Revolution

In my practice I free associate images and cut-up text to evoke haiku and the allusions that help us view everyday life with fresh eyes. I draw on the philosophical idea of ‘the Absurd’; the conflict between the human tendency to seek inherent meaning in life and the inability to find any. My works often follow a path of taking the wonder of small things and subverting them into something manic and fierce or poetic and evocative.

In this piece, the title, the artistocratic lady and the cakes recall the apocryphal words of Marie Antoinette, but I also wanted to play on the other meaning of revolution, that of circling or rotation. Just as misspending on foreign wars and a tax system that allowed the richest to burden the poor helped bring about the French Revolution, the parallels with the contemporary world, the ongoing foreign policies, the reports on tax havens and the ‘99%’ are clear. The cakes not only evoke Marie Antionette but also Trump’s anecdotal story of deciding to bomb Syria while eating chocolate cake. As an aside, the French have a wonderful expression, “lèche-vitrine,” which translates as “window shopping,” but literally means “lick the shop window”, implying that (99% of) people lick the windows because that’s the closest they get to get to the actual cake, or whatever is inside.

The artwork comes with a signed gold foil blocked certificate of authenticity (COA) to protect your investment and to protect the long term collectible value of your artwork.

Year: 2017
Medium: Collage, Arcylic, Pencil, Image Transfer on MDF Board.
Signed: ‘Simon Kirk’ – on the back.
The artwork is sold unframed.

Size: H:50 cm x W:50 cm

Discover unique, abstract collages by Simon Kirk online with Wychwood Art Gallery. Simon Kirk’s works are a synergy of poetry and painting, text and image, abstraction and figuration, combining influences from both the literary and art world alike. Influenced by haiku, humanist concerns and the philosophical ideas of ‘the Absurd’, Kirk’s mixed media pieces have become increasingly sought after by art collectors since the beginning of his career in 2007. He exhibited and sold at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in 2010, 2013 and 2015. He is a resident artist with the Turner | Barnes | Gallery and his work is regularly exhibited as part of their collections for the Hong Kong, Singapore and London Affordable Art Fairs. He has had solo exhibitions in France, Denmark and the USA. To discuss any of Simon Kirk's artworks, please email Deborah@wychwoodart.com or call 07799 535765 / 01869 338155.