Output details
34 - Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory
University of Wolverhampton
“Back to Front: 40 Permanent Collection Gems”
“The Best A Man Can Get” Mixed Media Collage 2013
Brief Description
‘The Best A Man Can Get’ (2013) the mixed media collage is a result of a period in Residency at NAGW which provided a site that enabled continuation of multidisciplinary approaches incorporating performance, photography, film and collage to examine representations of class and masculinity in British sit-coms. Exploring the sitcom as social mirror in relation to 1950s comedy figure Tony Hancock. NAGW accessioned the collage into the permanent Garman-Ryan collection in March 2013 and will be shown in the year long ‘Back to Front: 40 Permanent Collection Gems’ exhibition in November 2013. The work has been selected and promoted as the Gallery Artwork of the month for November. An interview film and accompanying public presentation of the image opens the exhibition in November.
Research Rationale:
In response to existing works within the Garman-Ryan Collection, the work derives from the first cycle of the residency at NAGW. Incorporating the use of traditional collage techniques and approaches, focusing upon a period style of fine art practice (Richard Hamilton – Pop Art) to inform the research, a formula is generated that contributes innovative and progressive knowledge to practice-led enquiry.
Strategies Undertaken:
The artist is presented within the collage as Hancock reflected in a period mirror each subsequent element of the collage fluctuates between contemporary readings of masculinity and those apparent within the 1950s representation explored through the iconic cultural figure of Hancock.
