Black Classic 4

This is an abstract painting, based on the black-bordered 'Penguin Classics' paperback books, a style icon. The composition mirrors the book cover - the lower area is black, with a white stripe, and the main field of the painting is an abstract work of many colours, in this case, suggestive of psychedelia and drugs, joy and spontaneity, tying in with the distorted text at the bottom - 'The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test', by Tom Wolf.

The paintings in this series were created over several sessions. The entire surface has been covered in many overlapping layers, leaving marks, drips and splashes visible. The surface is impasto and textural, with many spatters and signs of overpainting and reworking.

My aim here was to create an original abstract painting, but to work within the constraints of a known design, reducing the text into broken and misplaced letters, and creating my own imagery for the illustration.

These striking paintings will look fantastic in any home.

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Painter from the Blue Mountains. I've had paintings in the Sulman Prize 2012‚ Mosman Prize 2012‚ Calleen Art Prize 2013‚ Gallipoli Art Prize 2014 & 2016, Gosford Art Prize 2018 & 2018, the ANL Maritime Art Prize 2018 and the 2019 Hawkesbury Art Prize (winner). In the last nine years I've had a lot of success with abstract paintings, drawing inspiration from the covers of 'Popular Penguin' paperback books, from the classic Monopoly board, Uno cards, and other pop culture icons. The paintings are distorted representations of the subject matter, transformed with thick brushstrokes and often random lettering, retaining the essence of the original but also becoming something new. I have had sell out shows in Sydney, Melbourne and Singapore. My art has been featured in Art Edit magazine, The Grand Designs Australia Sourcebook and the Financial Review. PLEASE NOTE - commissions now closed for 2024. Thank you!