9th September

John Fitzpatrick's work is primarily steel etching, he uses a combination of cross-hatching and unconsidered marks to build up a deep and intimate level of tone only accumulated over time to create the minimal geometric shapes depicted. As a member of the Glasgow Print Studio, Fitzpatrick used the traditional steel etching process of waxing, etching and printing the plate to create his work. It explores the  idea of change and transformation through time using solid black void boxes. He is particularly influenced by the work of Richard Serra, who was born in 1938 in San Francisco who's work is most known for his minimalist sculptures of large, self-supporting weathered steel. He is heavily influenced by the idea of the process of material, and how the material interacts with the space around it. Serra created deconstructed sculptures that were focused on the arrangement of objects like brick. He used a similar working style to Abstract Expressionism artist Jackson Pollock of working on the floor with his canvas, instead Serra used the floor to create sculptures with materials like molten lead, which was led on from a list of actions called "To Do", which had a list of different actions that he could make art from. Serra's later sculpture and insulation work was influenced by painter Josef Albers, who also influences John Fitzpatrick. Josef Albers helped pioneer the American Abstract Expressionism movement and his important work in colour theory. Albers also was one of the most influential members of the Bauhaus movement through his work in coloured glass. The way that Albers used minimalistic shapes and repetition to enhance the shape and colour is what would influence artists like Mark Rothko, who's large colour regions of colour that create a of a sense of place, which can be entered as they are placed so low to ground in viewing spaces. Josef Albers and Mark Rothko influence Fitzpatrick because of their unique understanding of shape and how shape can affect the impact of a painting. This had a particular influence on Fitzpatrick's earlier work which was created with a t-square and a grid to make the straight lines whilst using the same etching process. This work was focused around the idea of presence and absence, looking at the idea of creating a space in the art just like Rothko and Albers. Another of Fitzpatrick's main influences is American artist Donald Judd, who was born in 1928 in Missouri, he created large representational sculptures and furniture that focused how a shape can be altered without changing its fundamental properties. His work was extremely minimalist and often didn't mean anything outside of itself. He used modular repetition in his sculptures and designs to enhance the shape of the objects itself. Another influence of Fitzpatrick was Carl Andre. He used cheap objects like bricks and slate to create sculpture that explored the theme of chance and response. The materials were accessible and basic to emphasise materials impacting the space instead of the Fitzpatrick because of the way the sculptures interact with their surroundings, which he took forward into his plaster sculptures. I found that the artists that we learned about in class approached art making in a way that I prefer compared to more traditional approaches, particularly Serra, Albers and Rothko. The ideals of the artists were very similar throughout, the idea of creating a space for the viewer and making it an experience, and I will take forward the ideas towards the thought process about art forward into my own work. I thought that the way that Judd used the list as a way to process and create art was interesting, and I want to take that idea of working through ideas like that.