for me and makes the work of art what it is. Countless hours of sweaty manual work go into every work of art. This is also what makes it so unique. Also, it is quite impossible to replicate a textile stone painting exactly, as the materials used with the special colors are only available in limited Florian Nörl scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Land "time interval" (detail) 280x200 cm, 2021 "time interval" (detail) 280x200 cm, 2021
"but...fly?" 103x90 cm, 2019/2020
quantities, e.g. an old t-shirt in a washed-out black/grey, there is only one of them. Your works — more specifically „finden was verzaubert“ and „infinity wave“ — are often marked out with large dimensions, able to provide your specatorship with such immersive visual experience: how do the dimensions of your pieces affect your workflow? Florian Nörl: When I'm working on such large works, there's no room for anything else in the studio. "find, was enchanted" (2021) and also "time interval" (2021) has exactly the format of my workplace, 200x280 cm and is in four parts, so that transport is also possible. "infinity wave" (2017) was created while I was still studying. I used a long corridor to add the four individual paintings, each measuring 140x190 cm. The transport and also the hanging of this very heavy work is always a challenge. Your work entitled „but...fly?“ reminded us of Magritte's artistic production, for the way it invites the viewers to question the boundaries of reality and representation: how do you consider the role of symbols playing within your artistic production? And how do you select the images to be represented in your works? Florian Nörl: Symbols are very rarely unique. They can be interpreted differently by everyone. scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Land Special Edition "time interval" 280x200 cm, 2021 "#draussen" (print), 2022
scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Florian Nörl Land "O.T." (Original Textilstein), 64x50 cm, 2022
Everyone looks at things from a different background. "but..fly?" was initially created by my enthusiasm for natural history museums and the realization that butterflies, which were omnipresent in my youth, have become rare. I decided symbolically for the representation of only one wing (one cannot fly with one wing) so that a wrong interpretation of flying and freedom is excluded. After completing the first “but…fly? (swallowtail butterfly), the concept was further expanded through conversations with friends and their personal fate. -Refugees who have reached Europe and have already settled in are not allowed to travel to their old homeland, e.g. to visit family members. The butterfly wing represents the apparently scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Land Special Edition "infinity wave" 4 x 140x190 cm, 2017
promised land, from which a home leave is not permitted. You are an established artist and over the years your artworks have been showcased in many occasions, including your recent exhibitions at Lebzelterhaus Vöcklabruck and at Volkskundemuseum, Burglengenfeld: how do you consider the nature of your relationship with your audience? As the move of Art from traditional gallery spaces, to street and especially to online platforms — as Instagram — increases, how would in your opinion change the relationship with a globalised audience? Florian Nörl: I wish for a globalized audience. Florian Nörl scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Land
I think art is a global language and it's important to reach a wide audience. I don't think online platforms will replace traditional gallery spaces, you can only truly experience it. I have also done work on the subject of Instagram, flood of images and what remains at the end of the day, such as the work "#draussen" which shows 100 screenshots from Instagram, each with 1% opacity, one on top of the other. I personally use Instagram mainly as a kind of portfolio https://www.instagram.com/floriannoerl We have really appreciated the multifaceted nature of your artistic research and before leaving this stimulating conversation we would like to thank you for chatting with us and for sharing your thoughts, Florian. What projects are you currently working on, and what are some of the ideas that you hope to explore in the future? Florian Nörl: In addition to the textile stone, I developed another material last year, which I call „Textilsteinoton“. This is also a textile-based material, which allows me to mold objects and go even more in the direction of sculpture. It also serves as a part of my Textilestone-Gems series as well as the Textilestone-Icons series currently being presented at the ART3F salo international d'art Paris. I'm also working on a new series of "but...fly?" As an allusion to real chess, the series should consist of 32 works. Numbers one and two are already done. I continue to research the combination of textile stone with other materials, minerals and gemstones as well as a combination with artificially developed Swarovski crystals. scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Land Special Edition An interview by Josh Ryder, curator and Melissa C. Hilborn, curator [email protected]
scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Florian Nörl Land "Sedimental" 140x100 cm, 2020
Hello Brian and welcome to LandEscape. Before starting to elaborate about your artistic production, we would like to invite our readers to visit https://www.brianmcpartlonstudio.com in order to get a wide idea about your artistic production. We would start this interview with a couple of questions about your background. You have a solid formal training in Drawing, Sculpture and Painting, and you studied at the School of Visual Arts in New York and the San Francisco Art Institute: how do these formative experiences influence your evolution as an artist? Moreover, how does your cultural substratum address the direction of your current artistic research? Brian McPartlon: Two teachers formed the foundation of my approach to my creative endeavors. At the School of Visual Arts in New York, my drawing teacher was noted Pop and Abstract Expressionist artist Marjorie Strider Since his first exhibition, as a teen, at the Oak Room Gallery in 1965 in Schenectady, New York, Brian McPartlon has honed his skills with acrylics, watercolor, oils, pastels and mixed media sculpture. In 1973, he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the San Francisco Art Institute. In 1975, he founded and directed the 63 Bluxome Street Gallery in San Francisco, California. McPartlon's technique seeks to present true depth of field through layers of shapes and colors. His process includes staining, pouring and spraying, and a diverse set of brushes from a traditional 6” house painting brush to palm fronds, cacti, animal bone fragments and his fingers. A single painting may take him ten minutes or over 40 years to complete. The large bold canvases can be ominous, antagonizing, invigorating and breathtaking. The range of colors and depth of each of McPartlon’s works evoke powerful reactions from viewers. Observers of his works struggle to not touch the textures or crawl into the portals that exist in the layers of his paintings. An interview by Josh Ryder, curator and Melissa C. Hilborn, curator [email protected] Land scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW LandEscape meets Brian McPartlon @brianmcpartlonstudio Lives and works in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
Bolinas, acrylic on paper, 18x23, 2021
Brian McPartlon scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Land (see "When New York Ruled the World," Peter Schjeldahl, The New Yorker, August 5, 2022). She taught me that shape and form were the essentials of all composition. Her teaching through the use of live drawing from models and the strict discipline she associated with the practice of art-making are still carried with me today in my studio practice. At the San Francisco Art Institute, seminal California counterculture artist Wally Hedrick taught me that being an artist is a state of mind that can only be achieved by the practice of the principles of abstract thought. A single painting of yours may take you ten minutes or over 40 years to complete: when walking our readers through the genesis of your works, would you tell us something about your usual setup and process? More specifically, do you create your works intuitively, instinctively? How important are improvisation and spontaneity in your practice, in order to capture the inspiration that arises from the emerging images? Brian McPartlon: The works start on the floor as the initial layers are composed using excessive amounts of water and acrylic paint mixed with a paint extender called Rhoplex. When the work is dry, it is pinned to the wall. Then my brushwork highlights the colors to form the shapes. Regarding the question of intuition vs. instinct, I think that artworks are a combination of both, with a mix of magic. Magic is what happens when experience [instinct] combines with conscious reasoning in a free format – what I refer to as creation. Letting your mind go free of all thoughts creates a meditative state where you are guided by spiritual movements. What I am trying to say is that I am powered by a force that has its roots in the unconscious and comes with years of practice. The works that we have selected for this special edition of LandEscape — and that our readers have already started to get to know in the introductory pages of this article — have at once captured our attention for the way they blend reality with imagination. Inviting the viewers to explore the crossroads between reality — whose reminders are recurrent in almost all your works — and abstract sensitiveness: how do you consider the relationship between reality and imagination playing within your artistic production? More specifically, how important is direct experience for you in order to conceive your artworks? Brian McPartlon: As an artist, I see things as I am. In my paintings, the viewer sees things as they are. This is the basic relationship between reality and imagination - I sense and comprehend things one way and the viewer another. To me, this is part of what makes abstract thought the achievement of my paintings. Getting the viewer to think of their experience, and provoking that interpretation, is the success of all art. How important is the direct experience for me in order to conceive my artwork? Over my lifetime, I have been fortunate to have acquired knowledge, experience, good judgment and principles that I use in my work. I use the word work in the previous sentence because it is work. The direct interaction between myself and the canvas is the most important part of being an artist. We can talk, write and ponder - this is when you conceive - but in the end, someone has to do
the work. Action has to happen. In my paintings, the importance of conceiving is secondary to the act of creating. The tones of your works — be they bright and joyful as in Sun and Sky, be they marked out with such thoughtfully dark, intense atmosphere, as in Formation — create delicate tension and dynamics: how does your own psychological makeup determine the nuances of tones that you decide to include in your works? Brian McPartlon: My friend Agnes Martin, the renowned abstract painter, once told me every day was the same for her. You can see how evident that was in her work. My paintings are affected by my experiences – and every day is not the same for me. My psychological makeup naturally dictates the tones in my the work - living with ups and downs, human tragedy, the use of stimulants, the overuse of stimulants. When my brother died I took refuge in my studio. It is hard to remember how it happened, but the next morning when I saw the painting I had finished that night at the time of his death he appeared like an apparition. Was that intentional? My mind imposed the colors of a deep depression in that painting, in that sad hour. The painting is titled KEV. You are a versatile artist and you often use unconventional media, unconventional staining, pouring, spraying, as well as palm fronds, cacti, animal bone fragments and your own fingers. We have particularly appreciated the way your works — more specifically Woodsie — communicate such stimulating materiality, almost tactile feeling: how do you develop such visual quality and scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Land Special Edition
Brian McPartlon scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Land Cove, acrylic on paper, 18x23, 2021
scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Land Special Edition Ocean, acrylic-rhoplex, 75x98, 2020
Brian McPartlon scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Land how important is for you to highlight the physical aspect of your artworks? Brian McPartlon: Running was a very important aspect of my daily routine for many years. I am a very active person. I believe that energetic aspect of my personality is conveyed in my artwork. Sangre, acrylic on canvas, 78x72, 2021
scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Land Special Edition The use of different materials and tools is a tactile process for me, which then is communicated to the viewer. As a method, it is a convenience in as much of a necessity, resulting in surprising results that encourage exploration. The use of different ways of paint application is a why not question rather than why. Crawford, acrylic on canvas, 66x68, 2020
We definitely appreciate the visual ambivalence that marks out your works, providing viewers the ability to develop personal visual interpretations and feelings: how important is it for you to trigger the viewers' imagination in order to encourage them to elaborate personal interpretations? In particular, how open would you like your Brian McPartlon scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Land Beginning, acrylic on canvas, 78x72, 2021
works to be understood? Brian McPartlon: In order for an artwork to be understood it must come from the viewer's experience. Central to the encounter is the viewer's own interpretation of what they see and feel. If I can communicate any understanding of my work this is a plus. An scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Land Special Edition Sky, acrylic on canvas, 78x72, 2021
artist's statement may help in the effort to better comprehend what is trying to be expressed. In my work, I am most attentive to and concerned with beauty. In order to understand the beauty one must feel it through a transcendental experience that the Brian McPartlon scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Land Formation, acrylic on canvas, 78x72, 2022
Border, acrylic on canvas, 51x80, 2022
painting evokes. Emotional reaction, as well as reason, are my goals in the importance of understanding my work. Your works are often of large dimensions, able to provide your viewers with such immersive visual experiences: how do the dimensions of your artworks affect your workflow and how important is it for you to "enfold" the viewers, providing them with such unique immersive experiences? Brian McPartlon: The choice to work largely is a moral one. Large works help with the disconnect with the modern world. The action required in a large painting sets the stage for scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Land Special Edition Crowd, acrylic-rhoplex, 86x76, 2020
the outcome, to display the human spirit against the force of nature. This is the reason for, as opposed to the challenge of, the desire to work large. I have been working large since high school. Obviously, large paintings come with physical challenges that I've become accustomed to. To better understand the answer to why scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Brian McPartlon Land Spirit, acrylic-rhoplex, 64x61, 2019
paintings of sizable dimensions, I look to be pushed by the challenge resulting in an outcome. The desired result is imparted to the viewer through its power of size. scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Land Special Edition Sea, acrylic on canvas, 78x72, 2021
The size is integral the viewing experience. When my work is shown in photos it is often mistaken for small watercolors. This affects the power and impact of the images. Brian McPartlon scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Land Sun, acrylic on canvas, 78x72, 2021
Woodsie, acrylic on paper, 18x23, 2021
Your artworks have often short titles that seem to offer guidance to the viewers: how do you go about naming your work? In particular, is it important for you to tell something that might walk the viewers through their visual experience? Brian McPartlon: When I title the work it is important to use only one word. All abstract work should convey a personal thought. My desire is to only start the viewer down the process of reasoning. The short titles allow the viewer a beginning only, from there it is their interpretation that matters more than mine. You are an established artist, and over the years your artworks have been showcased in many exhibitions, including your recent solo show in Santa Fe, New Mexico: how do you consider the nature of your relationship with your audience? As the move of Art from traditional gallery spaces, to street and especially to online platforms — as Instagram https://www.instagram.com/brianmcpartlonstudio — increases, how does this, in your opinion, change the relationship with a globalised audience? Brian McPartlon: I think what Warhol was trying to say when he said that "everyone will have 15 minutes of fame" was that the human experience will be so available to all people that the only uniqueness left to experience will be the difference in our DNA, and that will eventually become the last art. There can never be two people with the same DNA makeup. This will be the only thing left that separates us from one another. Globalization of images is the path on which we are on. So what happens when there is nothing left to be considered? All people will have access to all images and the ability to create all things. So where do the dinosaurs like me fit into this? I look to history for my place. We have really appreciated the multifaceted nature of your artistic research and before leaving this stimulating conversation we would like to thank you for chatting with us and for sharing your thoughts, Brian. What projects are you currently working on, and what are some of the ideas that you hope to explore in the future? Brian McPartlon: Thank you for the thoughtprovoking questions. It is rewarding to be asked such well-considered questions by an educated interviewer that has taken the time to look at my work. I am currently working on large scale paintings relating to fire. New Mexico was besieged with forest fires earlier this year. Thousands of firefighters battled the blazes for 3 months from March until June. Our monsoon rains came early in June and extinguished the blazes. I spent much time observing this and have come away with images that relate to that experience. The fires have become a metaphor for my view of society. What has man done to evoke this situation, to what end? Along with the visual interpretations of the fire images, I am transforming the personal experiences of fire, its meaning for life, its place in our being, its place in medieval philosophy, the passion and emotion of fire into my paintings. scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Brian McPartlon Land An interview by Josh Ryder, curator and Melissa C. Hilborn, curator [email protected]
Hello Elis and welcome to LandEscape. Before starting to elaborate about your artistic production we would like to invite our readers to visit https://bio.site/eliselis in order to get a wide idea about your artistic production, and we would start this interview with a couple of questions about Elis is a multi(inter)disciplinary Kyiv freelance artist-wonderer, psycho muse and visual philosopher. She investigates the culture and mentality of collage, the other side of mistakes and imperfections, exploring the body and physicality and the world around her through performance, installation, text, collage, photography and video. She prefers to stay on the verge of rawness and marginal beauty creating her own dystopian magic. Elis’s artworks are very performative physical pieces, they are full of psychological stories and if looked closer dynamic, all processes are visible, while her performances-happenings are full of collaged actions and concepts. Elis’ art practice is as much therapeutic and personal as it is social, and intended for an attentive modern (at times melancholic) viewer. Her Soviet origins and artistic philosophy (as well as metamodern views) prompt the artist to question and challenge the modern understanding of herself, culture and identity. Elis’s art practice is about truth and freedom, about imperfection and the passage of time, about life and death. Her art practice (and life) are based on noticing details, looking thoroughly, peeking and observing and playing a game of a detective (or a spy or a pervert), and satisfying her voyeuristic personality. She likes things that look like mistakes and stays away from banalities. She sees and looks at the world through a prism of collage. Each project is not like the previous one because Elis is (as an artist) different, because the environment is unalike - it's just like the philosophical statement by Aristotle "you cannot step into the same river twice". And she is kind of following this truth (subconsciously) in her artistic practice. Elis is in constant motion in her body and mind. The collage of life is projected into her multidisciplinary search and acquaintance with every new experience. Elis is a founder and organizer of Kyiv Collage Practice group and метаCOLLAж (visual anthropological artbook‑zine about multidisciplinary collage mentality and culture in the world). An interview by Josh Ryder, curator and Melissa C. Hilborn, curator [email protected] Land scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW LandEscape meets elisELIS @elis_prostotak
scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Land Special Edition Witchcrafting, still
your background. You have a solid formal training and you hold a BA in Contemporary Photographic Practice, that you received from University for the Creative Arts in Rochester, UK: how do these formative years influence your evolution as an artist? Moreover, are there any experiences that did particularly help you to develop your attitude to experiment with such wide range of media? It was 2005-2006, still in school, when i made a decision that i want to use photography artistic skills in my life. I was visiting an old underground photographers’ club in kyiv, i was the only teenager there among older generations. there were two rooms: in one they exhibited printed photos on the white walls, in another they drank tea from a big samovar and ate biscuits while discussing cameras and films they used. I got very inspired by photography in that place, but ELIS scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Land Witchcrafting, still Witchcrafting, still
Witchcrafting, still
understood that their views are very outdated for me and already then i was beginning to think in a collaged way - inspired by david hockney. So when i finished school in 2006, at 18 years of age, i applied to a couple of english art universities, somehow i managed to put together a folder with miscellaneous art works and photos that i produced, and a written (at times copy pasted) artist statement. It was my personal thing, i havent told anyone or asked for help. When i received a letter acceptance from university for the creative arts in rochester, i was over the moon and i didnt really know what to do, because it was so unexpected. I showed this letter to my parents and told them that i’m going to england but i need money (which we didnt really have ahahah). My father didnt take it so well, he had other plans for me. And so a scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Land Special Edition Witchcrafting, still Witchcrafting, still
Witchcrafting, still
scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Land Special Edition loooong struggle of persuasion followed together with a lot of stresses and breakdowns, until somehow we all agreed that we will sell our big apartment in Kyiv to cover the university fees, and so, i was gone. In university, i realised that photography is not enough for me, and so i began to explore other media, like video, performance, audio. It opened my eyes to possibilities and creativity that i was so hungry for. I wasnt planning to settle down, all i wanted was to try more things with myself and technologies and materials and to experiment. This is when i started to use my body as a tool, to use self portraits to tell stories, to be raw and honest with myself and the viewer. I’ve learned to become an artistic voyeurist and exhibitionist. I was mesmerized by francesca woodman’s self portraits and duane michael’s way of telling melancholic stories, oh and tracey emin’s raw confessional artworks. I remember my final project from the first year at uni (foundation year), was shown on two tv screens: on one was my face shouting into the camera different verbs (run, cry, fall, hit the wall, jump, smile, punch, etc), on another - i was in a room trying to follow all these actions from the first screen. It was a dynamic and chaotic piece, that i still think was so clever and well done, that i might actually reproduce it in a new v(er)ision. In england, I was so happy to be out of
ELIS scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Land feel my goosebumps, performance-happening cover photo 2023
scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Land Special Edition trance party installation, 2021 found objects, wood, metal wires, spray paint
ukraine and be in a new environment that suited me so well, away from old life and parents, and i celebrated that by partying, with drugs, overconsumption of alcohol and dancing. I’m surprised how my body managed to take so much pressure mentally and physically, but i succeeded in graduating my uni with ba hons in contemporary photographic practice. At 21 i was still lost not knowing what i want to do in life and where to earn money and how to pursue my art exploration, which is ok. I’m not really a future-planner so much eheheh i live in the moment, here and now. For this special edition of LandEscape we have selected Witchcrafting a stimulating video that our readers can view at https://youtu.be/_N_i5BoITAI and that has at once captured our attention for the way it explores both the tension and the connection between human corporeality and our surrounding space, deplying at the same time elements of unconventional, almost raw aesthetics. When walking our readers through the genesis of Witchcrafting, would you tell us something about your usual setup and process? I don't have a “usual” process or setup. If i get an idea, i just go and do it, using any kind of technology or assistance i have available. With “witchcrafting”, it happened on a small island in kyiv during last days of art residency “ostrov” in autumn of 2021. Some of the nature footage was actually shot while i was tripping on mushrooms on that same island. I dont set any expectations for an end result, so therefore i’m totally free to do what i want, collage my ideas during the process, and the end result can be ELIS scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Land
black performance during exhibition “Institualization”2022