Country Pile - Mark Hollis
I’m a sucker for dry, witty British art of the kind found on Banksy murals, Massive Attack album sleeves and on the pages of the late and much lamented Deadline magazine. This image by Mark Hollis plays on several British stereotypes - the council estate, the chav and the idea that an Englishman’s home is his castle. I love the contrast between this idea and the rundown social housing in the background of this image, and the juxtaposition between the baseball cap and the beautifully painted silks and satins of the 18th Century costume underneath. Mark has a very painterly technique when it comes to colour, texture and light, and combining this with the twisted social realism of his subject matter makes for an intriguing image which evokes past masters of social commentary like William Hogarth.

September 11th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
thanks for your kind words .. to be honest you really summed me up. How do you do that? yes the deadline reference is correct, i was a big fan.
My works is dictated by music .. social commentry .. and fashion. Also I take a lot of time reading about what is affecting people in the U.K and i try and put this into art.
hollis. 11/09/08