Artwork Description

This is an abstract painting, based on the black-bordered 'Penguin Classics' paperback books, a style icon. The composition mirrors the book cover - the lower area is black, with a white stripe, and the main field of the painting combines a skull with abstract patterns. The book is 'The Tibetan Book of the Dead', a classic of Eastern philosophy, a rich and inspiring look at life and death. The traditionally grim image of the skull contrasts with the colourful shapes around it - this is a painting for optimists, pessimists, and everyone in between.

The paintings in this series were created over several sessions. The entire surface has been covered in many overlapping layers, leaving marks, drips and splashes visible. The surface is impasto and textural, with many spatters and signs of overpainting and reworking.

My aim here was to create an original abstract painting, but to work within the constraints of a known design, reducing the text into broken and misplaced letters, and creating my own imagery for the illustration.

These striking paintings will look fantastic in any home.

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Medium

acrylic on canvas

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Ready to hang

This artwork is ready to hang.

Tags#Skull Tibet tibetan classic icon style popular book eastern colours drips black

All art by Ben Tankard

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