David Batchelor's talk was one of the best out of the Whitworth talks this term. His work is very much about colour and he talked about different ways he explored to manipulate colour. One of his biggest inspirations that he described as defining colour is in the classic film 'The Wizard of Oz', which I couldn't agree more with, even for it's age, the way colour has been expressed in the film is still one of a kind today. It was also quite reassuring that he said he found himself not working as an artist for over 10 years, and now he has books published of his work. This is inspiring because it shows that ideas and opportunities can come at any time and rather than wait around for 10 years, keep on working.
His work visually is stunning to look at but I liked the idea that it came from simple things, colour itself is such a simple thing but has so much power. He created sculpture work out of cheap toys he had bought from £1 shops and that just showed that it is so easy to go out there and find these things we see everyday and ignore and turn them into something we notice. He definitely seems a voyeur in the way that he is always looking out for new things around colour he can use in his work.
As a speaker, I found him very engaging, funny and also easy to follow and understand. It's becoming very clear through these talks I am attending it's very important on how you sell yourself as an Artist.
