'The Edge' - Painting Project

This project was inspired by 'the edge', whether it be psychological, literal, natural, physical and so on. The edge I chose to depict was that between modernism and post-modernism, not simply in the artistic sense, but in terms of culture. I wanted to highlight the differences between 20th and 21st Century society, and in particular the change in visual styles and progression in issues to do with gender and sexuality. I chose to make a 1950's style oil paint pin-up inspired by Gil Elvgren and subvert 50's culture by creating a camp, sexualised male pin-up who embodies modern 21st Century culture and breaks down gender stereotypes. I juxtaposed modern motifs with a retro artistic style to trace the edge between modernism and post-modernism, and tried to create my own unique synthesis of the two contrasting social environments.

A photograph of the painting near completion

The completed painting with its frame

The above photographs showcase different experiments with painting that I created prior to narrowing down my ideas to my final painting - I used coffee granules, medical gauze, dripping, sugar crystallization, experiments with tin foil and some other techniques to determine the textures and colour palette I wanted to use.