Peter Atkins

TV Week 1980-1985
Online Viewing Space
26 August to 23 September 2020

A new series of small abstract paintings by Peter Atkins, playing on cultural memories of small screen heroes and villains from the 1980s.

“TV Week 1980-1985 attempts to locate pure monochromatic colour within the specific era of the early to mid-1980s. The pastel blues and pinks along with the quintessentially ’80s fluorescent greens and yellows remind us that colour can transport us into another time and emotional space.
The sensational headline ‘Why Jack Thompson Posed Nude’ coupled with the evocative ’Inside Kamahl’s Sydney Mansion’ was the first work in the series which came from the cover of a magazine picked up in a flea market and led into the entire project as more and more magazines were sourced online.
It appeared that each magazine had increasingly more ridiculous headlines, and titles such as ‘Jamie Redfern – Liberace Was Like A Father to Me’ and ‘New Sexy Rolf Harris’ take on a different meaning, adding a somewhat sinister tone, especially when viewed through the lens of history. It’s almost impossible to look back at these magazines with their lurid headlines and storylines and not marvel at the apparent innocence of the 1980s, especially when viewed from the world’s current context.” – Peter Atkins, Melbourne, August 2020

Image: Peter Atkins’ 2019 TV Week series of paintings in his Melbourne studio. Acrylic on board, each painting 28 x 21 cm, 51.5 x 41.5 cm framed.