“If popular culture is driven by mass media, then its recognised brand must be the face. Like advertising agents want the people in their TV commercials to be identifiable to the audience, I too want aspects of my subjects to be identifiable to the viewer. This could be some part of the subject's character, clothing or expression that relates to them or someone they know, or maybe that they just reflect this era.”
- Andrew Barns-Graham, 2006
Andrew Barns-Graham is obsessed with the face and the possibilities it presents as both a compelling visual object and its fecundity of thematic potential. Although presented in a hyper-real, pared back fashion, his paintings are oddly familiar and approachable. The exploration of the face is a basic and fundamental trait of human social interaction and communication - a natural affinity which Barns-Graham exploits.
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