Max Presneill

The basis for my paintings is an intertextual examination of my own mortality, as seen through the merging contradictions of the disparate elements and influences of my life. This interpenetration occurs when the histories of abstract mark making, an ongoing developing iconography and sub-cultural motifs are placed in relationships on the picture plane. Colloquialisms and urban vernacular appear alongside art history, references to Brutalist architecture, comic books, skateboards, motorcycle club life, etc to explore a masculine identity within a transient lifetime. This allows for an extended and negotiated dialogue between ideas of the political and class division, race, sub-cultural resistance and tribalism, via a curatorial-type selection and arrangement on the picture plane.