"Tomorrow Ain't Promised To No One"

Apologies for the lax posting. I was in a Philly for a while and got a bit sidetracked.

Here's my latest painting. Aside from the undercoats, it was done in a two day marathon session (ah, deadlines).

Keema, 150 x 90 cm
Oil paint on canvas
Painted October 2009

The actual image is an appropriation of a still from the HBO show "The Wire" (good viewing, check it out). But the artistic inspiration behind this piece was Peter Doig's work -- and in particular, his painting "Grasshopper" [below]. Love that texture!


It's not necessarily evident in the above piece, but I love the way that Doig mutates pop-culture imagery beyond any kind of purely figurative reading. He robs the viewer of any context, instead relying on that mystery of place to create an atmosphere of cultural nostalgia. What happened right before this point in time? And just after? I also really like how he relies on body language rather than facial expressions, as well as how he'll often completely abandon his initial reference entirely. On a technical level, I love Doig's stubbornly horizontal brushstrokes. He typically employs a three-tiered set of bands in his work (as seen above) which is something that I tried to replicate (without making it too harshly evident).

I actually had a lot of fun painting this one despite the time crunch. Next up is a 4 x 5 foot canvas, oof.

H.I.G.O.

I can't wait for this album to drop. Even without Hub on the bass, even looking past the fact that they fell in with Jimmy Fallon of all people, The Roots are still the meanest motherfuckers on stage.



If I can scrape enough cash together I want to check their show at the Highline Ballroom in NYC later this year. Lupe wowed me live earlier this year but The Roots still hold the crown.

Les Hommes d'FIFA

Just finished this painting for a project revolving around "flat space". I wanted to emulate the flatness of traditional Japanese composition using an image taken from the 2006 World Cup (that's Michael Ballack rising up for the header).

Untitled, 90 x 120 cm
Oil paint on canvas
Painted October 2009

I wanted to take some risks and really push myself on this one and while I am glad that I did I definitely have a lot of issues with the final product. Things just did not go well right off the bat -- the canvas didn't stretch particularly tight; my initial sketch was plagued with horrible anatomy; etc. I wanted to employ a range of mark-making in this sort of Les Demoiselles d'Avignon composition but the whole thing just feels rushed and scrappy.

Noir

Just looking back at some old photos I took. I snapped this image on a tram in Melbourne. The old folks shot me a dirty look afterward but it was too good to pass up.


I really miss my Nikon F2 and am kicking myself for not bringing it with me (I opted for the D70 because it's more practical ... ugh). There's just something soulless about having a delete button on a camera.