The Paintings of Helen Laker (And A Few Thoughts On The New Breed Of Artists)

Helen Laker is an artist based in Southeast London / Kent borders who works as a “painter, 3-D relief worker, illustrator, storyboard artist and poet” as well as working in the film and TV industries. She also appears to be the originator of Zignatures, an “expandable community of artists and creative people and companies.” In her dreamy abstract paintings forms rise up from the canvas, perhaps due more than to the pattern forming tendencies of our minds than a conscious intention, or maybe not.

Paintings aside, Helen reminded me of the new breed of young artist that seems to be everywhere in the culture production worlds. So enjoy her some images as I use this opportunity to riff on a couple of the tendencies and commonalities that I’ve noticed among up-and-coming artists out there.

Multiple Mediums

The new breed doesn’t have allegiance to only one artistic medium. It is common to find someone who paints, shoots digital movies and plays in a band. And does them well, equally.

Part of the reason may be that the multiple mediums mirror larger philosophical and social trends in the greater culture. Towards multiplicities and pluralities. Also that they are creating awash in the sea of late-capitalist products, with a greater variety of materials for production available, and cheap.

Embrace of Capitalism

I find little of the old style tension between art production and “selling out.” While that may seem sinister to some, it partly may be as a result as the drying up of government art grants and the eradication of the safety net – no longer can artists rely on the dole to survive in their artistic formative years and beyond. It also may be related to the decline of the great anti-capitalist ideologies.

Free public art performance and gallery shows exist side by side with advertising, marketing and product design work. And the space between the advertising and mass culture agencies and what used to be known as “the underground” or “cutting edge” of culture has narrowed to the point to be almost insignificant, with multiple groups actively scanning the edges of culture and feeding those productions to large corporate entities.

Collectivity

This one is the most subjective of the lot. Artistic groups have always been prevalent, but it seems like more artists are part of some kind collective entity lately. Especially in the music scenes. While sometimes they are united around a certain theory of ideology – like the art collectives of history – many times what unifies them beyond numbers is hard to discern. Possibly the simple joy of others, possibly a reaching towards new forms of social organizations in the face of the poles of melted down biological family units and sterile corporate hives.

I’m not necessarily for or against any of these tendencies I’ve noticed, just some observations I’ve had of late, and I’m sure there’s more, which I will write about eventually.