The Cat – 23-10-20 (sold) Print

Shadow Cat A cat comes in handy when you are out of options and do not want to simply draw a pretty picture of a beautiful woman. The latter certainly would make me a dull boy in the long run. Luckily or perhaps no coincidence at all, I like chiaroscuro depictions best and so was the reference picture for this photo (1950s I guess) conducive to mystery in the first place. I had strong associations with Film Noirs and even The Shining. Perhaps the lady on the bedside could be a new guest at the Overlook Hotel? Pushing forward towards? For quite some time now have I come to the conclusion I want to do more than to prolongue my study after forms. Notwithstanding the fact that the female’s body is as beautiful as the treescapes I made, I want to see if I have something more to say. Can a formalist turn into an artist on a mission, even being pamphletic? Surely not every work of art can be exhausting from a thematic point of view, like my oil painting The Restoration of Bettie Page – 01-04-18. Kitsch and Meaning It is just that I see so many kitsch and meaningless works around me: on social media and also in more serious outlets like galleries and museums for modern art. Sometimes concept art can be pamphletic but in my eyes lack way too much craft. So it came to be that in this drawing I combined two images, like in a previous drawing Monkey See, Monkey Do – 05-09-20. I handled philosophical and spiritual themes in the past. Perhaps time for a social theme? What do you think? Am I just too pretentious or should I take a toss at it? Graphite pencil drawing (Sakura 0.5 mm, Pentel 4B) on Winsor & Newton Bristol paper (21 x 29.7 x 0.1 cm) - A4 format) Artist: Corné Akkers