Jenny Saville
Jenny Saville (* 1970 in Cambridge , England) is an English painter.
Life
From 1988 to 1992 Saville attended the Glasgow School of Art . She got a six-month scholarship to the University of Cincinnati . The sight of fat women aroused a fascination for fat, white meat. She was also influenced by the artist Cindy Sherman . In 1990 her first work was presented in the "Contemporary '90" exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts . She graduated in 1992 and then studied at the Slade School of Art (1992–1993). Finally, her work was shown in the Critic Choice exhibition at the Cooling Gallery in Edinburgh . The British, multi-million dollar advertising czar and art collector Charles Saatchi became aware of her, bought several of her works and then signed an 18-month contract to support Saville and exhibit her paintings at the Saatchi Gallery in London. He purchased Saville's works in advance and made her studio and work materials available. In 1994, Jenny broke away from her patron. Several exhibitions followed:
- in the New York "Pace Mc Gill"
- in the Stockholm "Museum of Kalmar" 1996
- in the London "Royal Academy of Arts"
She later moved to New York, where she spent a lot of time in the practice of plastic surgeon Dr. Weintraub spent. She looked over his shoulder during plastic surgery and took photos. In this way, the artist gained a better understanding of the human body and she realized that medicine has many ways of manipulating the human body. She also improved her knowledge of psychology and learned through observation what psychological problems can arise after an operation.
Saville was part of the major exhibition Sensation , held in 1997 at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. The joint exhibition presented their works alongside those of other contemporary artists from the Young British Artists , such as Damien Hirst , Gary Hume, Jake and Dinos Chapman , Marcus Harvey, Tracey Emin and Chris Ofili . The public and the press described the exhibition as scandalous, which led to vandalism among visitors. Saville's work was spared. After three months, the exhibition attracted over 350,000 visitors and was later shown in Berlin ( Hamburger Bahnhof ) and New York ( Brooklyn Museum ).
In 2004 she had a solo show at the Gagosian Gallery in New York .
She is with the artist Paul McPhail and lives and works partly in Sicily (Italy) and also in London, where she teaches figurative painting at the Slade School of Art .
The Welsh rock band Manic Street Preachers used Saville's cover art for their albums The Holy Bible and Journal For Plague Lovers.
Jenny Saville holds the record for the most expensive work of art sold by a living artist at £ 8.25 million (buyer's premium of £ 9.5 million) for the painting "Propped", sold at Sotheby's in October 2018.
Digression into Saville's work
Savilles subjects and style of painting
In a society filled with physical phenomena, Saville created a niche for obese women in contemporary visual culture. The artist is known for her massive and large-format, almost huge oil paintings. She wants to create intimacy through size. Saville uses an impasto painting style and predominantly uses red tones. When working, she mainly uses classical forms of expression such as figurative painting. She herself speaks of a reference to Peter Paul Rubens . Likewise, the artist makes references to medical magazines that she studies to internalize the details of flesh colors, bruises, veins, etc. In a society characterized by technical progress, she mostly remains loyal to oil painting (exception: excursion into photography).
The main characteristic of her work is:
- misshapen body landscapes covered by ugly skin in oil on canvas
- obese and sometimes faceless women whose huge bodies appear speckled with pink
- Reference to feminine beauty ideals
- Saville gives a lot of weight to reality and snubs the omnipresent, softened image of reality in the media
- Refusal of an expressionless, always the same beauty.
Selected work overview
Propped
(1992)
- naked corpulent woman who appears to be sitting on a bed post (or similar) or impaled by him (propped means jacked up)
- she looks down from gigantic heights - one eye and the forehead no longer fit the picture - searchingly down at the viewer
- the look seems defiant or flirtatious
- her crossed hands cling to her thighs
- the thighs are half closed and hide the view of the pubic area
- the woman wears white shoes on her feet, which makes one think of a bride
- overpainted with notes by the French feminist theorist Luce Irigaray in mirror writing (approx. 10 lines)
- auctioned at Sotheby's in October 2018 for £ 8.25 (gross 9.5) million [FAZ October 13, 2018]
Branded
(1992)
- Self portrait
- standing fat woman staring at the viewer
- completely naked
- angrily clutching a roll of bacon in her left hand - is she disgusted with herself or proud of her size?
- other hand seems cramped
- Focus is first directed to staring gaze
- enormous breasts
- she meets the viewer fearlessly in her nakedness
- Words suggested on the body: Decorative , Support , Delicate
- Saville is amused by the conventional female prototype
- the gaze of the portrayed invalidates this prejudice.
plan
(1993)
- similar associations to Branded
- similar representation and intentions
- Self-portrayal of the artist
- new: Lines on the body like contour lines on a map
- these are lines that the cosmetic surgeon uses during the operation.
Strategy (South Face / Front Face / North Face)
(1994)
- an extremely obese woman looks at the viewer from three angles
- she is only scantily dressed
- very masculine traits
- was used by the Manic Street Preachers as the cover for their album The Holy Bible .
Closed contact
(1995-96)
- Self-portraits
- The artist drapes her body on a pane of glass
- Skin that is distorted and stretched beyond the pain threshold
- a photographer friend, Glen Luchford, helped her with the shoot
- Image of the battered body of Saville
- squeezed breasts, belly folds, cheeks and lips.
Fulcrum
(1998-99)
- On the dissecting table are stacked, massive female bodies
- Body tied together with ropes
- Masses of meat pressed against all corners of the canvas - seem to want to blow up the canvas
- Models: artist herself (above), a friend in the middle, the friend's mother below
- different generations of meat touch each other
- Touch turns into suffering
- mutual deprivation of air and space
- Rope cuts deep into the flesh.
matrix
(1999)
- Preoccupation with the sexes
- so far she has only painted women
- Now images that the intersex Del LaGrace Volcano Show
- a woman who has been taking testosterone for years to transform herself into a man
- Holding on to a body in transition that denies the genitals and yet shows it off
- the person is becoming
- Saville uses an aggressive imagery.
Break
(2003)
- Saville was last inspired by the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001
- Representation of truly battered bodies
- the color red dominates
- bodies covered in blood
- the image goes back to a photo of a woman who committed a suicide bombing in Israel.
Starlings
(2005)
- A sexually unidentifiable child can be seen in the foreground; According to Saville, it is supposed to be a girl.
- The right half of the child's face is smeared with blood
- The background of the picture is simple blue.
- The painting was used by the Manic Street Preachers as the cover for their album Journal for Plague Lovers .
literature
- Art - The Art Magazine , 8/04
- Art Review Magazine, Dec / Jan 1998
Web links
- Articles about Saville on Brain Juice (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Saatchi Gallery: Jenny Saville - Articles - The Saatchi Gallery. Retrieved October 16, 2018 .
- ↑ a b Jenny Saville | Artist | Royal Academy of Arts. Retrieved October 16, 2018 .
- ↑ Sean Michaels: Manic Street Preachers album cover censored by supermarkets. May 15, 2009, accessed October 16, 2018 .
- ^ Dazed: Jenny Saville is now the most expensive living female artist . In: Dazed . October 9, 2018 ( dazeddigital.com [accessed November 16, 2018]).
- ^ Anne Reimers: Follow-up report from London: bidders, lots, sensations . In: FAZ.NET . ISSN 0174-4909 ( faz.net [accessed October 16, 2018]).
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Saville, Jenny |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | English painter |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1970 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Cambridge |