Forthcoming attraction, 1989
oil and wax on canvas 178 x 194 cm Collection: Gold Coast City Gallery, Queensland Walking tall, feeling proud, 1989
oil & wax on canvas 178 x 190 cm |
1989 USA - Early Cinema Matinee ‘I used to devour comics and was a big collector … I see strong connections between the construction of narrative painting and the construction of a scene for a film’. Terry Batt has spent sustained periods in America, firstly as a studio assistant for Chuck Close and Jim Dine and as a Masters of Fine Art student at Massachusetts College of Art. Each of these periods have left an indelible impression on the artist and impacted on his painting practice in striking and unexpected ways. Works such as Forthcoming attraction, 1989, reference the glory days of Hollywood cinema. They also comment on contemporary American society and political life and incidents taken from Batt’s own experiences. Batt recalls pouring over his comic book collection as a child, going on family excursions to the Drive-In theatre and seeing the Saturday matinee at the local cinema. Elements of these outings find their way into the paintings, along with the ubiquitous garish-coloured plastic cowboy and Indian plastic toys that were a staple of young boys growing up at the time. Batt proclaims humour and play as a prerequisite of art and art as an extension of everyday life. The Western film genre exercised a major impact on Batt’s work. This love of popular film, literature, commercial art and music was enhanced while living in America and became the focal point for his 1989 series of Western flick-inspired paintings that included Forthcoming attraction and other similarly evocative titled works such as Walking tall, feeling proud and Shooting at shadows. Shooting at shadows, 1989
oil & wax on canvas 190 x 178 cm |