Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery

I visited Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery photographed some of the works which I feel can be interpreted interestingly in terms of layers. These are four which I have selected due to their diversity:

John Armstrong (1893-1973)
Lapping waters, 1944
Tempera on Panel
This is a surrealist piece painted during the second world war. The method of painting involves many small dots or squares of colour to produce a mosaic like effect and the paint has been layered to give it a rough pastel finish. The sphere balanced on the tripod of pincers has a strong ominous architectural element to it. This overpowers the background which contains dark orange hues of a sunset, attempting to bring warmth to the painting. The waves are like layers of darkness with jagged edges threatening to consume the sphere or float it away from the grasp of the pincers. The layered mosaic style of the waves gives them movement and ferocity but also a mountainous stony effect.


Taraneh Hemami
Born 1960 Iran
Most Wanted, 2006
Hand-manipulated pigment print
This piece is part of the collection on immigration. It was inspired by the blurry unrecognisable mug shots on a US government 'most wanted' poster. The print layers what Hemami described as "beards, veils and dark skin". It's faded effect causes these things to stand out as the only recognisable features and illustrates that this is how many Iranian people are seen by others. It shows the generalisation that is made of people with these traits and that the layers of appearance do not define the layers of who people are. The white marks where the print has not coloured the paper give it a grainy texture.

Paul Feiler (1918-2013)
Porthledden, 1958
Oil on Hardboard
This abstract painting is Feiler's interpretation of the rugged Cornish landscape. Porthledden is a coastal area suggesting a tide breaking on rocks. The paint is layered on thickly giving it the appearance of rough terrain. The dark lines are reminiscent of figures or trees and give the painting a three-dimensional aspect while the greyish shadows add depth. The messy style in which the lines layer over each other gives the painting a wild and dangerous feeling which is accentuated by the contrast of the thick black marks against the creamy background. It's as if the marks are reaching towards the faint horizontal line at the top, perhaps depicting people ascending the rocky land.


Anwar Jalal Shemza (1928-1985)
The Wall, 1958-1985
Oil on Board

This painting combines elements of cubism with traditions of the Islamic World. The interlocking lines of 'The Wall' are inspired by Arabic calligraphy and Islamic architectural designs. The bottom half of the background is painted a snowy white while the top half has a dirty green-brown stone effect, this contrast is softened by the fluidity of the lines. Layered over this the lines of 'The Wall' build a complex structure of depth and detail. The layering of these contrasting different styles shows that the painting represents many things yet they are harmoniously combined through clever combinations of texture and colour. The continual aspect of these lines could represent the eternal path of Islamic design. The lines interlock to represent how the cubist elements combine with the Arabic ones and the contrasting colours pick out this unusual combination. Having 'The Wall' in two colours gives the effect that it is made of many pieces and therefore powerful; as if each layer adds strength to the piece.