Yannick Blattner

Sunshine Coast Art Prize 2023 - Finalist

_{[Image courtesy of the artist and Studio Gallery]}

Yannick Blattner | Force a Smile for Summer (No.2) | 2023 | oil on canvas | 122 x 91cm

Artist Statement

Australia flaunts a climate-based lifestyle that is synonymous with the nations identity and has become highly commodified. Taking the backyard pool as a symptom and a symbol, ‘Force a smile for summer no.2’ (2023) confronts this dogma.  The painting uses the commercial manifestations of this lifestyle—capturing the by-products of a climate that is simultaneously idyllic and unforgiving. Suspended above an unkempt lot backed by trees are two small circular tubs resembling eyes. Below, a larger, kidney-bean shaped pool floats closer to the ground. Their arrangement recalls the iconic sad face emoji, made somewhat clownlike by the bulbous forms. Alienated from the manicured backyard of home renovation dreams, the pools look dull and characterless. Emptied of water and weightless, the suspended pools offer a tongue in cheek comment on the hollowness of the market-driven dream.