Critical Review of year 3 graduate showcase
A critical review of Unza Saleems The World of Red, shown at Camberwell Graduate Showcase ( Summer 2023). First submitted as part of unit 4 coursework for BA (Hons) Fine Art: Painting in June 2023.
Critical Review: D119 - UNZA SALEEM (THE WORLD OF RED)
The World of Red, 2023, Unza Saleem, Oil on canvas
Walking into the room, the space seems larger than life - empty of the typical hustle and bustle of students fighting over the workspace. My eyes are drawn to the painted figure in red (Unza Saleem - “The World of Red”) on the left side wall, framed by the corner, an impasto abstraction (Alfie Harding - “Concretion”) and a hanging triptych painting (Amber Ambrosi - “A long way to go; the valley, another valley, more of a gorge really”) reminiscent of rolling hills and runaway rivers. A harmonious warm colour palette with a single contrasting green lily stem sets Saleem’s painting apart from the darker paintings shrouding the room. The use of oils is not disruptive to its sensory experience, with the smell minimal and the look not being majorly affected by glare from the lights above. The side view reveals a disappointingly flat painting which commends the artist’s use of marks to allude to three-dimensionality. It is clear that colour washes were involved in the layering process, and that’s how the thin veiny skin and the fabric were so masterfully crafted.
It is unclear whether the hidden face is shadowed by a dark brown on the umber scale or a true warm black, as it still has a similar temperature to the rest of the painting. Still, the contrast helps the visual tour of the garment folds and subsequent journey to the almost Persian carpet floor. The red floor matching the Sari also gives the impression of the subject melting into the ground, as if trying not to be an oppressive presence. In contrast, the lily highlights her femininity and fertility. Speaking to the GSA tour guide who led us around on Friday (02/06/2023) revealed that the context upon which the painting derived was the South Asian background (he was unclear which specifically) and refers to the bridal garment and the taboo that follows a bride from her maternal home to that of her husband’s. I don’t know whether the cultural context of my being Bengali pulls me in or the sheer size that begs for attention. The hidden face reminds me of Bangladeshi weddings where a bride must put on an upset or poker-faced countenance not to look happy to leave their mother’s home. No laughter or sign of happiness for entering a new stage of life is present. The lack of adornment, like the sari embellishments and jewellery, also confuses me. It points to a disparaging background, perhaps alluding to the trauma that follows each generation through arranged marriages and conflictive family dynamics.
Sari blending into the ground
Within the room, the piece is placed in other contexts that are not necessarily culturally significant. It is merely visually the fourth largest painting in its space (170cm x 140cm), but the effective use of colour and scale in composition sets it apart from its companions. The others draw from fantastical narratives as opposed to “The World in Red”’s real-world context. The use of realism also puts it into a weird dynamic with its immediate contemporaries, as the unrelated curation seems to showcase both the diversity of the graduate students but also the creative divide amongst the unlikely collective. On the one hand, juxtapositions can help to separate people’s works to highlight individual artists’ innovative styles and accomplishments so that similar artists aren’t muddled together. On the other hand, the cluttered mish-mash of such a stark variety of works should be an eyesore to the viewer. However, the curator carefully placed different sizes adjacent to each other, ensuring that a monotone show doesn’t dissuade the viewer, so whilst the thematic curation leaves a lot to be desired, the visual curation makes up a lot for the eclectics.
Shadow of lily
The use of bold colours whilst maintaining the essential elements of art like contrast and saturation is something that I’m still struggling with in my own work. The storytelling through visual cues like botany as well as specific contexts like the red sari and the veil, is also another feature that, in my mind, makes it a successful painting. The rule of thirds to balance the background with the floor and the central subject gives a clear sense of importance to the composition and helps the eyes travel through each fabric fold. My own work is also figurative but interacts more with additional minor subjects in waterscapes but Saleem’s use of size and manipulating the subject via positioning can be used within my work to help with painting both water and marine forms to add dynamism and three dimensionality to their movement and to establish their position within the setting. Whilst I can learn a lot from the painting, I’d also like to point out issues concerning the floor; the colours are too similar, and thus the figure seems to sink in. The shadows as well under the figure is too sharp and needs to be wider and blend out further away from the figure - the way it now almost seems like the floor is an extension of the subject. It might be helpful to emulate the shadows on the yellow walls from the flowers to the floor to separate the subject from the setting.
