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David Toole
| Martin Bruch | Alice
Martineau Ben Cove
Fine art has always been the territory of the groundbreaker and the forum in which convention is most likely to be challenged, but in artist Ben Cove's work, the challenge has become part of the art itself. Visibly influenced by great 20th century artists such as Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, like them, Ben examines the role of contemporary culture through his paintings. A wheelchair user suffering from osteogenesis imperfecta (brittle bones), his work offers new ways of seeing. Pictures are put on wheels and casually leaned against walls at varying angles, whilst the image of Superman, symbol of freedom, justice and western ideals, is used to question the truth of those ideas today. The fact that actor Christopher Reeve, who once played Superman, is now a disabled wheelchair user himself has become a central irony in Ben's work.
The graphic simplicity of his pictures is deceptive, as the scale of Ben's work requires him to approach it from the floor, or wall or wherever he can access it in his Manchester studio, to achieve his desired effect. The large canvases have featured in several shows over the years and his first one-man show is at the Leeds Metropolitan University Gallery until 17 August 2002.
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