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Untitled (Gold) (2009)

Bik van der Pol

neon lights

Ferens Art Gallery, Hull

Details

Classification:

Installation, Photograph

Materials:

Neon

Physical Object Description:

Yellow neon wall installation. Text: GOLD GOLD GOLD GOLD ? Bright and yellow hard and old / Molten graven low wevel rolled /
Hard to get and light to hold

Dimensions:

85 x 100 cm

Accession Number:

KINCM:2016.124

Credit:

Presented by the Contemporary Art Society with the support of the Ferens Endowment Fund, 2015

Ownership history:

Purchased from the artists by the Contemporary Art Society, with the support of the Ferens Endowment Fund and the artists, 23 March 2015; presented to the Ferens Art Gallery, Hull, 2015/16

Relationship:

Ferens Art Gallery, Hull

Untitled (Gold) (2009) initially produced for the exhibition Generosity is the new political at Wysing Art Centre in Cambridge, is inspired by the poem ‘Miss Kilmansegg and Her Precious Leg’ written by the British humourist and poet Thomas Hood (1799–1845). Hood’s poem, a timeless satire about the corrupting power of money, reveals how gold has the ability to test our capabilities for both greed and generosity.

The source of Bik Van der Pol’s inspiration resonates with the genre and narrative themes of the Victorian paintings within the collection at Ferens Art Gallery, Hull,which are based on morality tales or subjects often inspired directly by literary sources provided by Victorian novelists and poets, including Thomas Hood. Bik Van der Pol’s use of the medium of yellow neon as a twenty-first-century visual equivalent to gold has immediate visual appeal and the wording of the piece is equally seductive. Untitled (Gold) reinterprets a timeless theme, reinvesting it with layers of new meaning and subtle resonance in a thought-provoking but playful way.

All rights reserved. Any further use will need to be cleared with the rights holder. Permission granted to reproduce for personal and educational use only. Commercial copying, hiring, lending is prohibited. The collection that owns this artwork may have more information on their own website about permitted uses and image licensing options.

For further information, please consult our section of our copyright policy.

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