Emoji Morandi

The influence of emoji is immediately visible and is indeed a product of the post-internet age. Much has already been written about the subject, and there are already a large number of artists using the symbols as inspiration. I read someone referring to them as modern day hieroglyphics, and although this is somewhat true, I think this is something of a narrow view.

I’ve explored the idea of using everyday objects in still-life with both painting and collections of found images in my project ‘eBay Morandi’ from some years ago.

The inclusion of still-life artists Giorgio Morandi in the title of these projects is a little bit of highlighting and positioning the work in a historical context, and my fascination with repetition in art.

I’m interested in how multiple emojis can be used to drive home a point, or how some people use the same emojis so often that they associate with them on a deeper level relates back to my understanding of Morandi’s clear lifelong focus on painting his pots, vessels and cups.

The objects in the paintings are left open to interpretation, monkeying how semiotics are used in traditional painting and contrasting this with how emojis are used as daily inter-generational shorthand.

Paintings are Oil on board, 60x60cm