“I believe in deeply ordered chaos.” – Francis Bacon, painter

“Longo, Bacon” is an art piece I made for recent art show celebrating artists Francis Bacon and Robert Longo. Both artists made work about identity, isolation, and anxiety, themes I often feel and think about.

This collage takes the iconic character poses from Longo’s “Man in Cities” project, and places them in the expressive and chaotic world of Bacon. All the expressive brush work and boxes hint at themes of isolation and anxiousness. Creating this piece, I imagined myself as the central image trying to make sense of the world around me. I like the juxtaposition of a dirty maddening background against the clean but anguished characters of Longo. It suggests that even when you think you’ve got the world figured out, chaos is all around you.

Generally, this style of art work falls outside of my comfort zone. However, as a creative it is important to push your self to try new styles. As Longo said, “an artist should know art history.”

The final piece is a 24 x 32 inch, mixed media collage.