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Magda Cordell (figure woman) 1956-7 (fig. 1)In the TATE gallery on the first floor there is this canvass (included above). A Magda Cordell work, a figure of a woman (fig. 1.). Me (Dwayne Coleman) and Kieran DeRoche, we both enjoyed looking at the choreographed drips of paint. We instantly thought that the way the paint had been manipulated felt intense. We discussed and said that it seemed like the paint was moved around with a passion and a meaning. The colours that have been splashed around next to each other were premeditated. It is a strong piece of work because Cordell knew what she wanted. This was a conscious effort to make a dingy, mallow, acid wash style background and add the figure with some bright distracting yellows and oranges. The mixes of colours we said are the main thing what attract the viewer.
Cordell doesn’t make it obvious that the painting is a figure of a woman. I’m sure many people do not realize this until they have read text next to the painting. But even though you may not know what the painting is, you are instantly drawn to it anyway just because of the patterns that paint has made and the collaborations of colours. The painting demands attention. The painting works, and looks powerful because of the amount that is happening foreground, it looks like a fantastic firework display, with explosions and sparklers.
The meanings of the piece are mainly about illness and injury. It is said to be that the inflated limbs were the fear or the acknowledgement of Cancerous tumors radiation illness, in the twentieth century. Whilst newer critics are saying that it symbolizes femininity and the distortions of change that a woman goes through.
Magda Cordell has captured so much energy, emotion and colour in this image. While not making the piece overcrowded. The piece is demanding, you have to give it all your attention or else you will miss what it has to give. She has took on a Pollock style with Rothko emotion, but made it her own with a figurative approach. It is a truthful painting, witch has passion and emotion, and I really enjoy the painting. But the painting is in a room with all these other art works, where it should be is in a room of its own.
