Des Lawrence’s meticulous paintings depict both technology and portraiture. With a crisp likeness and gradient backdrops they suggest we are looking at product shots used for advertising, or studio portraits. The objects in particular hold a sense of nostalgia to the golden era of tech which came with the late days of the space race; laminate wooden panels, smooth lacquered metal and plastics in bold colours with ergonomic curves aplenty. It is only in seeing the titles that the penny drops; these works are all part of Lawrence’s ongoing Obituary Portrait series.
Lawrence trawls recent newspaper obituaries for subjects, collecting images and stories behind the person in search for a hook that will transform the image into a painting. The hook could be the images formal properties such as light, shape, tone, line, repetition or it could be a familiar art history reference. Influences range from Dusseldorf photography to 14th Century religious icon painting. The objects act as stand-ins for the physical likeness of the person; their accomplishments are their portrait. Everything is placed in the centre of the painting without distracting compositions. Because the objects stand in the place of a recently deceased person they can be seen as memorials and tributes, like strange isolated modern relics.
The subjects depicted in Lawrence’s paintings are varied and wide ranging. Ernest Sternglass was a nuclear physicist whose invention of the low light level video camera was taken to the moon. Without him the worlds biggest event in human history could not have been seen live on television. Gloria Vanderbilt was an heiress, actress, author and designer of popular jeans. Sridevi Kapoor and Elizabeth Sellars were actresses, Sridevi often cited as “the first female superstar of Indian film”. Jacob Jensen’s functional minimalist designs for Bang & Olufsen formed a prominent part of the Danish modern movement. Lou Ottens invented the industrial standard cassette tape, Ron Buchla popularised the “west coast” style of synthesizer and Rupert Neve’s mixing consoles were sought out by bands ranging from the Beatles to Nirvana. Richard Sapper’s incredible range of designs typically featured technical innovation, simplicity of form and an element of wit.
The translation in Lawrence’s work from chosen subject to finished painting is laborious. He starts with a drawing of the image which he’ll edit, often by pairing it down but sometimes adding complexity. From this he’ll produce multiple detailed hand cut stencils through which layers of enamel paint are sprayed. Humbrol paint will be familiar to hobbyists and children of a certain time with its association to Airfix kits. Enamel sits extremely flat when dried, making it the ideal medium for giving sharp edges to shapes. But it’s the brushwork in the painting’s details and small gestures that makes them come to life. Though the tone of the works are restrained and detached, it’s the details which draw you in to areas of descriptive joy.
Lawrence points out ‘how the light catches the dial on a radio. It is avowedly fetishistic. I want it to need to be made, and for someone to stand in front of it and find something urgent and necessary at stake in the way it's been described. It's in the realist area, but I hope when it is seen in real life it leaves the photographic well behind.’