Collection
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Title
Man in the waves
2019
Artist
Michael Armitage
Kenya, England
1984 -

About
'Last year, I wanted to make a painting that was riffing off the idea of ‘the promised land’. I had thought about making two paintings, one of a man and one of a woman. Paintings by Courbet of women in waves began to interest me but I couldn’t find an image that would work for my painting. When I came to the Art Gallery of New South Wales I saw, for the first time, Ernst Kirchner’s 'Three bathers' 1913. It is such a strange painting... The figures’ bodies are subtly distorted, with a strange exotic floating flower that make the waves seem like large banana leaves. The composition is deceptively simple with the arch of the waves providing a rhythm across the painting. I had wanted to link the depiction of Utopia and the promise of young fertile women to the idea of sexual promise in a young virile man from the tropics (a slice of paradise!) and the 'Three bathers' gave me a way to do this.' - Michael Armitage
Details
Date
2019
Materials used
oil on Lubugo bark cloth
Dimensions
220.0 x 170.0 cm
Signature & date
Signed and dated u.l. verso, blue felt tipped pen ".../ MArmitage/ 2019".
Credit
Mollie and Jim Gowing Bequest Fund and the Lawrence Hinchliffe Bequest Fund 2019
Location
Not on display
Accession number
201.2019
Copyright
© Michael Armitage
Shown in 2 exhibitions
Exhibition history
Michael Armitage: the promised land, Museum of Contemporary Art, Australia, 28 Jun 2019–22 Sep 2019
Some mysterious process, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 01 Jun 2020–13 Sep 2020
Referenced in 1 publication
Bibliography
Natasha Bullock (Curator), Michael Armitage: the promised land, Sydney, 2019, 113 (colour illus.).