OPTIMISM & PESSIMISM

Acrylic Painting on Canvas, 2014.
Size (H x W): 20" x 30"
Experiential Series.
 
This second work on duality and the interaction of opposite emotions is was created with the inner voice of an underdog enjoying uncharacteristic success in mind. It could equally have applied to the fear of missing out, greed and hubris. It is inspired by Pessimism and Optimism, 1923 by Italian futurist Giacomo Balla which lends its name.
 
Bright colours and all-over geometric patterns proudly evoke a jubilant day - a festival or a football matchday. Spirits are elevated. Hopes are high. But caustic talons of pessimism (left) thrust out to invade the sea of soft waves and positive swoops of optimism (right) bringing a strange sense of unease. The two states do not exist in isolation but appear to intersect and influence each other, just as the pure form of each emotion, in reality, is inevitably tempered by the other. Even on the brightest of days the sense that good fortune might not last is never far below the surface.
 
Ron says: "As artists, we expose our work to a myriad of unique viewers with a myriad of interpretations. It's a wonderful collaboration. This work captures the excitement, colour and duality of emotions shared by 43,401 people at a precise moment 15.45, 25th May 2014. My tribe will know exactly where that was and what happened immediately and in the ensuing 6 years".