Meticulously painted in oil on linen and framed in a simple black-edge frame, Ian Robinson created this painting for an exhibition called “Retro Still Life” in Rivington St, London. The site has some significance since Banksy and his team of artists often exhibited on this street and Banksy murals are often found in surrounding areas, popular with graffiti art tours. The books in the painting depict the importance of the photo book genre and include the famous artwork ‘Wall and Piece’. The photo book was sold cheaply in HMV in the 1990’s and helped to catapult Banksy’s fame. As part of Ian’s series of paintings that focus on other artists, this still life captures his research into Banksy and is a tribute. During his research Ian considered how artists’ collections are so often captured in a portable book format, serving to increase an artist’s popularity and how huge works of art over numerous places become captured, reproduced and easily distributed to an audience.
