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BE PUBLIC IN THE NOW

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Her size screams her existence. The black pushes her forward at you. Her gaze is unavoidable. You notice each of her freckles, the curl of her lip, or her blue shirt with Facebook likes printed on it. Your attention can only affix upon her. Shyly next to her on a separate canvas, the words ‘Be Public In The Now’, sit arranged on the blackness stencilled in white. The message becomes clearer.

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‘Be Public In The Now’ is a statement coined by Christopher R. Inwood that is a summation of our temporality, similar to ‘the swinging sixties’ or ‘Beat generation’. It addresses the way in which the contemporary inhabitants are enacting individualist and narcissistic narratives, expressed to the digital public through the use of digital platforms. These platforms give voice to each inhabitant of the digital world and allow them to share their existence instantaneously with a global voyeuristic audience. Our culture seems to scream Be Public In The Now from each digital profile.

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This painting is visually indicative of our temporality, as the scale of the woman demonstrates the inflation of the individualist narrative. This imagery establishes the context of the entire exhibition, as it provides an anchor for the discussion of our current time.

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