Back to the fundamentals....

My work currently is experimentation with scale and paint. Below is 'Reaching for the light' 2010. This was the first 'none gag' piece I have shown in the institute and I think it was recieved quite well. The 'Gag pieces' are a critque of the YBA's and at the time I was so miserable that mocking people was the only way of letting it all out so to speak. To say they was not recieved well would be an understatment but Uni is 3 years to mess up and learn from the consequences. So scraping back to the fundamentals of 'What makes good art?' I have been experimenting with an audience in a relationship to scale, colour and subject. I also wanted to present banal objects and see how I could make these 'Beautiful'. And I found out that you cant make a piece beautiful to everyone because, much like the word love, beauty is not defined with one picture in the dictionary but can be intepretted in many ways.



'Reaching for the light' 2010
2" x 2" oil on canvas.

Seven Deadly Sins

So above we have (right to left)

Top Row

Envy: Jake and Dinos Chapman, upon their tree
Sloth: Damien Hirst, Heading for the checkout with his shark in the trolley
Greed: Charles Saatchi and Nigella, Playing monopoly

Bottom Row

Gluttony: Jenny Saville, Walking away from the buffet
Pride: Tracey Emin, Sitting in her tent advertising for Penis
Lust: Andy Warhol, Lying in bed with Marilyn
Wrath: Jeff Koons, The Bunny burns down the Factory

OK! so they are not brilliant and did offend a few (even talk about the universities ethinical policy) but I have now realised the images that work are the ones that de-masuculate the character.

These were some time ago so I have moved on but hoping one day when I have a clearer outlook on the industry they could be a collection and coming to a store near you! (if there is no ethinical policy scheme)

Gag Pieces

So as promised I am going to publish some of my past work which I am a little sceptical about. They are toungue in cheek and not everyone will like them but it is an important shift in practice



'Dead fish do not swim in jealous tides' 2009

A recreatation of Damien Hirst's famous shark. As an artist you do look up to people like Hirst and the changes him and his era made to contemporary art of the 90's. But even though they are sucssessful and very good at what they do should us artist's of today be idolising Hirst?



'Untitled 2009'

I could not help but feel I was reaching my own dimise whilst becoming so fixated by this Shark.