22 April 2010

Artist: Arzoo Gurung

The medium used is vary body acrylic paint on a wood surface, rather than the classic canvas. The smoother finish created through the wood eliminates any traces of grain. When working on paintings, Arzoo makes a series to compliment and argue with each other, creating one whole.

Each piece of work is dated and symbolise an occurrence she has personally lived. Although for this piece, she has taken the 22nd of April, 2010 into our attention. 11 crew members died in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, located in the Gulf of Mexico, not to mention the numerous other casualties.

The paintings' dull colour tone and the receipt is like any other that you would get at a petrol pump. They all look simple, dull and normal; like things we experience on a daily basis. She created them in this way because that is the way BP have treated oil spills. The deaths and casualties to them are nothing but a payout just like a receipt. The first painting shows the crew members working around the spill whilst the second painting is the aftermath where the explosions take place, which is then followed by the receipt. What would be the items of the receipt, are replaced with the names of the victims, next to their age. It is to show regardless of the life lost it all came down to numbers and was soon forgotten about.