Aspic realism (blue)

Christine Dean produced an arresting series of abstract paintings on stretched, second-hand chenille bedspreads between 1992 and 1996. These 'bedspread paintings' offered a Queer commentary on heteronormativel lifestyles in the suburbs, and were likely inspired by Dean’s neo abstractionist peer, John Nixon, who similarly incorporated recycled materials into his works during the 1980s and 90s.

Dean's commentary on sexuality and cultural identity extended to her use of colour in these works. For example, in Aspic realism Dean represented gender binarism by pairing hot pink and baby blue monochrome paintings together. To this end Dean sought to draw our attention to gender coded colour and the (false) equivalence of formalism with masculine personality traits such as order and rationality. Beyond these conceptual and theoretical concerns, Dean's 'bedspread paintings' possessed a remarkable presence as both a repurposed and re-contextualised object and a beautifully painted minimalist work with intriguing textures and patterns.