THE Clash

2021-22, Oil on Italian Linen, 120 x 100cm

Outside the Vienna’s Hofburg palace are a series of Hercules statues. In each he’s beating the shit out of various foes, man and beast. ⁠

What's remarkable is when they were made; less than 20 years before the Hapsburgs were to lose their throne and Empire. Already a declining power (commonly referred to as The Sick Man Of Europe), nonetheless the message of these works was unmistakable; Don't Fuck With The Monarchy.

With the luxury of hindsight (and true to my revolutionary heart) I felt this narrative needed a more expansive message. By referring to the seminal album, London Calling. By expanding punk's freedom to explore new sounds, The Clash evolved punk from it’s attention seeking adolescence into a dynamic platform for social change.

Brimming with politicised rage and hook riffs, their revolutionary art changed music in an echo of the redistribution of power that occurred with the demise of the Hapsburgs.