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Lookup NU author(s): Henry Coombes
As for the title, Third Hand, it’s lifted from a Philip Guston interview and “describes the idea that when the artist is in harmony with the paint, the self and the environment, it feels like there’s a third hand making the work.” The prisoners described this moment as an escapism where time flies by, often finding themselves painting into the early hours.” Exhibiting as part of GI was an important way “to lift the work onto the critical platform it deserves”. The poster image from the show comes from two large canvasses made in HMP Shotts, made “in response to Paolo Uccello’s Battle of St Romano and Rembrandt’s The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp.” These paintings were selected under guidance from the tutor, and then traced in outline onto canvas stapled to the wall, after “an open discussion about the work's meaning, their feelings and reflections, historical context, and formal and technical elements.”Made up from a host of pop culture references, the final paintings have had their original figures “transformed into characters from computer game Mortal Kombat, with life energy bars. Mary Berry rides a My Little Pony into battle versus a medieval cavalry of bird men – the raw unfiltered imagery from the global nervous system of Google.” In an important way, the tutor becomes “the gatekeeper of Google”, as there is “no internet access within the prison” and so “the tutor brings images in on request”.
Artist(s): Coombes H
Publication type: Exhibition
Publication status: Published
Year: 2016
Number of Pieces: 27
Venue: Centre for Contemporary Arts. Glasgow
Location: Glasgow, UK
Media of Output: Painting , Sculpture
URL: http://www.theskinny.co.uk/art/interviews/art-for-goodness-sake-gis-community-projects
