LOT DETAILS
Materials:
oil on panel
Size Notes:
71 x 45.8cm.
Description:
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Markings:
signed with the artist's initials and dated 'BH 86'
Literature:
Post Lot TextRendered in oil on panel, Tear Life to Piecesis a vivid, evocative work by the visionary British artist, writer and musician Billy Childish. Painted in 1986, Childish depicts himself with Tracey Emin, the artist with whom he had shared a relationship with during the early 1980s. The title hints at the tumult and intensity of their time together. Here, we see the couple in embrace, stood in a dark hallway illuminated by a single lightbulb above them. In an almost voyeuristic intimacy, the viewer is transported into the scene, bearing witness to the couples quiet and private moment. The swirled, Expressionist brushstrokes and stark colour palette, characteristics which bear reference to Vincent Van Gogh and Edvard Munch, invigorate the canvas, adding cinematic suspense to Childishs personal, passionate memory. Childish and Emin have had an immense impact on one anothers work, with Childishs name famously being featured in Emins fabric tent Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963-1995 (1995).
Provenance:
Private Collection. Anon. sale, Dreweatts London, 3 April 2019, lot 244.Acquired at the above sale by the present owner.