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- James Furlong
James
Furlong
There is no Neutral Place to Stand
The focus of Jim Furlongs work is male social alienation within the context of modern day commercialised mass culture. The artist explores the existential crisis faced by the individual who inhabits the world of the mundane and the ordinary and finds himself alienated within this world of manufactured, constantly changing desires and dreams.
A prominent feature of the work is the appropriation of commercial logos, retail artefacts such as shopping bags and consumer products. These are re-contextualised as a basis for exploring the commodification of the singular and solitary art work in relation to its status as a reproducible image.
A singular painting on a wall, can be simultaneously an image on numerous mugs, thus reinforcing the concept of the commodification of all aspects of cultural and social life, resulting in obscuring the line between high and low forms of art.
In using the visual iconography of advertised glamour and aspiration to depict alienation and loneliness, the work seeks to create a visual paradox of sign and signification.