Aftermath : Jesus discovers a child among the dead. (Digital print, 2011)
Since the age of 15 years Ian C Pool (HolyGreenCow) has been involved in the music industry. As a singer/songwriter, Pool performed under the creative umbrella of the band name. Now venturing into the 2D art world, Pool is once again baring his soul under the banner of assumed anonymity.
Taking influence from a wide variety of visual artists has helped forge a unique path. Photographic artists such as Tracey Moffatt and Anne Zahalka are noted, alongside traditional Australian painters Sidney Nolan and Geoffrey Proud. However, there is definitely an homage to filmmakers like Terry Gilliam and even Ed Wood Jr. as well as a nod to new media artists like Banksy and Cyriak. Combined with his musical background and a keen sense of satire, it’s from this eclectic melting pot that emerges the stunning visual language of HolyGreenCow.
As HolyGreenCow, Pool is an adept story teller, constructing narratives in a series, somewhat like a singer would construct a concept album. With a keen sense of the ridiculous, like Frank Zappa’s ‘Joe’s Garage’, and through the employment of cartoon and surreal compositions, like Pink Floyd’s “The Wall”, the work as HolyGreenCow juxtaposes tongue-in-cheek images with powerful concepts to articulate his political critique of contemporary society. Showing a concern for the world he inhabits, HolyGreenCow bases his satirical stance firmly in the world of the Everyman, using those things he finds around him in his daily life.
Through the use of lo-fi technology, the HolyGreenCow seriesTHEY CAME triggers a sense of urgency in the viewer. The characters are blurred, frozen mid-movement, fleeing from harm and seeking a hide away. This calls the viewer to action, to consider the consequence for ongoing neglect and lack of respect for the planet we share
In creating these works Pool uses a combination of live action, 2D cut outs and rear projection, shot in a single take entirely on the iPhone. Taking advantage of the immediacy and accessibility of this technology, he has set aside the SLR for his studies at the Queensland College of Art to construct images imbued with a sense of immediacy. The photographs are snapshots from a future in which the world has become over run by monstrous invaders, caused and constructed through human inaction, which are snapped by the not so innocent bystander.
In the latest satirical series; The Greatest Story Ever Told II the change in era meant the change in technique, with Pool adopting the CGI technology from the current crop of Hollywood blockbuster ScI-fi epics. With meticulous casting of characters from his own domestic kitsch mythology alongside legends of the QLD art scene, the series works on a number of levels that will send every viewer away pondering a different aspect of the work. It is this multi layered approach to story telling that has captured the imagination of astute collectors and public alike.
