Lot Essay
Barnaby Furnas's monumental canvas coveys all the acoustic energy and excitement of a rock concert with its cinematic scale portraying a pyrotechnical light show of dazzling intensity. Although identified by name in both the title and on the drum kit, the band almost remains anonymous behind a curtain of light, this painting is all about the experience, the adrenaline and the sheer rush these events create.
Furnas has always been interested in the tradition of the history painting and much of his early work has concentrated on his modern day interpretation of this classic genre. He expands this idea with Concert (The Cure). Although he has chosen an inherently contemporary scene, the event has striking aesthetic parallels to some of the great religious history paintings of the past. The cavernous space behind the band recalls the medieval gothic cathedrals of Europe, an atmosphere enhanced by the stage lights mimicking the effect of sunlight streaming through stained glass windows. This mixing of contemporary and historical imagery is central too much of the artist's work. Drawing from the iconography of big--screen cinema and video games, Furnas develops his own subversive populated by rock stars. Barnaby Furnas uses subjects as a means to flirt with abstraction and design, entrenching his hyper-contemporary scenes in historical tradition.
Furnas has always been interested in the tradition of the history painting and much of his early work has concentrated on his modern day interpretation of this classic genre. He expands this idea with Concert (The Cure). Although he has chosen an inherently contemporary scene, the event has striking aesthetic parallels to some of the great religious history paintings of the past. The cavernous space behind the band recalls the medieval gothic cathedrals of Europe, an atmosphere enhanced by the stage lights mimicking the effect of sunlight streaming through stained glass windows. This mixing of contemporary and historical imagery is central too much of the artist's work. Drawing from the iconography of big--screen cinema and video games, Furnas develops his own subversive populated by rock stars. Barnaby Furnas uses subjects as a means to flirt with abstraction and design, entrenching his hyper-contemporary scenes in historical tradition.