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"Ubu Returns" showing at The Other Art Fair 6-10 October, and "Retour d'Ubu 2017" prints showing at the Salon d'Automne next week in Paris-October 11-15
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“Ubu” is a nonsense word, “Roi” means king. This piece was inspired by the artworks stemming from Alfred Jarry’s “Ubu Roi” play, depicting an infantile, wildly narcissistic ruler. There are over 40 layers of digitally painted and manipulated imagery, with the foundation being that of semi-automatic weapons and $100 bills. Woven into these layers are texts from recent news articles and quotes/tweets from the Ubu. The Ubu is stepping on a public school bus, and a purple heart symbolic of his executive orders squashing public goods, and ignorance about most, if not all, military matters.
The iconic shape of the Jarry Ubu, now has a Basquiat crown referencing Ubu’s need to appropriate, inappropriately—and his role as king, instead of elected official. His sceptre is a golden golf club matching his golden cap. Behind him are smoke stacks, denying climate change, with smoke leading to a ghosted figure of a certain Russian “King”. At the centre of the two figures is the capitol building with a cross ghosted in at the top—no longer separating church and state. The stars and stripes reference the increase in nationalistic rhetoric emanating from the Ubu and his lackeys in the Capitol Building. The overall colour of the piece is that of a worn out dollar bill.
As a dual US/UK citizen with a master’s degree in International Policy Studies from Stanford University, I am deeply concerned about the rise in tribalism and nationalistic politics across the globe.

"Ubu Returns" 91 x 122 x 5cm Inks, Acrylics and Wax on Canvas £4800

"Le Retour d'Ubu 2017" 42 x 60 x 1.5 cm Limited (5 available) Edition Prints available.

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