Pollock Krasner Foundation Grant

David Harker on the Pollock Krasner Foundation grant award Grant awards can give artists an opportunity to look at their work afresh, to take chances and to expand their practice in new directions. David Harker charts the development of his work over the course of a year after receiving a grant award from the Pollock Krasner Foundation. The Pollock Krasner Foundation, Inc. was established in 1985 through a bequest made by the late Lee Krasner. The foundation's aim is to aid individuals who have worked as professional artists over a significant period of time in the realms of painting, sculpture or work on paper, including printmaking.(1) In March 2007 I was awarded a grant to support my personal and professional expenses for one year. I proposed to allocate the funds towards the production of a new body of work in order to develop my portfolio. At the beginning of the grant period I produced a portfolio of drawings made during the previous three years. These drawings, such as 'beach I', 'sky I', and 'moor I' (all 2004), depict remote, peopleless landscapes that I had visited, and concentrate on a distant horizon, emphasising the open space of the locations. The group of works features a vocabulary of marks, comprised of lines and dots, which was influenced, at least in part, by the economy of line found in nineteenth century Japanese graphic art (2) and contemporary Chinese printmaking.(3) The marks in these drawings also resemble the texture of lines and dots found in etchings and lithographs, giving the effect of a negative image.(4) The absence of colour enabled me to focus on the structure of the images. For example, 'path', 'beach II' and 'moor II' (all 2004) communicate a sense of proximity and distance. I constructed the images by drawing up, down and across the picture surface emphasising the structure selected to underpin the image. This process communicates a sense of orientation, which, for instance, in 'path' is formed by the convergence of the boundaries and the network of horizontal and diagonal lines in the upper half of the drawing.(5) I used my photographs as source material for these drawings, and was also aware that they functioned as a record and a memory of a visit to a particular place. Taking the photograph as a reference, I planned the drawing in pencil. Drawing over the framework in ink, I then produced a tactile drawing with characteristics removed from its photographic source. This drawing process and the visual vocabulary that I selected, however, were more significant to these works than their photographic source material. This work developed into a group of pencil drawings called route, which consisted of a series of images depicting places of shelter, transit and communication, such as 'coast house' and 'airfield' (both 2005), and 'telegraph' and 'monument' (both 2006).(6) While broadly following the technique and process used for my ink drawings, I became more aware of the possibilities of using photographs as a resource. This influenced my selection of images: instead of focusing on individual photographs, I chose groups of images that had thematic links, as demonstrated in route. By exhibiting the drawings together, I invited interpretation of the series as a narrative, which had not previously existed in my work. The Pollock Krasner Foundation grant gave me an opportunity to produce new work. I decided to use a different medium to set up new challenges for myself and to add greater depth, both in terms of ideas and techniques, to my practice. Following on from the route drawings, I decided to depict manmade structures and interventions in landscape settings.(7) By rendering these images in paint I emphasised the arrangements of colour, shape and texture. I also returned to a technique, one of layering, removing and reworking the paint that I had used previously to create a series of abstract paintings in 2001 to 2002.(8) For this new series of landscape paintings I recorded the information contained in the photographic source, while allowing for freedom during the painting process. 'Gateway' (2007) is a good example as it attempts to communicate a tactile sense of the depicted surfaces; the surface erosion on the sea wall and the softness of the sand. In 'turbines' and 'north moor' (both 2007) the emphasis is on capturing a feeling of space, light and atmosphere. These paintings also communicate a sense of orientation, although in a more subtle way than in the earlier route series. For example, in 'turbines' different levels are depicted across the picture plane, such as the bank in the foreground rising up to the partly obscured road beyond. This has the effect of anchoring the viewer's position in the foreground, which is further emphasised by the turbines in the distance. In making these paintings I developed my use of photographs as a source material. I closely considered the ways in which the flatness and smoothness of the photograph could be reinvigorated through the hand-rendered processes of painting and drawing. At this time I visited an exhibition called The Painting of Modern Life (Hayward Gallery, London, 2007), and was interested in the way it explored how contemporary painting had redefined itself in relation to photography. My paintings, however, were not intended to refer to the characteristics of the photograph. Instead, I set out to produce tactile surfaces using a photographic image as a point of reference, stressing that although derived from photography, my work is painting and drawing. In contrast to the mainly linear marks in my previous ink drawings, my most recent drawings place a greater emphasis on shape and texture, while retaining a sense of space and depth. I am also aware that I have adopted a more robust approach to editing photographic source material, focusing on specific elements in the photograph. In contrast to the pictorial depictions in my previous paintings and drawings this paring down of information has the effect of delineating shape more explicitly, giving images, such as 'monument II', 'fjord I' and 'ruin' (all 2007), the appearance of fragments. The shapes are delineated by their own boundaries, which frees them from the compositional frame. In moving away from incorporating more traditional landscape reference points, this work has changed to something more abstract. These drawings function both as self contained images with their own sense of mass and depth, while simultaneously appearing as floating textural fragments. My wall drawings heighten this concurrent sense of disjointedness and coherence (see 'trees 1', 'viewpoint' and 'fjord I' (all 2007)). Both the wall drawings and prints reflect my increasing practice of working with a range of media, including marker pen. The award of the Pollock Krasner Foundation grant provided added motivation at a time when I wanted to experiment and push the boundaries of my practice. The support of the Foundation enabled me to concentrate more effectively on this objective. Over the course of the grant period I have redefined my practice in terms of concept, technique and process. Constant evaluation of my work is now an integral part of my practice and has enabled me to recognise that it is a continuing process. This is balanced by a stronger awareness of shared themes and complexities within individual images that create a collective force in a series of work. As well as experimentation, I also value the increased ability to hone ideas and techniques in order to communicate them more successfully to the viewer. These discoveries have brought about new possibilities that I aim to explore through the continuing development of my work. Further information More information on David Harker Notes: 1. Pollock Krasner Foundation Inc. at pkf.org 2. Forrer, M., (2004), Hokusai. Prestel Verlag, Munich; and hiroshige.org.uk 3. Farrer, A., (ed) (2003), Chinese Printmaking Today. British Library, London (p.112 and 113; illustrations 46 and 47) 4. Smyth, C., (2004), fields of marks. Catalogue essay for an exhibition of drawings at the Clerkenwell Green Association Gallery. (London, 2004); and David Harker 5. Smyth, C., (2004), fields of marks. 6. Axis Curated Projects, (2007), Drawing no.1. April, Selected 7. Artist's Statement dated 2007; David Harker and drawingcenter.org (go to viewing programme) 8. Smyth, C., (2002), catalogue essay for the Florence Trust Summer Exhibition, (London, 2002); and David Harker David Harker, 2008