The Death of a Pigeon

‘AAAAA’ is the first painting in a set of four, which together create an episodic narrative from the life of an ordinary rock dove. The pigeon, often used as a religious symbol throughout history, takes centre stage here.

‘AAAAA’ refers to birth. A graphic illustration of a shaft of light carrying the descending bird has been directly lifted from Fra Angelico’s ‘Annunciation’ (c.1426). There is no attempt at the illusion of movement in the pigeon’s depiction, recalling the early or pre-renaissance period of European art. The lurid palette, meanwhile, brings us straight back to the present, with a nod back to the Fauves.

The backdrops are formed of a series ad hoc, faintly bodged buildings. With their unopened windows and doors, they feel metaphoric – and just as germane as the birds to the reading of the work.

‘OOpF’ is the second scene in this four-part fable. Following on from birth in the previous episode, it takes place in front of what appears to be a shut up confectionery shop. The pigeon is nearly lost among the ‘crazy paving’. It peers back at the viewer through a golden autumnal leaf. The absence of humans from this man-made habitat in toxic pinks and purples lends the scene a sense of mystery and a surreal quality.

The most makeshift of the four structures, ‘UGH AH’ exhibits the type of improvised architecture you might find down a big city back alley drenched in fluorescent lighting; an apt setting for the swain and his obliging mate.

The fourth and final scene, titled ‘ZZZT’, presents the pigeon, eyes rolled back on its back in front of a pair of relatively opulent golden/green gates. A silhouetted tree trunk splits the frame in two. The use of black across the images creates rhythm which, alongside the titles, reflects the start-to-finish tale of a fleeting life.