REMEDIAL MEASURES

2013, Oil on Italian Linen, 120 x 100cm

Albany Art Prize 2014, Finalist and Highly Commended
Eutick Memorial Still Life Award 2013; Winner, Sponsors Prize

China paid a heavy price for having something another country wanted really, really badly.

Commonly used after an animal is spayed, the Elizabethan collar references the tumultuous last century in which China’s potential was neutered time and again. As an echo of Britain’s 19th century aggression whereby the Royal Navy killed thousands in support of the illegal opium for tea trade, it encircles the throat of an Imperial lion from Beijing’s Forbidden City. The consequence was millions blighted to an addiction that at its peak afflicted almost half China’s population and persisted until the 1950’s.

Weakened by foreign invasion, opium and a succession of ineffectual rulers, the Emperor was removed. Then followed the Japanese occupation, a revolution, the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. Indeed it is only in the past two decades China has managed to reverse the 200 years of strangulation begun when the British decided they really wanted a nice cup of tea.

Commended at the 2014 Albany Art Prize, here's what the judges had to say: “This commanding work realises a complex idea with majesty and humour, taking it well beyond a pun. Quick invites us to consider contemporary Chinese history and political relationships, but the work extends beyond that to our personal understandings. His extraordinary technique parallels the power of the timely subject.” 2014 Judging Panel Comment