Original painting on canvas. 80cm x 80cm.

A hand-painted tribalesque double neon skull with airbrushed shadows, created to look as if it's protruding through the canvas. The motif sits within an expanse of flat complex colour with a blue horizon, evoking space or the beginning or end of nightime.

The 'Startled Artist' is an evolving Pop emblem developed as a pictorial device to capture observations and reflections on the current state of both personal and world events. It continues a lineage of motifs from recent art history beginning with Harvey Ball's Smiley Face - created during the optimism of the 60's, Keith Haring's Radiant Baby in the 80's - to Kaws X-eyed Mickey developed in the blissed-out late nineties/early noughties..

The 'Startled Artist' skull motif is the consistent and recognisable form that is positioned over any painting, photograph or video enabling a broad body of works surveying or commenting on a multitude of subjects. It represents the mind - floating through the world while the world floats through the mind..

A universal motif - the skull is seen in art across all human cultures throughout history - and as such acknowledges our shared experience and commonality. To reflect this historical context, the 'Startled Artist' skull has a tribal feel - and the motif has been reduced down to its most simplistic representation - being composed of just four lines.

At the same time, in order to assert that these artworks are created in the present - the skull is rendered as neon. This not only makes the tribal motif contemporary, but also the fact that neon gives off light - symbolises how science, knowledge and art illuminate our lives.

Titled and signed on reverse.

Signed on reverse.

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