1 If you weren’t an artist, what else would you be?
Unemployed
2 Name 3 of your least favourite artists.
I think all artist’s work is of interest and even if it might not be to my taste I can still appreciate it.
3. Anytime, any place – which artist’s body would you most like to inhabit?
Millais in the 1850s
4 What is your favourite ‘ism’?
Romanticism & Pre-Raphaelitism
5 What was the most intelligent thing that someone said or wrote about your work?
Probably Melanie Moreau’s article in Wound magazine (issue 3) called ‘Don’t Bleed for Me’ which compared my work to Kate Davies.
6. And the dumbest?
“Its not painting its just staining” Brian Sewell
7 Which artists would you most like to rip off, sorry, I mean appropriate as a critique of originality and authorship?
Casper David Friedrich & The PreRaphaelites
8 Do you care what your art costs? State your reasons!
I think buyers should be aware of the time, research, development and intellect that goes into each work and appreciate what they are buying into. My prices takes this into account, experience and demand would raise this.
9 What are the three big ideas that you would like your work to express?
Escapism is a huge part of my work, both in the way I make the work and the themes that I focus on- Youth Subcultures, computer games etc. Participation is also important as I like to use real people in my work and make work that reflects their personalities. Appropriating is the third big idea. I like to situate my work within the history of art and use this as a reference.
10 Are you a political artist?
My work generally deals with social and historical themes. There is an element of the political but isn’t reactive to party politics.
11 How do you start the process of making work?
They generally come out of a dialogue with the person who appears in them. I then plan out the composition and take the photos. This is then assembled to make the painting.
12 What next?
I’m developing some workshops with young people to make a new series of paintings based on creating computer games based on their childhood experiences of play.
13 If Moma and the Tate and the Pompidou wanted to acquire one of your works each, which would you want them to have?
My latest ‘Sea of Ice’
14 Complete the following sentence “Blessed art the artists, for they shall……”
save our souls
15 Complete the following sentence “Blessed are the curators, for they shall…”made the stage so the artists could save our souls.
16 Complete the following sentence “Blessed are the art critics, for they shall….”let people know that the artists saved our souls.
17. What is your favourite cheese?
Lancashire. Nice and crumbly
18. What’s next for you?
A solo show at 20-21 Visual Arts Centre in Scunthorpe in August and I start my phd in september.
See David Hancock at The Aubin Gallery This Is England at until 21st June
