Australian artist Matthew Quick continues to use humour to disrupt expectations and now images of power (click here for previous posts). While often associated with the rise and falls of Empires — as well as conveying notions of beauty and national pride — Quick’s paintings work to undermine such authority and draw parallels to the pressing social issues we currently face. As he explains:

“By replacing their crowns and thrones with ordinary objects, the aura of emperors and gods are demoted to powerless nobodies. Through ridicule I play with their initial grand goals, querying their motivations and questioning the orthodoxy of accepted history. And in doing so I reference themes such as individual freedom, social control, surveillance and the deceit of rulers who intentionally fail to act as they speak.”

See more images from “Monumental Nobodies” below.

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