Hope (Blue) Supported by a Bed of Oranges (Life): Amid a Context of Allusions 1991

This is a complex wall installation made up of eleven framed and unframed panels of differing dimensions arranged in four adjoining rows. The panels present a combination of images, most of which are film stills on which the artist has made additions with paint. The dominating image, in the largest panel, is a large expanse of oranges on which two interacting human figures have been overpainted with vivid blue. From their silhouettes it appears that one figure crouches over and holds a gun to the head of the other figure, who lies supine on the ‘bed of oranges’ from which the title is derived. The adjacent panel to the right of this image contains three men in bowler hats and suits looking through a large gilt frame which one of them holds. A large dot or circle of colour in each of the three primary colours obscures most of their faces. Above the blue figures is an image of a woman dancing, her full skirt flying up around her body. The face of a male figure behind her is covered by a circle of white, as is the top of her head. To her left, a man’s hand holds a large, red floral bouquet. To her right, a cowboy apparently climbs a large unidentifiable structure; to his right, the face of a standing cowboy is obscured by another blue circle. On the top row, a single black and white photograph presents a man in a suit and trilby. On the bottom row, two figures in white protective clothing and black gas masks flank a third figure painted over in fluorescent orange. Beside it, an irregularly shaped panel contains a skeleton supported by a man’s arm and chest. The skull’s face is covered with a circle of green. The supine skeleton curves towards a narrow green rectangle supporting a large red circle at one end. Directly above, at the level of the dancing woman, a hazy grey diptych balances the composition of the panels on the wall.