PUNK WHISTLEJACKET

My collection, Punk Whistlejacket, is an abstract interpretation of George Stubbs’ painting, 

Whistlejacket, from 1762. 

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Stubbs(1724-1806), is widely considered one of the most important equestrian painters in Great Britain and around the world, and Whistlejacket, which is one of the most important paintings of the 18th century, hangs in the collection of The National Gallery London. 

Whistlejacket depicts a beautiful Arabian chestnut stallion, magnificently rearing against a neutral background of pale gold. Lacking in background or distracting incidental details, Stubbs, with a nod to classical sculpture, creates a monumental depiction of a horse, while at the same time 

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acknowledging the majestic power and beauty of the animal. By excluding any reference to a rider, riding equipment or location, and painting Whistejacket unmounted, Stubbs with no institutional academic practice created a fresh energy and modern perspective for the late 18th century. Free from human control, the riderless horse is the embodiment of unrestrained natural energy, a free spirit that prefigures Romanticism’s celebration of nature. 

 

As a child visiting the National Gallery, I saw for the first time Whistlejacket and loved drawing it in a very fresh interpretation not blinkered by the perfection we desire as adults.

Punk Whistlejacket collection is a vibrant feeling of freedom, innocence and individuality and 

revolution of youth, that we all as humans come into the world with from the very beginning.

The will for freedom, which had been inherited throughout the centuries since 1762, is also a 

reflection of the 21st Century’s desire for newfound freedoms through revolution.