Feel Free
49cm x 39cm
Synthetic Polymer on Paper
Framed behind glass in Tasmanian Oak
2024
‘A couple of months ago Instagram decided that a painting I made, of a man in a Tutu, didn’t meet their community standards. I’m still not entirely sure why. There was no butts or dicks. I tried to get them to reconsider but I’m not even sure they employ anybody anymore. I think it’s just a server running an algorithm.
It got me thinking about the dangers of algorithmic thinking, and how it’s being used as a kind of ‘outsourced cultural responsibility’. I worry greatly about where that leaves artists and people with interesting, and challenging, things to say (not horrible, deliberately antagonistic things - sadly there’s already a platform for that). Would the algorithm have allowed Michelangelo’s David? What about Cezanne, Goya, or even Haring? And where does it leave Queer and Female lead art, where our lives and bodies still need to be represented and reclaimed in order to make our communities safer?
The answer is recognising that being offended is ok. It might be unpleasant, or not exactly to your taste, but that’s good. It helps us grow. Feel free to be offended by a doodle, or a boob, or an idea - but don’t stop them from happening. We need braver public discourse, not middle of the road dogmatism.
And, let’s be honest, art needs more doodles. #freethedoodle’
- James
Each work is initialed in the artists signature style in the bottom corner of the work, and signed by the artist and dated on the back. The painting is shipped pre strung and ready to hang.
The work is a certified one off artwork hand painted by the artist in his studio in Melbourne Australia in 2024, never to be reproduced.
49cm x 39cm
Synthetic Polymer on Paper
Framed behind glass in Tasmanian Oak
2024
‘A couple of months ago Instagram decided that a painting I made, of a man in a Tutu, didn’t meet their community standards. I’m still not entirely sure why. There was no butts or dicks. I tried to get them to reconsider but I’m not even sure they employ anybody anymore. I think it’s just a server running an algorithm.
It got me thinking about the dangers of algorithmic thinking, and how it’s being used as a kind of ‘outsourced cultural responsibility’. I worry greatly about where that leaves artists and people with interesting, and challenging, things to say (not horrible, deliberately antagonistic things - sadly there’s already a platform for that). Would the algorithm have allowed Michelangelo’s David? What about Cezanne, Goya, or even Haring? And where does it leave Queer and Female lead art, where our lives and bodies still need to be represented and reclaimed in order to make our communities safer?
The answer is recognising that being offended is ok. It might be unpleasant, or not exactly to your taste, but that’s good. It helps us grow. Feel free to be offended by a doodle, or a boob, or an idea - but don’t stop them from happening. We need braver public discourse, not middle of the road dogmatism.
And, let’s be honest, art needs more doodles. #freethedoodle’
- James
Each work is initialed in the artists signature style in the bottom corner of the work, and signed by the artist and dated on the back. The painting is shipped pre strung and ready to hang.
The work is a certified one off artwork hand painted by the artist in his studio in Melbourne Australia in 2024, never to be reproduced.
49cm x 39cm
Synthetic Polymer on Paper
Framed behind glass in Tasmanian Oak
2024
‘A couple of months ago Instagram decided that a painting I made, of a man in a Tutu, didn’t meet their community standards. I’m still not entirely sure why. There was no butts or dicks. I tried to get them to reconsider but I’m not even sure they employ anybody anymore. I think it’s just a server running an algorithm.
It got me thinking about the dangers of algorithmic thinking, and how it’s being used as a kind of ‘outsourced cultural responsibility’. I worry greatly about where that leaves artists and people with interesting, and challenging, things to say (not horrible, deliberately antagonistic things - sadly there’s already a platform for that). Would the algorithm have allowed Michelangelo’s David? What about Cezanne, Goya, or even Haring? And where does it leave Queer and Female lead art, where our lives and bodies still need to be represented and reclaimed in order to make our communities safer?
The answer is recognising that being offended is ok. It might be unpleasant, or not exactly to your taste, but that’s good. It helps us grow. Feel free to be offended by a doodle, or a boob, or an idea - but don’t stop them from happening. We need braver public discourse, not middle of the road dogmatism.
And, let’s be honest, art needs more doodles. #freethedoodle’
- James
Each work is initialed in the artists signature style in the bottom corner of the work, and signed by the artist and dated on the back. The painting is shipped pre strung and ready to hang.
The work is a certified one off artwork hand painted by the artist in his studio in Melbourne Australia in 2024, never to be reproduced.