‘Pinball’
420 x 594mm
7 hand pulled inks, one gilded, on 330gsm G.F Smith Naturalis paper.
Edition of 50
Numbered and signed by the artist
‘Pinball’ is an edition that’s the consequence of not getting an Arts Council Agility Award to fund an artist’s residency I’ll be undertaking at the end of the year in Amsterdam. Once I was accepted for the residency, which will involve eight weeks of living in a print studio, and working on a specific collection for an exciting show next year, I decided it was going to happen come hell or high water. The only issue is I can’t afford it. The Agility Award would have provided the €5000 that would cover the residency, travel, and some materials. So I need to find €5000, and quickly.
That’s where ‘Pinball’ comes into play. A simple enough idea. An edition of 50 prints, selling for €100 and postage, which gets you a print which should cost well more than the asking. Seven layers, one gilded over gold ink, custom fluo pink magenta, three discreet yellow-oranges, and a slightly warmed ultramarine, combine to make an ode to the joy of colour. I knew I wanted an edition that was joyous, and celebrated vibrancy, and I knew I wanted to combine gold and gilding, but where I arrived was most unexpected. I likened it to “Mainie Jellett meets The Pinball Count from Sesame Street”. It’s a good deal more ‘painterly’ than most of my pieces that relate to circles and squares, and it’s only the second time that I’ve used stochastic textures in a geometric piece. I intentionally went for overkill with colour and texture. If you’re going to do a discounted print, it might as well look a million dollars. Jellett is an inspiration, as is nostalgia (more common than you might imagine in my work) for the old-school Sesame Street of the early seventies – my own childhood. A place where Pushpin style art deco revivalism met jazz and funk, in the strange, and slightly scary vocals of the Pointer Sisters. There’s a bit of Post-mod Memphis school too. Nothing succeeds like excess. They’re A2, so will drop into affordable off-the-shelf frames, if the whole bargain thing becomes your groove. Damn Fine Print sell decent ones in Stoneybatter.
So… 50 A2 prints. When they’re gone they’re gone. No reprints, no different colourway variations, no scaling up or down. Nobody should care about whether I get to do my residency or not. As fundraisers go, I’m pretty far down the deserving rankings. Buy the piece if you love it, or if you get an evil pleasure out of grabbing a bargain, and turning someone else’s crisis into your opportunity. I’m not proud – I’ll take that money either way! ?
If you want to buy more than one piece, and at that price, why wouldn’t you? Christmas IS coming after all, then the shop will stack multiple postage fees, as it’s a bit basic. But I’ll refund any excess postage that applies, and send up to four prints per postal tube.
