Ben Quilty, Skull-Burger no.3, 2006
Oh my, Oh my, Oh my… This young Australian painter makes me want money so I can buy; he makes me want a gallery so I can show; he makes me want to know him so I can look him in the eye and understand. But this is what Real Art does, it means you can understand everything in a pure moment, the world can make sense when you rest your eyes on paint so thick you want to chew it, colours so cool and melancholy you want them close to your skin, depth so bottomless you want to free-fall into it.
The form of this painting, the shapes, it reminds me of Claes Oldenburg’s wonderfully stuffed sculptures, remember those calico burgers and cigarettes? The painting is almost 3D. That background is super sublime like a Caspar David Fredrich relentless rolling sky; it makes me want to go on forever. The skull gorging on meat, the tomato sauce soaked soggy lettuce – I can taste the salt in it; the human avaricious will to consume; a dirty skull, soiled by life and left wretched by flesh. I could live very happily with this painting; it reminds me of all that is human and all that is not. I may get into a lot of debt over this – I’m mailing him now…
THIS IS ART!