VIEW IN MY ROOM
One Love a Self Portrait as Skinlad from Jim Cartwright's gritty northern play Road Painting
United Kingdom
Painting, Acrylic on Canvas
Size: 28 W x 67 H x 2 D in
Ships in a Crate
About The Artwork
One Love A SELF PORTRAIT, AS ‘SKINLAD’ FROM JIM CARTWRIGHT’S GRITTY NORTHERN PLAY ‘ROAD’, BY JOHN MCDONALD One Love is a punk painting by the Butterfly Cry Artist, Scottish artist John McDonald. The painting depicts what looks like an angry skinhead man pointing accusingly, with his feet hidden by a road-works barrier. The figure is painted mainly in black and white with light blue wash on the jeans. To the left we see a tall building with the word 'Bank' on the side of it. And beneath that is a small, hand-painted depiction of Banksy's little girl with red balloon (re-titled Love is in the Bin after famous 2018 shredding at auction). One Love is a self-portrait and an unusual one in that it depicts the artist over 20 years ago- not as himself - but as a character in a play. The portrait is taken from a still image from a performance of Jim Cartwright's gritty northern play, Road. Skinlad, the character played by the artist, performs a poetic monologue about fighting, about a skinhead-culture of violence. He believes fighting is all there is to live for until one night when he has a mysterious encounter... The artist's studio is based in a heritage building in Derby: Banks Mill, owned and leased by the University of Derby. Banks Mill was historically a rope factory and the original paintwork 'Banks & Sons Ltd' can be seen peeling off the corner brickwork over 4 floors. One Love is a protest painting in all sorts of ways. By effective use of scale the artist becomes a giant towering over both the art institution, and the Bank. As a disability protest - yes the actor is beset by a barrier but look how small the barrier is in comparison with the man. The inclusion of Banksy's little girl with the red heart balloon begs a few questions. Perhaps the little girl offers love to the angry skinhead, but there is also the sense that gender and age stereotypes may be turned on their heads. If you cover the balloon the little girl starts to look pretty angry herself... And we wonder if both anger and love are shared. Maybe it is a righteous indignation rather than one that threatens violence. At 170 x 71 cm (67 x 28 inches) One Love punk portrait is just under life size, painted in artists’ acrylics on hand-stretched canvas, on a hand-made frame.
Details & Dimensions
Painting:Acrylic on Canvas
Original:One-of-a-kind Artwork
Size:28 W x 67 H x 2 D in
Frame:Not Framed
Ready to Hang:Not applicable
Packaging:Ships in a Crate
Shipping & Returns
Delivery Time:Typically 5-7 business days for domestic shipments, 10-14 business days for international shipments.
Handling:Ships in a wooden crate for additional protection of heavy or oversized artworks. Crated works are subject to an $80 care and handling fee. Artists are responsible for packaging and adhering to Saatchi Art’s packaging guidelines.
Ships From:United Kingdom.
Customs:Shipments from United Kingdom may experience delays due to country's regulations for exporting valuable artworks.
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United Kingdom
Born in a Glasgow tenement in a sectarian district, I left school with a piece of paper (no certificates) saying that I was deaf and would be best employed in a noisy environment as everyone would be similarly disadvantaged. Born under the image of Christ of St John of the Cross by Salvador Dali. This huge painting in Kelvingrove art gallery seems to have an impact on me becoming an Artist in my 50s. Can I say that I spent years of my childhood evading gallery custodians and sliding along the polished floor under this painting? Unknown to me at the time, this painting by Dali, with its dynamic perspective and monumental scale, planted the seed for a love of art, and awakened the soul of this deaf kid from Drumchapel. When I first picked up a piece of charcoal as an adult and started to draw, it was a version of Dali's Christ of St John of the Cross which I created. Following a decade working in noisy environments, my real education began: in a Merseyside Unemployed Resource Centre. Training to become a Welfare Rights Officer I became hungry for education. In becoming mentally astute in the law, politics, and history that inform welfare and union work, I found, with naivety, myself. My fine art practice is informed by the dual and equal passions of my life: a passion for creative arts, and passionate campaigning for social justice. I have always been involved in the arts, through theatre, film, directing, and spoken word performance. For a long time I needed to shout, and I used performance to shout publically, about abuses and inequality I witnessed in mainstream services, to shout out for social justice, and educate on behalf of silent minorities. I am profoundly deaf and found that being involved in the arts was a way of being included. I started painting about 6 years ago on an old van that had been converted as a camper, just a plain white van that became a giant 3D canvas. I was conscious of passers by either watching or commenting, both were a challenge because of deafness but it was this situation that allowed me to be more included in my community and society in general. People liked my work and over a period of years as the van canvas was filled so was I, with confidence and more involvement with passers by, some who became friends. My painting is both the catalyst and the fruition of a personal journey towards peace.
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