Scene 41
ART MATTERS
ALL THAT JAZZ
) Chris Hawkes is an artist who, having graduating in 2017 with a Fine Art Painting BA at University of Brighton, has since exhibited in London, Brighton and Liverpool, as well as completing a two-month residency in Chongqing, China, which culminated in the MORE + MORE + MORE exhibition. The work he developed in Chongqing having become very playful and loud, the result and reaction to exploration of a new place, photographing everything around him to become part of what was initially an alien culture to then muse upon and working from the images back in the safe confines of the studio.
REVIEWS
BY ENZO MARRA
Working with multiple visual languages, which blend figurative and abstract elements, which explore ideas of the sampled image, gender, taste and queer identity, all playing out simultaneously within each work. Heavily connected to pop art, they consciously acknowledge the role of signs and simulations within representation, deliberately re-engaging with the autobiographical and personal through the considered layers of accumulation. With a camp unapologetic aesthetic, Chris’ work presents a more femininely pronounced style as an act of rebellion against the potential machismo inherent in the act of painting. Chris works within a vibrant studio at Phoenix Art Space. Colour being the foundation for each of the works, with their restricted palette creating a structure for the artist to respond to with each subsequent painting stage. Combined with imagery sourced from research into art history and more personal photographs, the final achieved paintings provide indefinite potential conclusions despite the initial set of restrictions. With a mixture of different manners of painterly application, vivid colouration and linear portrayals of figurative juxtapositions, his works are equally informed by the manner of execution as well as the concepts that initially spurred them on into being. Having the initial drawings projected onto canvases before they are integrated into more abstract additional elements. They gain the appearance of sampled images, whether they are or not sourced in such a manner. The process allowing him to translate and mistranslate images into something that fits into a preferred visual language. The painting process informed by the hand applied collaging over canvas of all these collected elements. Their strong graphic presence, an indicator of how we all now live in an increasingly digital age. Chris uses imagery and references that relate to the busy world of Instagram, Photoshop and selfies, with all of the advertising and consumerist associations that accompany them. Sourced from photographs from his own life, as well as figures from Old Master paintings. The chosen imagery strongly relates to his queer and nonbinary identity, his work making steps to elevate a cultural understanding of queerness. His drive to ignore traditional gender roles and subvert them when necessary, informed by a well-reasoned combination of both being highly aware of visual gender signifiers, while spending most of his social life around people that reject traditional ideas of gender, naturally influencing his works.
BY SIMON ADAMS
) BILL EVANS Live At Ronnie Scott’s (Resonant). American pianist Bill Evans is best known for his work on Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue and for his stunning gigs at New York’s Village Vanguard in 1961. But in July 1968 he and his trio of Eddie Gomez on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums settled into London’s famous Ronnie Scott’s club for a four-week-residency, the highlights of which are collected together on this two-CD set. The material is a mix of Evans originals and Songbook standards, played by Evans in his typically rhapsodic, modal style. Bass and drums work as independent drivers of each song, DeJohnette particularly impressive given that he was only 25 at the time. Sound quality is a bit thin, but this is a live set that gradually draws you in as if you were in the audience. One person who was in that audience was Miles Davis, and within a few weeks he had poached DeJohnette for his own band. That’s show business! ) SARAH MOULE Stormy Emotions: Songs by Fran Landesman (33Jazz). Fran Landesman should need no introduction for, as a New York lyricist and poet, she was unsurpassed. She liked to shock: her luxury item when she appeared on Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs was a supply of cannabis seeds. There were complaints. In 1994, while living in London, she met the composer and pianist Simon Wallace, and collaborated with him until her death in 2011. As Landesman explained: “I got lucky meeting Simon. That he married Sarah Moule was a bonus. She’s the jazz singer par excellence.” On this fine set, Moule sings 12 Landesman songs, all the music written by Wallace. Landesman’s lyrics require careful diction, but Moule delivers that perfectly, knowing when to hold back, to stretch out a phrase, to sing the sense and not just the line. A classy set of witty, poignant songs. ) RON MILES Rainbow Sign (Blue Note). American trumpeter Ron Miles usually comes up with something interesting to say, often in company with that great electric guitarist of all sounds Americana, Bill Frisell. On his new set, accompanied once again by Frisell and an all-star rhythm section of Jason Moran on piano, Thomas Morgan on bass and Brian Blade on drums, Miles lays down a set of funky, quirky songs that sort of shift along with an easy lilt to them. Miles’ trumpet tone is warm and burnished, his delivery measured and refined, a good fit with Frisell’s off-beam contributions and sonic contortions. Personally, I could have heard more of Jason Moran, always a pianist with a point to make, but I quibble, for this is a fine set from a strong band.
