Metamatic
Posted By: Straker Foxx-esque imagery in art - 10/12/07 09:30 AM
His obvious skills as a graphic designer aside it’s clear that the talented Mr Leigh has an abiding interest in art history going back many years cf. "Europe after the Rain", taking it’s title from the stunning Max Ernst painting. Another of my faves that always springs to mind when I’m listening to Foxx material is De Chirico with his deserted plazas and colonades wink a perfect match for the lyrical content. These are probably two of the better known matches but another I’ve discovered recently is the work of an artist called Delmotte. Like a fusion of Ernst and De Chirico his paintings such as La Science ou le Pharaon des temps futurs and Le Destin suit la Route are highly evocative representations of the moods and atmosphere in John’s work.

Illustrations seem hard to come by on the latter artist (I found a French Delmotte catalogue in a second-hand shop) but I’ll try and find some links to his pictures. Any other artists/photographers we should know about that seem to inhabit John’s world?
Posted By: Alex S Re: Foxx-esque imagery in art - 10/12/07 09:43 AM
What a great thread!

You know, I only saw Ernst's "Europe After the Rain" painting recently when I was looking online for references of John's song! As an ex-art student I can't believe this one passed me by! What a stunning piece!!! An obvious influence on John, and consequently I now view a track I was never that bothered about, in a completely different light!



You're right about deChirico too... his artwork is perfectly matches so many of John's tracks...

Posted By: Alex S Re: Foxx-esque imagery in art - 10/12/07 09:44 AM
Apologies for the size of those images!!!
Posted By: RadioBeach Re: Foxx-esque imagery in art - 10/12/07 09:47 AM
I think they’d be too numerous to mention, a few though would be; Cindy Sherman, Tacita Dean, Eduardo Paolozzi (especially the Ultravox ‘Robot’ collages) among many, many others.

I don’t know if he loves one particular artist as such, or just finds thing he likes in certain fields; American Sci-Fi B-Movies, Film Noir, Psychedelia etc.

He’s never, ever mentioned him at all, but I’d say he’s seen a few Luis Buñuel films in his time too.
Posted By: Straker Re: Foxx-esque imagery in art - 10/14/07 09:08 PM
Would work for Numan Replicas-era songs as well:

http://www.leftlondon.co.uk/?1


Very Ballardian:




Posted By: Alex S Re: Foxx-esque imagery in art - 10/14/07 11:29 PM
This is fantastic.... in a strange sort of way!!
Posted By: Birdsong Re: Foxx-esque imagery in art - 10/15/07 07:19 AM
I am not much of an artist myself, but these two images fit my ideal.
I have always had a fascination for derelict buildings and draw a lot of inspiration for life and creative writing from wandering around in them. Best example was when a friend and I 'got into' an empty hospital in the west of London a few years back, and there are some huge old warehouses great fro photoshoots etc down the docks here in Southampton.
The office block opposite mine has two empty floors, but there are still cables, chairs and bits of paper etc in them. Even a vending machine...

Great stuff. Keep posting.
Posted By: Straker Re: Foxx-esque imagery in art - 10/15/07 08:14 AM
I seem to have stumped Google image! A first for me so I’ve had to upload them:



La science ou le pharaon des temps futurs [1968]



La destin suit la route [1963]
Posted By: Alex S Re: Foxx-esque imagery in art - 10/15/07 08:16 AM
Those are really interesting... do you know who did them?
Posted By: Straker Re: Foxx-esque imagery in art - 10/15/07 08:35 AM
Mentioned in the first post - Delmotte.
Posted By: Alex S Re: Foxx-esque imagery in art - 10/15/07 08:40 AM
Ah! Oh yes.

Time to investigate further....
Posted By: Straker Re: Foxx-esque imagery in art - 10/15/07 09:39 AM
First name Marcel. Seems to have had an exhibition in New York in 1991 for which a catalogue exists. This appears to be the only English language publication about him. A French book was also published in the sixties but, as far as I can tell, is less well illustrated than the exhibition catalogue.
Posted By: RadioBeach Re: Foxx-esque imagery in art - 07/29/10 09:48 AM
Is it just me or does this painting by Max Ernst, Forest and Dove 1927, look really familiar?



cool
Posted By: core memory Re: Foxx-esque imagery in art - 07/29/10 10:49 AM
laugh

great stuff, and to think its only taken since 1981 for me to see the inspiration for 'that' album cover!
Posted By: RadioBeach Re: Foxx-esque imagery in art - 07/29/10 11:07 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by core memory:
laugh

great stuff, and to think its only taken since 1981 for me to see the inspiration for 'that' album cover!
Heh! Yeah me too!

It's on display at the Tate Modern, they've got a semi-permanent collection now of Surrealist/DADA/Futurist art called 'Poetry and Dreams' and it's there.
Posted By: Andy Kalish Re: Foxx-esque imagery in art - 07/29/10 06:26 PM
I am not knowledgeable at all when it comes to art but I like this Ernst piece very much:
Silence
I seem to see faces in the picture but when I look directly at them they are gone. Very interesting.
Posted By: RadioBeach Re: Foxx-esque imagery in art - 07/30/10 09:19 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by Andy Kalish:
I am not knowledgeable at all when it comes to art but I like this Ernst piece very much:
Silence
I seem to see faces in the picture but when I look directly at them they are gone. Very interesting.
Hi Andy,

Ernst’s The Eye of Silence had an impact on Ballard too. A detail of it is used for his early novel The Crystal World



There are many references to the painting in The Atrocity Exhibition (expanded and annotated edition);

“Max Ernst’s paintings run through The Atrocity Exhibition , in particular The Eye of Silence and Europe After The Rain. Their clinker-like rocks resemble skeletons from which all organic matter has been leached, all sense of time. Looking at these landscapes, it’s impossible to imagine anything ever happening within them. The neural counterparts of these images must exist within our brains, though it’s difficult to guess what purpose they serve.”
Posted By: Andy Kalish Re: Foxx-esque imagery in art - 08/05/10 06:55 PM
Thank you very much, Garry! More items for the reading list. If only there was more time! smile
© Metamatic