Max Presneill
My paintings are essentially about mortality, as seen through
the merging contradictions of disparate elements of my life.
This interpenetration occurs where histories of abstract markmaking,
developing iconography, and subcultural motifs are
placed in relationships on the picture plane. Colloquialisms and
urban vernacular appear alongside art history, references to
Brutalist architecture, comix, sk8, 1% MC life, dance cultures—
to explore masculine identity, vanitas, memory, and nostalgia,
allowing for an extended and negotiated dialogue between ideas
of the political/class division, race, subcultural resistance, and
tribalism, in the context of a transient experience.