A purist approach to media art societies

Every now and again I have a bit of a rant about one of my pet topics - media creep. This is one of them.

An art society is set up to serve a very particular group of artists - including specific media. Media Creep sets in as it the media eligible for use in a society exhibitions starts to become more broad and extended so that definitions of media become "more inclusive".  

I've often thought it's another way of avoiding setting up a society to tackle their particular preferred media.

Here's an example of my previous words on this topic - Acrylic Painting, Art Societies and Education (2022). Plus an extract which just about sums it up

In the UK we have acrylic crossing the oil and watercolour divide - and sometimes forgetting that

• those on the water side should NOT look like oils and
• those on the oil side should NOT look like watercolours.

Maybe it's a question of acrylic painters needing to achieve a much higher profile - in terms of an art society with a very clear focus and its own membership and exhibitions?

As I stated yesterday about the current RI Annual Exhibition

Virtually everybody in this exhibition is using either watercolour or (normal or acrylic) inks.
However 53 artworks are in acrylic. That's 11.5% of the artworks.

First up - I'm very much a "do what it says on the tin" sort of person. So please read this section with this in mind.

My one big gripe about media is that I think every artwork I see in the RI exhibition should demonstrate evidence of WATER. After all, this is a conglomeration of artists who create artwork in WATER COLOURS. The word water is important.

There are a number of artworks in the exhibition whose media description is as follows

Fluid acrylics and heavy body acrylic on wood panel

That to me is a very very long way from being a water colour painting.

A review of other FBA Art Societies

Let's look at some comparisons re FBA Societies - and how they have chosen to address media creep.

The Royal Institute of Oil Painters (ROI)

In the past, a few too many artworks in acrylic hung in the annual ROI exhibition - in my opinion. 

Or rather they could have done until the ROI finally outlawed acrylic (after I had a go at the ROI about its name and the media used in its exhibition - and kept repeating it in every review). 

I'm not quite sure when the ROI started to let people submit work in acrylics but I do wish they'd:

• either change their name
• or stick rigidly to this being an exhibition of oil paintings.

I think it's misleading to do otherwise... It needs to be one or the other. I was pleased to see the extremely high percentage of the exhibited work is in oils. Hopefully this is an aspect of the society that can be addressed over time. Review - Royal Institute of Oil Painters Annual Exhibition 2017

The acrylic painters then started using oils. Which is interesting.

 

The Pastel Society

The Pastel Society developed a  great approach to acrylic. 

• You can use it as part of a mixed media piece 
• BUT the predominant medium used in the artwork MUST always reflect the media identified in the title of the society (eg acrylic can be used for an underpainting with PASTEL on top being the primary medium in any artwork).

All types of pastel including soft pastel, hard pastel, oil pastel, ink pastel, water-based pastel, conté crayons or sticks, sanguine, and other dry mediums that are similar in their application including charcoal, chalk, and pencil. Mixed media and three-dimensional works are welcome where pastel or another dry media is the primary medium. Open Calls Pastel Society | Eligibility of media 

The Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours

Like I said - so long as the RI is is an art community of watercolourists I would very much like to see evidence of water being used in every artwork. Even if the medium is opaque. "Liquid Medium" is NOT water.

In the current exhibition, I would argue there are paintings painted as if they were oil paintings. Maybe because the ROI won't have them any more?

The current eligibility criteria for the open call specifies media as follows

Acceptable media:

• Watercolour or water-soluble mediums including watercolour, watercolour pencil, acrylic, ink or gouache (excluding water-soluble oils) on any appropriate support.
• Please specify the type of support (for example paper, board, wood, parchment, etc) as well as the medium.

WHY exclude water-soluble oils and then allow acrylics to be used as if they are oils? It makes no sense to me! 

I think a simple way of dealing with the current situation would be to say

• all acrylic work to be on paper, vellum, parchment or illustration board
• an emphasis on the evident use of water with all acrylic paint
• absolutely no paintings on cradled boards 
• no use of textural or other mediums with acrylic paint

Here are some artworks in the exhibition I have absolutely no problem with because they are all using acrylic on paper.

Three paintings by Mari French RI

in Acrylic ink on watercolour paper,

Standing Tall by Madelaine de Angelis
Acrylic on three layers of tissue paper

Oliena by Delia Cardnell RI

 Watercolour pencils and acrylic

A Society for Acrylic Painters

My very firm personal view (as in you can argue with me but I won't be budged on this one) is that acrylic painters should have their own society and stop piggybacking on others. 

The medium has been around for years, and is absolutely amazing for the different ways you can use it and its scope to mimic other media - and there are very many artists who use a acrylic. Including National Treasures (eg David Hockney). 

I really do think it's about time artists working in acrylic should have their own society which operates effectively at a national level.

There is one. It's called The National Acrylic Painters’ Association (NAPA) - but it always strikes me as being rather provincial. 

Maybe if acrylic painters supported it more, then it could also exhibit at the Mall Galleries instead of small provincial towns.

Do what it says on the tin. If an artwork looks as if it could be hung in the exhibition of another media society, then maybe it's time to think again about media eligibility and use.