Art in Specificity and Context, After Millais: The Blind Girl (2021)
As I was re-organizing old files on my laptop in anticipation of going into my third- and final year of University as a BA History of Art student in the University of Birmingham, I stumbled across a piece of writing from a first-year module that I remembered fondly. As the word limit then for the assignment was set at just 500, I am thrilled to be revisiting it and seeing all its potential through… so, here it is, re-edited and expanded 👩🏻💻.
After Millais: The Blind Girl (2021) was an artwork which was specifically made to be a part of “The Butterfly Effect’, a group exhibition which ran from 25 September to 17 November 2021 at the Midlands Arts Centre (MAC — an arts centre situated in Birmingham, https://macbirmingham.co.uk/).
‘It has been said something as small as the flutter of a butterfly’s wings can ultimately cause a typhoon halfway across the world ’ — Chaos Theory 🦋
As the exhibition title implies, its overarching theme surrounds the idea that one small shift can hold the potential to compound and create a large impact later. Approached with a post-pandemic lens, and co-curated with seniors from the MAC’s Culture Club – this community-driven exhibition reflects on the effects that the health crisis has had culturally and socially, as lives were transformed and experiences altered.
The unassuming pair initially looks like corresponding pre-Raphaelite artworks; but- in fact, they are reproduced copies of a digitally manipulated 19th-century oil painting, framed in light-boxes and lit up to create a dynamic visual effect that offers viewers an updated viewing experience. The original artwork referenced is The Blind Girl (1856) by Sir John Everett Millais (1829–1809), an English artist known for being one of the founding members of the pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and later became one of the style’s most famous exponent, with the masterpiece Ophelia (1851–1852).
The change is apparent / the two girls have been separated. In the original painting: the two figures are depicted in an embrace with their hands clasped – highlighting their closeness and bond as presumable sisters – together. Much scholarship* has focused on the painting’s blind subject and its commentary on contemporary social problems, such as homelessness and the predicament of those vulnerable (aka children and the disabled).
Affection radiates from the scene, as the girls seem to be sharing an intimate moment. Intensified by the presence of a double rainbow framing the top-right corner of the background, a phenomenon that occurs rather infrequently – this fleeting episode’s impermanence and rarity is thus put forwards as a quality that imparts a sense of tenderness and adoration.
In both works: contrasting the tattered, worn out and dull dress of the figures is the exceptionally vivid and picturesque scenery / environment that surrounds them. Millais sets his subjects in lush green meadows accompanied by cattle and birds – bringing to life a delightful landscape. However, juxtaposing this brilliance is the dark skies in the distance that signals either an oncoming or dissipating storm; both instances undermine the charming and unspoiled nature in foreground imagery by presenting a reminder that the mundane in stillness / calm should be taken for granted.
Essentially there are two figures presen – but what happens when they are split up like in the case of Mona Casey’s altered and updated interpretation? (aka, a work made in and for a post-pandemic world?)
The separation of the paired subjects poignantly conveys (a sense of absence) – and this would seem to be the main motivator behind the change that the artist has intentionally made. Reflecting the realities of being unable to physically be with loved ones, an experience that many would have had to live through and deal with due to the precautions / restrictions that the pandemic imposed upon peoples and communities. Still posed as if they were in the presence of each other, yet their hands are clasping onto emptiness – lack resonates. Emphasis is clearly placed on what is ‘missing’, the physical presence, something that a majority might not have even considered twice about before the health crisis broke out.
In each of the examples: a figure / human presence has been removed, either leaving behind an empty landscape or displacing the subject matter – all of which culminates in creating a sense of absence; and every painting that Mona Casey reimagines is in the Birmingham Museums Trust (BMT)’s art collection. As an artist living and working in Birmingham, the choice to re-present established artworks that are a part of the city’s collection was doubtlessly a conscious and deliberate one. It draws back links to the locale and transform the selection of artwork into a display that resonates specifically with and for the community. Conclusively, the overarching impression that these artworks leave is one of solace and solidarity – as they allow their viewers the comfort of realising that their personal experiences was perhaps not such a lonely one after all. Thus, offering a common ground on which the people can identify and connect.
- Google Arts & Culture, The Blind Girl — Sir John Everett Millais;
- Graeme Douglas, ‘“Pity the blind”? Hidden stories of empowerment and inclusion in John Everett Millais’ The Blind Girl (1856)’, in Midlands Arts Papers 3, (2019/2020), article.
