Premonition Of War by Mark Sheeky

G913A Premonition Of War
Oil on panel
May 2017, 165x155 mm

Detail from Premonition Of War by Mark Sheeky Detail from Premonition Of War by Mark Sheeky Detail from Premonition Of War by Mark Sheeky Detail from Premonition Of War by Mark Sheeky

About this painting
This tiny detailed panel is about a singular instantaneous moment, a premonition of a world war inspired by the geopolitical face-off between North America and North Korea.

The eye in the pear is represents knowledge, a symbol of almost godlike monolithic wisdom as used in an earlier work, Eye Among the Pears. Here the eye is startled in terror, a bird in panic, perhaps akin to the parrot in The Flute Player from 2006. Here blood flows as the bird chokes on blood. On the right, the pear flesh cycles into a peaceful scene, yet a red sky, in a mood like an old Flemish artwork, something bedecked with dead animals, rotting fruit.

The feathers are vivid turquoise blue, colours exactly matching the instantaneous vision that spawned this painting.

This painting makes many references to art and art history, from the Dutch still life works, to my own canon, and works like the Wax Cataclysm of Phoenixes. Here, themes repeat in cycles, pears, eyes, textures in that cycles and repeat like musical echoes.

Premonition Of War (Original)
Private collection.