Love And Violence Painting On Canvas
At first glance, Love and Violence appears to be a romantic scene. A man and woman are locked in an embrace, presented through overlapping images that resemble a film still, a memory or a fragment of a larger story.
Doug uses the visual language of comic books, cinema and Art Deco poster design to draw the viewer into the scene, encouraging an initial reading of affection and intimacy.
A closer look reveals something far less comfortable.
Hidden behind the woman’s back, the man is holding a knife, transforming the embrace into an act of betrayal and threat. Doug has often stated that the painting remains unfinished, as his original intention was for both figures to be stabbing each other.
*Artist Doug Kemp with ‘Love and Violence’ painting on canvas
The completed idea would have made the title brutally literal, with love and violence existing simultaneously within the same relationship.
Even in its unfinished state, the painting captures that uncomfortable collision between attraction, conflict and human folly that appears throughout much of Doug Kemp’s work.
