| ID |
UNSW P 1997/0779 (088519) |
| Artist |
Christopher CAPPER (1951 - ) |
| Title |
Vanitas, still life with Scud Missile (the first day of the Gulf War) |
| Alternate Titles |
|
| Category |
Painting |
| Medium |
oil on canvas |
| Materials |
oil pigments, canvas support; gold-painted timber frame |
| Edition Number |
|
| Measurements (cms) |
|
| Height |
101.00 |
| Width |
125.50 |
| Depth |
0.00 |
| Other |
Frame: 103 x 127.5 x 5 cms |
| Marks/Inscriptions |
|
| Location |
verso |
| Signed |
in grey pigment: Capper |
| Produced |
|
| When |
1991 |
| Where |
Australia, NSW, Sydney |
| Style |
Narrative |
| Subject |
Military |
| Credit Line |
Gift of the artist, 1997 |
| Description/Remarks |
Some repainting by the artist in May 1997. Work depicts an inner city laneway scene (Wilshire Lane, Surry Hills which the artist's studio overlooked) from a window, with a vase of flowers, skull, clock and portable television screening a Scud Missile in foreground. In the laneway is a man walking with an umbrella beneath a light shower of rain; a figurative apparition appears in the sky above a warehouse. This work was painted by the artist as a reaction to the televised first attack of the Gulf War (1990). He explained, at the time he was working at the AGNSW helping install an exhibition. He was disturbed at how his fellow installers treated the telecast (which was being broadcast all day via CNN) as if they were watching a football match or video game. The seriousness of the event seemed lost on them. |
| Exhibition History |
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| Bibliography |
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