"‘Monkey Hanger(s)’ (Acrylic gouache on board 66 x 90 cm, 2020) a portrait of me aged 70 next to myself at the age of 7. The title is a reference to those born in Hartlepool, so named during the Napoleonic Wars. Following the wrecking of a French vessel, the sole survivor was a monkey, which the local crofters hanged. On the horizon, to the left is the ‘Headland’ of Hartlepool, to the right vessels at sea waiting to enter the River Tees. The portrait of me aged 7 references a photo taken by a jobbing photographer at Seaton Carew, West Hartlepool (1957), in which I’m holding one of his chained monkeys. Painted during the Covid pandemic, I utilized cardboard packaging as my canvas.
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