2010-2013 BIG PIN-UPS
I wanted to paint the portraits of a handful of 'adult' performers I knew. I started to work on them in a way that was, somehow, credible as serious art (read 'politically correct'). Then I realised it betrayed the essentially alt-conscious, subversive self-regard I loved most about these girls, most of whom have 'made it' in the ubiquitous if not yet socially respectable, multi-billion entertainment industry we refer to as 'porn'.
So I re-conceived the portraits as a set of 'pin-ups'. Big – so big the larger- than-life-sized figures loom over the viewer – and noxiously pretty, painted in high-gloss enamel with strong, simple lines and soft, 'girly' pastel hues, I made the surfaces as sleek, shiny, plastic and sexy as the screen persona of each of the subjects.
Adhering to a long-established soft-porn convention, there is a Miss for every month, a series of 12 in all. Each is a different pose, in different dimensions. None is sexually graphic.
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