Multi-disciplinary artist Graham Blondel is a study in contrasts – he is at once serious and playful. There is a lightness in the execution of his work, while the message that peeks through his painting, collage and assemblage is carefully considered. Blondel’s latest body of work Voodoo – Flowers – Paris is a sprawling collection of 100 works. “Certainly it’s evocative and provocative, and I like the idea of taking bits of other people’s statements even though I mightn’t comprehend them, adding them to other images and doing that Dada-istic type of thing where [it’s] in your face,” he says.
For Blondel, creating provocative art is key to engaging audiences with work that attempts to find meaning in the here and now. “It’s a significant combination of words – a combination of images to provoke people into seeing the world we live in, which is pretty chaotic, but hopefully with a sense of humour.”
The large-scale exhibition is an experiment of sorts for Blondel. It features sculpture, painting and collage divided into three distinct yet related groups. As far as the reactions the show inspires? “I really don’t care what other people think. I hope it does provoke and it does because there’s offensive language … and cause the images are incomprehensible. But from my point of view they all have a narrative. Once they’ve come together, they tell a story about my life … I’ve collected a bit of the paint off this wall, or the brick off this street, I pack away with me a bit of Paris, or Venice, or Berlin and it’s actually embedded in the work, which is an interesting thing in itself. There’s detail in every one of them and if you’re serious about looking at work, you’re going to have to look.”
When it comes to his own inspiration and appreciation he is indiscriminate. “I’ll look at everything and then I’ll make my decision as to whether I like it or not or what’s good or what’s bad or whatever. Everyone’s got a chance at it – I’ll look at anything! Doesn’t matter what it is, in everything there’s something to be seen … and to be appreciated.”
Blondel’s approach to self-criticism is similarly relaxed. “Once I’ve finished a work I might think that it’s the best one, but that changes often. And also I’m not that precious about them, once it’s painted, finished, whatever and they’re out there let’s get on with the next one. I don’t like to stay still. Or go back. You revisit things, but you have to push the barrier a little bit and make it obvious that you’re moving on, it’s a bit of a backwards process if you’re repeating everything and that’s not what artists should do.”
The boundless curiosity and openness to the world beyond what he knows is something Blondel sees as essential to his practice and the making of art in general. Collected debris and experiences gleaned from his travels were a significant inspiration behind much of the work in Voodoo – Flowers – Paris. “That’s the thing with artists closing their minds off and a lot of them do it unfortunately – go down one path. And artists have so many ideas, it’s so limiting to stick to one ideology or one technique or whatever … I think it’s essential for artists to not have that closed mind thing, and to travel and see other cultures, other art – to see the world as it is, good and bad.”
BY NATALIE AMAT
*Image: Graham Blondel, Mr Blue Eyes (detail), 2013.
Voodoo – Flowers – Paris by Graham Blondel presents at 107 Projects from November 21 through December 1.
