Exhibition: Tate Modern- Henri Matisse

Exhibition: Tate Modern- Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs


Today i went to see the Matisse exhibition entitled "The Cut-Outs" at Tate Modern as part of my territories of practice, personalized universes. I was interested to go to see The Cut-Outs as i have always been fascinated by the combination of shape and color Matisse applied to his gouache decoupes.

The pieces i was most struck by where "The Parakeet and the Mermaid", "The Fall of Icarus" and "The Bees". I was drawn to The Fall of Icarus, not only because i have always had a love for Greek mythology, but due to Matisse's use of richly saturated colors that contrast with one another. I found his composition to be intriguing, especially his placement of his vibrant yellow stars that seem to add a hypnotic element to his work as my eyes seemed to be drawn to them . However my favorite element in this piece is the burning red spark that dominates the center of this collage. I think this burning flame symbolizes the human spirit and Matisse has presented it as a violent and aggressive aspect of human nature.I believe that this work explores the relationship between man and nature and his ability to want to surpass his own nature.

"The Parakeet and the Mermaid" was my favorite decoupage of the whole of the Cut-Out series. The voluminous natural forms dominate the white background, whilst still managing to be calming because of the cool tones Matisse has employed the use of. I was very drawn to this piece as i felt that it parallels my work and intentions in that Matisse was trying to deconstruct and simplify nature by using simple shapes in a repetitive pattern. Even though "The Parakeet and the Mermaid" and "The Bees" are both similar in terms of color and pattern, i prefer this decoupage as its lines are smooth and rounded and reinforce the idea of nature being circular. Each algae like shape is individual but still seems to have a universal pattern that creates a jigsaw like arrangement.  

I was visually overwhelmed by Matisse's "The Bees" as this collage seems to be a geometric explosion of color and pattern. The monochrome bees contrast against the vibrant mass of squares that are positioned at a right angle. The two lines of bees suggests the bees are in flight and the bright yellow being the pollen they ingest and all of this is composed in a cubist manner.   

 

Interestingly enough, Matisse was surrounded by textiles as he was growing up, his father and grandfather both working in this industry. This evidently had a effect on him as his collages seem to resemble swatches of material that are stuck on by pins. My work has similar associations as i have been looking at pattern not only in relation to nature but textiles and print. This exhibition has made me want to experiment with bold color as most of my work is black and white.I think both our works are similar as we both use cutting as a technique however i discard the pieces that come away from the paper but after this exhibition i feel that i want to try and experiment with the paper i would normally discard. I want to also experiment with scale as i have realized that Matisse's bigger pieces even though simple in nature, become awe inspiring because of their proportion.
It was also intriguing to note how the exhibition mixed both nature and humanity/mythology, combining the two and sending out the message that both are interlinked.

"That is the sense, so it seems to me, in which art may be said to imitate nature, namely, by the life that the creative worker infuses into the work of art. The work will then appear as fertile and as possessed of the same power to thrill, the same resplendent beauty as we find in works of nature.- Henri Matisse"