Artwork Description

Acrylic on canvas, stretched and ready to hang.

Signed on the back.

The basic layout of this painting is based on the book cover design of Penguin Classics from the 1960s, which had a strip of orange with the book title at the top, and then an illustration below. A lot of the original book covers seemed very 'experimental' - bold, graphic art, much more interesting than the safe, photoshopped book covers of today. I wanted to create an image that was totally abstract - not based on any existing image, or even a preliminary sketch. The chaotic layers of black, whites, greys, oranges, reds and pinks were applied with energy, often obliterating earlier layers in the process. I have to say it was a process I enjoyed, creating and destroying until the right balance was achieved.

The surface is highly textured, with lumps and drips, beneath a final smooth varnish. Please note that the edges of the canvas are painted, and it is ready to hang without framing.

Former director of the Art Gallery of NSW, Edmund Capon, said of the first painting in this series, "an evocative imagining of the familiar Penguin Paperback...it was a painting we all liked very much for its rich texture, its sense of memory and its sort of nostalgic humour"

Note that I am happy to take commissions, of any book you choose, in a range of colours and sizes.

These striking paintings will look great in any home.

Contact Ben

Medium

acrylic on canvas

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Stretched and ready to hang

This artwork is currently stretched and ready to hang.

Tags#abstract, #pop, #chaos, #texture, #thick, #impasto, #book, #books, #text, #words, #type, #orange, #white, #cream, #black, #grey, #drip, #drips, #energy, #design, #style, #classic, #penguin, #ben tankard

All art by Ben Tankard

Orange penguin book coverOrange  book coverOrange Penguin book coverPink Penguin book cover
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