Artist's Statement

Generally I hate "Artist's Statements". They are some of the most pretentious drivel ever written, each one a potential "Pseud's corner" winner. Some of this is artists' fault themselves, because their communication skills are really limited to the stuff they paint, sculpt or whatever and they shouldn't really be allowed near a computer, but quite a lot it is the fault of curators and art critics (watch me here cut off my nose to spite my face). There are galleries and curators who expect artists to write pretentious drivel, and are disappointed when they don't. Top of the league in this category goes to the french website who last year rejected my submission on the grounds that my artist's statement wasn't pretentious enough. "That's no good" said the webmaster, contemptuously, "that just describes WHAT and HOW you paint, NOT what it MEANS". I really wanted to quote Charlie Brown then: "It's a horsie".


I can tell you what I think my paintings are about in that I am interested in certain things that influence the process - ideas, colours, music, emotions, processes - but I am also aware that some things are accidents, some things aren't conscious, and that people looking at paintings sometimes see things that weren't intended. That's all ok. Actually, that's great!


So for anyone looking for the best resource for writing an artists statement, I refer you to the wonderful artybollocks.com . With just one click I created the following masterpiece:




"My work explores the relationship between Bauhausian sensibilities and UFO sightings.

With influences as diverse as Kafka and early Jackson Pollock, new combinations are created from both constructed and discovered textures.

Ever since I was a teenager I have been fascinated by the theoretical limits of the zeitgeist. What starts out as vision soon becomes debased into a hegemony of temptation, leaving only a sense of decadence and the chance of a new beginning.

As spatial replicas become frozen through studious and diverse practice, the viewer is left with an insight into the darkness of our future."

I love it.