David Eastwood has a fascination for deceased artist’s studios. In his latest exhibition ‘Pseudo Studio’ Eastwood’s recent paintings and drawings deal with the posthumously reconstructed artist studio of Giorgio Morandi. By utilising a self-constructed miniature model of the Bolognese bedroom studio of the revered Italian painter Giorgio Morandi, Eastwood explores the psychological spaces involved with creating meaningful art. The drawings and paintings in the exhibition were made in response to a 1:15 scale model of the interior and its multiple configurations and perspectives utilised for pictorial interpretation. Eastwood constructed the exact model of Morandi’s studio and used it as a vehicle to analyse the sacred ‘studio’ space through different vantage points which helped aid the creative process. The resulting images evoke a meditative and melancholic response, but not in a retrospective way. The still lifes have a personality all of their own and every rendered vessel, vase, abandoned bottle and lonely easel seem to seek solace in each other.
The project sounds a little whacky at first but the results are absorbing and hold their own gravitas. Eastwood is known for his detailed illumination of object, interiors and all things baroque, fashioned within a contemporary aesthetic. This exhibition is an imaginative investigation of these obsessive qualities, quiet application and internal invented spaces artists create for themselves, in order to produce convincing works.
The actual model that Eastwood produced comprises miniature replica objects, furniture and personal effects of Morandi, with removable walls and ceiling. For Eastwood having the model as the central idea behind the series, facilitated an exploration of the peripheral and ambient space of the 20th century Italian artist’s still life paintings within their own right. To actually see the replicas of vases, bottles and such that were immortalised in masterpieces by Morandi as tangible living objects, gives scope for a vibrant reinterpretation that goes beyond slavish appropriation or mere copy. Here, Morandi’s life becomes a still life; a prop to explore the boundaries between object and image, private and public, authenticity and artifice.
Robin Gibson Gallery
5 to 30 October, 2013
Sydney
Bed, 2013, acrylic on polyester, 61 x 56 cm
Casa Morandi, 2012, paper, cardboard, foam core, wood, plastic, wire, glue, ink and paint, 25 x 32.2 x 36.8 cm
Courtesy the artist and Robin Gibson Gallery
