Justly famous for being one of the few of Fleydon’s works to be clearly visible from the Main Stand, ‘Eyes’ has achieved iconic status and was used on the cover of a recent unofficial biography ‘Surrender to the Power of the Fleydon!’. The fact that he is widely assumed to have copied the eyes themselves from a Roy Lichtenstein work and lifted the text from a popular television show does not seem to bother him. “I knew Roy, we were good buddies, we shared drinks, ideas and women. It should be obvious to anyone that Roy's painting is actually based on a sketch I did of Roy himself when he found I'd finished his last bottle of Scotch. But let's not get caught up in the details - Roy’s dead and let’s face it no one will remember the catch-phrase in a couple of years time. But this will live forever! Think of it as a re-interpreting of source material just like Shakespeare. The sum is greater than the parts...”
Critics have also noticed that the work is lined, unlike most of Fleydon’s work. Being substantial in both size and feel this attention to detail seems indicative of a man keen to control his own memory. For all the doubts around it ‘Eyes’ obviously has a special place in Fleydon’s affections.
(‘Eyes’ is in the artist’s private collection)
No comments:
Post a Comment