I create art to please myself. I don't want to be limited. If the art makes it out of the studio, and into a gallery, or into somebody's house, great. If a company approaches me because they like it so much, that they want to take it beyond mere aesthetics and give it a practical application, even better.
A year ago, Valley Forge Fabrics in Florida contacted me and we struck up a dialogue over the subsequent months. They manufacture material for large-scale interiors, and were originally enamoured with my 'Polygraph Nudes' and wanted to see if they could turn one of those into a fabric design for a boutique hotel. Later, on a whim, I sent them photographs of my abstract paintings. You may know from reading my blog, that my paintings are a progressed form of all my influences ( Comics, Cubism, Bauhaus, etc ). They loved them so much they did a test run of materials, and the result is below.
Below: Wall covering and chair based on the painting 'SUPERHIGHWAY'.
Will this mean I lose credibility or - god forbid - can no longer win a Turner Prize, because my art is seen to be 'commercial'? Us Birmingham artists have long since realised that you have to create your own 'situation' and not worry about what other people, institutions - or any other entities - think. As I said before, you can't be limited by outmoded ideas regarding what is, or is not, achievable, acceptable, or credible. It's the 21st Century, and previous ways of thinking are now obsolete.
I like to boast that I've put in my ten-thousand man-hours, and that the art speaks for itself. So, if it's a toss-up between 'winning the Turner Prize', or becoming the next Coca-Cola, my response is simple:
I'll take both.
Below: 'Superhighway', the original acrylic on canvas, 76cm x 101cm, 2014
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