🎨 SHIP OF FOOLS

thermoplastic(73)

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OnChainArt

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SHIP OF FOOLS

“Madness has an enormous pavilion
Where it receives folk from every region”
― Sebastian Brant, The Ship of Fools

In the back of my mind was the satire from the 15th Century by Sebastian Brantbut as usual with my work, I did not paint it literally (as the many depictions of the theme showed over time). I am more interested in the viewer exploring the piece holistically, focusing on certain details and let them suggest reactions within himself, to make associations based on own thoughts and experiences, be they conscious or subconscious. I believe I did not even think of the theme when I started, but more toward the end I started getting visions in that direction and included some references into the details of what started out as a more abstract decalcomania piece.

^{acrylic on linen paint board - 1974 - 28 x 22 inches - 71 x 56 cm

photo provided by Robyn Olton, Lethbridge, Alberta

(I straightened and cropped it in Photoshop)}
Link to Zoom Image

This is one painting from my early days. Until recently, I had no image of it, but just recently someone contacted my agent in Vienna asking for an estimate of its value. Fortunately a good photo was sent, which I was able to straighten and crop.
Most paintings from that time in the seventies and eighties were not photographed, I had no record of them.
A interesting story about the artworld in those days: in 1976 I entered this painting into an exhibition at the Edmonton Art Gallery (Alberta, Canada). The scope was a survey of new works in the province, called "What's New". Mine was one of very few paintings submitted; at that time, conceptual art was all the rage. When I delivered the painting to the gallery, the curator asked me, amazed: "What? You still paint?"

DETAILS

I am glad that some of these old works show up from time to time, because other than a few professionally photographed pieces (8x10 inch photos, which I scanned), most of my work was not recorded.