Week 10 - Richard Orjis

I am drawn to the work of Richard Orjis because he celebrates beauty and nature yet combines this appreciation with a sense of a darker, almost gothic style, juxtoposing elements to create interesting works, demonstrating an off the wall sense of humour. I was first exposed to his works displayed in the city by Aotea Square, and took an instant dislike to them - they seemed at first to be random objects agglomorated to create a sense of confusion and Surrealism, garish in a way similar to Martin Parr yet attempting a sort of beauty, the candles adding a dated aspect, but also transforming the compositions further into their own fictional universe. I could not draw an understanding from them as a set, other than to see a strong visual link and emphasis on the aesthetic perfect yet obviously edited value, and feel transported to a place of the imagination. I was, however, drawn to his photographs of the golden robots - to me, it seemed to be a comment on society and striving for perfection, as well as this consumer society where we are valued by what we have - in this case, the subjects are literally impaired by this material which they consist of, personified yet frozen, apparently in gold. Upon seeing his work again, I have come to appreciate it on many levels.

The opening line of Orjis' manifesto reads 'I believe in the power of beauty.' David Eggleton makes some interesting observations re beauty in Orjis work in his article Poisonous Eye Candy. He comments that 'an ability to find beauty in improbable materials has lead him in past exhibitions to make delicate portrait paintings using runny mud, and to sensuously slather the human subjects of his photograhs in syrup or coal dust - and with a beautician's attention to detail, he has then cosmetically enhanced the photographs.' This juxtoposition of being drawn to create beautiful work and using unexpected, generally considered dirty materials, is an integral element of the uniqueness of Orjis' work, and the element which I am most drawn to. Eggleton also comments that 'beauty, untouched by art, is transitory'. This aspect of beauty also interests Orjis - flowers are always dying, people are always aging. One is beautiful, but already decaying.

Above photography by Martin Parr. Orjis & Parr are artists of entirely different approaches in context and concept, however, I was reminded of Parr's work through themes of garish colours, and emphasising opposites - both artists communicate dark elements through ideas of juxtoposition and aesthetically attractive imagery which could be read entirely differently. Orjis appreciates the beauty and romance of flowers, yet finds humour and darkness in their decay. Parr subverts society's indulgences/popular culture to view it from a condescending yet shamefully realistic, unflattering angle. Orjis also mocks society via such elements as cult references, for example in 'Yes', which I will expand upon later.

Above photographs by Meagan McDowell

These images by Meagan McDowell remind me aesthetically of Orjis' work. There is a contrast between themes of the natural and the fake, and the images are so carefully composed as to seem almost montaged together. The sense of careful construction is emphasised with the models makeup, in particular the eyelashes and lipstick, which has connotations of a Geisha-like style, well known for ideals of perfection. McDowell's lavish looking work here makes no attempt to feign reality, in fact it decidedly rejects it, which strongly parallels with Orjis' portraits. I like the strange humour in the over lavishness. The last image by McDowell reminds me of Orjis' approach to light as adding to the ethereal nature of his work.

- Orjis

A work I personally favoured was a performance piece involving a staged ritual & photography. The subjects performed a ritual of being buried & rubbing coal on each other whilst portraits by Orjis were projected onto the walls. Outside the gallery, subjects surrounded a car which was full of flowers, holding lighters and performing another ritual. Juxtaposition is evident in many elements; contemporary and the gothic/ritualistic experience, natural & alive yet dark, connotations of religion yet humorous in its approach. I love the idea of dumping a pile of dirt into a gallery & turning mess into an artwork. I also love the environmental connotations through the use of coal, a car and flowers – the car is almost a shrine to the slow death of nature caused by humans. We are part of nature, yet we are destroying it – another contradiction. There is also a contradiction between the organised & the resulting chaos when the art took on its own entity & the subjects improvised their ritualistic actions. When faced with this interesting artwork, an audience may be ambivalent as to how to react – it seems to me almost an experiment on the audience, who may be confused, unsettled, tickled or respond in seriousness.

I am particularly drawn to this portrait as it disturbs me somewhat. There are obvious connotations of death shadowing all of us and this concept of transient beauty – the flowers are dying, and the dirt on the subject’s face, to me, references being buried. It is almost as if he is staring as the viewer from the grave. The confrontational direction of the subjects gaze reminds me of a mirror image – it is as though Orjis is forcing the viewer to consider his or her own slow demise/decay, which is happening from birth. You may be young and beautiful now, but you are just as delicate and temporary as these flowers, and one day you will be in the ground. Despite all these artificial ways with which we attempt to make ourselves look younger (reflected in his meticulous Photoshop editing), we cannot escape the inevitable. This portrait speaks strongly to me about life & death.

I enjoy and relate to the colours Orjis employs. He comments that he rejects black & white photography, and this is evident. However, I can see many strong references to black and white photography throughout his work, in the style and use of tone. Perhaps this is partly due to his attention to tonal perfection and texture, which is more an aspect of black & white than colour. His portraits which were projected onto the wall during his installation also caught my attention. He is specific in his rejection of black & white, yet they could almost be black & white images which were photographicall toned in the traditional darkroom chemical fashion. It is impossible to reject black & white – digital & Photoshop are merely different tools for the same use.

Above - portrait by Orjis

Example of traditional photograpic chemical toning (not the best example, but the internet seems somewhat lacking in this department)

If Rood has forged his uniqueness in his use of digital & simplistic style, Orjis’ style, to me, is defined in his rejection of traditional art materials. I love his portraits which were painted with mud. This conceptually rebels against traditional romantic artistic ideals, yet the portraits are beautiful aesthetically. This portrait in particular caught my attention as it seems quite religious looking and precious in the pose and features, but this is entirely subverted through the use of mud. Excellent! He also uses Photoshop pointedly in his photographic works.

Mud portrait by Orjis

Traditional representation of Christ (unknown artist)

I am drawn to Orjis’ photography, as his work encompasses many common themes which recur in my own work – Surrealist influences, references to black & white photography whilst rejecting it, environmental issues, nature, and a concept of beauty which is dark or not straightforward, obviously Photoshopped portraits on a black background of nothingness. I also strongly identify with his use of fire & light to create a deeper meaning, whether it be whimsical or serious, or both at the same time.

Above – my own work, redesign of Free All Angels by Ash

There are many common elements demonstrated here. Orjis demonstrates Surrealist influences, and this work was originally inspired by Le Violin D’Ingres, Man Ray. I was inspired by Ash’s music & lyrics, which include many references to life, death, love, light, magic and nature – all elements reflected in Orjis’ work. They are a bit cheesy but they don’t care. There is also a clear romantic, fictional theme, which is contradicted by its edgy feel. I have obviously Photoshopped this piece, although it does not make the same statement about Photoshop as Orjis’ work, as this the composition could not be created in a physical sense, and this is a compositional element which Orjis plays with. My work contains a sense of nostalgia for black & white photography, demonstrated in the overall colour scheme and digital sepia tone on the central image, and this combination of black and bright colours is a theme in Orjis’ work. I do, however, get the feel that Orjis’ subjects could exist in a different reality, and the narrative of my own piece also implies this. There is also a temporal element in the contrast between colour & black & white, the spiralling of the leaves and the repeated image of the angel. My use of lightening adds drama and a contrast of natural/supernatural, whilst considering an awareness of the somewhat cheesy/cliché aspect of this, as Orjis’ candles do in his own work, and the use of brightly, naturally & unnaturally coloured leaves adds to this also. The contrast between contemporary & the more old fashioned is a strong theme in this piece. I also like that in Orjis' manifesto, he puts emphasis on text as well as image - the text is necessary in this piece, I feel.

Some lyrics which inspired the above: ‘I’ve seen you draped in an electric veil, shrouded in celestial light’ ‘thoughts here enshrined, clandestine, sublime’ ‘tumbling like the leaves, we are spiralling on the breeze’ ‘roman candles that burn in the night, you lit a torch in the infinite’ ‘chemical reaction brought by dark divine intervention, a constellation once seen over Royal David’s city an epiphany you burn so pretty’ ‘dark & chaotic, slow and hypnotic’, ’sub-cult fantasy’ – religious, shrines, poetry, beauty, contradictions, romance, contemporary rock.

I have included this photograh by Orjis as it demonstrates some of the qualities I have discussed above & referred to my own work, & Orjis himself commented on its similarity to an album cover.

ADD MORE PICS FROM DESKTOP - MM ETC

References

www.maeganmcdowell.com
www.amyelkins.blogspot.com
Richard Orjis' manifesto
Eggleton, David. Poisonous Eye Candy, The Listener, September 18th, 2010
www.lightplanet.com
www.ilford.com
Lecture by Richard Orjis 5th October 2010
My own work