Philip Absolon, who also goes by the name Andrew Abshoven
I first saw Philip Absolon's work via the Stuckists' website a couple of years back and thought it was intriguing. The painting Job Club depicts a row of skeletons at a table drinking coffee, smoking and looking either bored senseless or in utter despair, and was a highlight of the 'Stuckists Punk Victorian' exhibition at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool in 2005. The skeletons make an appearance in several other works, and are replaced by clowns in The Winner, an amusing painting that satirises the Turner Prize.
Absolon works in his bedsit in Rochester, where he presumably keeps the cats he regularly chooses to paint. He seems proud to have been rejected by the RCA when he showed them a selection of these in 1987. Some of the cat paintings are classics, but for me the most interesting works are those that depict people and unusual places, such as The Meaning of Life, which shows representatives from a variety of faith groups having a meeting in front of a mystical, psychedelic building. Life Drawing shows an artist's studio replete with two women cut and pasted into the painting from magazines or catalogues, one posing in her underwear. The brightly coloured floor, walls, windows and furniture are rendered without the aid of a ruler, resulting in gleefully wonky lines. The works appear unassumingly outsider and contentedly naïve, and as such are fascinating, curious and endearing paintings.
Ex-Public School presents us with a close-up of a stripy school blazer and badge. Without need of qualification, it's simply a great image. The same blazer makes a guest appearance on a coat hook on the back of a bedroom door in The Primal Scream. A scantily-clad lady sits on a chair between the bed and a desk, but having only seen the image on the Your Gallery website, it is unclear whether the picture on the wall behind is of Chaplin or Hitler. The ambiguity only adds to the experience of looking at the image!
Opinion is divided in the media about the Stuckists, but this should not be allowed to prohibit consideration of the art being produced under its banner. Indeed, it would be a pity not to see more of the works of Philip Absolon. Matt Price
Matt Price is a writer and editor from Birmingham, now based in London. He started his career as an editor for Hans Ulrich Obrist in 2000, before being appointed Managing Editor of Flash Art International, Milan. Following this, he worked as Deputy Editor of ArtReview, and is currently publications manager for the Serpentine Gallery.
Philip Absolon, Art into money into art, 2006
Philip Absolon, The Primal Scream, 2006
Philip Absolon, Ex-Public School, 2006
Philip Absolon, The Winner, 2006
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