Hobo Clown on a Bike
Allison Schulnik , 2008, Oil on linen, 90" x 78"
The outstanding texture of this painting arrests our attention. It dramatizes the clown’s hollow and uncanny gaze still further even as it balances this intensity with the ludic joy of the colourful bicycle spokes. The depth and movement of the painting allude to Schulnik’s work in clay sculpture and animation, which brings her outlandish creations to life. Here, life’s tragic sadness is transformed into a fantastical apparition that inhabits a world completely apart. We are provoked but not threatened by the strange figure on the bike.