Give It The ...

Fan - 10 Expert - 15

$1,800.00

An old, worn in, kind of rusted, gas is surrounded by a yellowish background in the third of my "Everyday objects as art" series. The background for this can proved to be more problematic than it might show as there is a blend of yellows going from brighter yellow at the top to more of a mustard yellow at the bottom. I opted to leave the fine print off of the front can - perhaps it resides on the other side! It's a striking image - and when you view the three objects together - gas can, stone birdbath and trash can - it's even more striking, especially when viewed in person as these paintings are 3-foot x 4-foot in size! I'm still not sold on the name, but for now, it is what it is.

Responses (2)

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John Crowther Critic

June 27, 2022

Told with classic Pop Art flare, Thomas Blood’s Give It The ... is metaphorically rich. The worn tin canister is dripping with Americana. The rich reds, yellows, and minimalist composition recall an America of yesteryear with a more utilitarian, less gaudy, and more straightforward design. When considered in the current social, economic, and political milieu, Give It The ... takes on new meaning. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, gas has become next to unaffordable to many Americans. Its meteoric rise has highlighted our precarious relationship with it. As our rapidly dwindling pocketbooks remind us, an enormous percentage of what we do and how we do it is (either directly or indirectly) fueled by gas. The strength and rigidity of our ties to gas are (as indicated on Blood’s label) extremely dangerous. Not only do the carbon emissions from burning fossil flues destroy life on our planet by making it increasingly "EXTREMELY FLAMMABLE," but without a clear alternative, we quickly cease to function to the degree that we once did. In these ways, Give It The ... is a perfect example of successful Pop Art expression.

Pop Art is often defined by an economy of means: a simple background, a reduced color palette, and a singular figurative image or phrase. The bare-bones colors and unobtrusive surroundings focus all the viewers' attention on the subject of the painting without any frivolous distractions. Then, and most importantly, the seemingly innocuous and even quotidian object or phrase must be highly evocative. Whether a skull, exclamation, soup can, or gas canister, the viewer must be able to form a plethora of associations as soon as they encounter the image. It is then up to the viewer to analyze what cultural inputs brought them to their understanding of the work.