This is the first painting of a new series of out of focus portraits that I'm painting.
In the 1960’s Andy Warhol was quoted as saying "In the future everybody will be world famous for fifteen minutes." Fast forward to today and with the rise of reality TV and social media influencers Warhol’s words have come to pass. Topics and ‘stars’ trend and become upmost in our conscious only to be forgotten a short time later. Yet to eventually be forgotten is the fate of almost all of us.
While celebrity may now be more widespread and fleeting even the biggest names of the recent past are slowly blurring in our memory. In this series of unconventional out of focus portraits the faces we see are vaguely familiar yet foreign. We’re confronted with our own mortality and reminded that the pursuit of fame is ultimately illusory.
First up is Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe, the artwork title is a reference to her 1953 movie of the same name.
This artwork was created using layers of airbrushed aerosol paint to create a blurred out of focus effect.