ROBERT RYMAN INTERVIEW with David Batchelor

Robert Ryman describes his work as a realist. He says how others artists work is an illusion, where as his work..

'the painting I make is based on a different approach. It has to do with using real light on real surfaces, rather than creating an internal illusion of light. If I use line in my work it is to do with line itself, not line as a representation of something else.I think of this as working with an outward aesthetic rather than with an inward one. I work with the painting plane in relation to the wall plane. Everything points to an approach which is a real situation rather than an illusion of the kind you get in pictures. I also have to consider the way light works. In most painting we think of light in terms of an illusion within the picture. In my painting light is used differently without any illusion. Thie light in the painting, so to speak, is accomplished by the different surfaces and how real light acts upon those surfaces. In some cases the surfaces are very soft and quiet and absorb the light; in others, light is reflected off certain parts of the painting, or off the fasteners, while it is absorbed in other parts.'

I think Robert Ryman is saying how the combination of the surface, the paint, and where it sits are all as important as each-other. How every application is put down with him already knowing the final outcome. That the combination of all materials used including the background have to work together, the colour, the surface, the texture, will all soak up or reflect light in a different way, and this is what his art work is. It is an extension of the wall it sits on and his final piece works with the light to give you what you see. He also paints squares and I'm sure this is because a square is quite neutral also.

I am not quite clear on his thoughts of other artists, but from what he is saying, it appears to me that he feels that his approach is not used by many artists. He says how Mondrian did take care about his work and how it related to the walls it sat on, and how he liked to use shallow stepped frames.

Robert Rymans use of white was also discussed and he says that over time white began to take over. I think he sees white as being something that other colours can not. That with white you can look deeply into it, and that the eye will pick things up in white, that may get lost in colours. It is also a great reactor to light and will not absorb light as much as other colours, but will encourage light to bounce.

His work you can see over the years has evolved, but in a very subtle way there is not the contrasts disciplines as the likes of Picasso.

PART TWO- 2018/19

PART TWO- 2018/19

RESEARCH- Artists

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