In his new series, Meehan photographs a range of flowers, including poppies, lilies, roses, and tulips reflecting his continued fascination for ‘beautiful organic shapes’. Flowers were an obvious choice of subject for the artist following his 2008 exhibition of nudes, A Personal View, as their fluid sculptural forms ‘echo and mimic the shape, curves, and sensual nature of the female nude,’ which remains a constant source of inspiration in Meehan’s work.
The title of the show, ‘The Wine Box series’ is inspired by Meehan’s innovative method of photographing the flowers in a wine box. By playing with the lighting, and the colour and texture of the walls, he creates a unique setting for each of his subjects. Meehan uses only natural light: by removing or adding the panels of the box he is able to manipulate the light and shadowing around the subject to create subtle variations in tone and mood. Similarly, by painting the walls of the wine box with different colours and textures, Meehan alters the tonal quality of light in a photograph, from using variations of blue to create a cool, harsh light, to deep reds for a softer, warmer tonal quality. In some cases, Meehan removed the panel at the back of the box, lighting the flower from behind to reveal the translucency of the petals and texture of its veins.
Meehan’s fascination with form dictates both the flowers he selects and the moment at which they are photographed. Some he will photograph when freshly cut whilst others he will leave standing for days until he feels they are ready: ‘it’s a waiting game’.
As well as applying textures directly to the walls of the box, the almost painterly, textural quality characteristic of Meehan’s Black and White photography is achieved by using very long exposure times, sometimes up to five minutes. Significantly, though he admires the ‘simple no nonsense approach’ in the photography of Edward Weston, it is painters such as Gustave Klimt and Schiele, with their soft use of colour, who remain his greatest influence.
Arthur Meehan - "The Wine Box Series"
Jonathan Cooper’s Park Walk Gallery
20 Park Walk
London SW10 0AQ
UK
March 11th to April 2nd, 2010
Private Viewing: March 10th, 12-8pm
Jonathan Cooper’s Park Walk Gallery
(c) Arthur Meehan - "Poppies" from "The Wine Box Series"
