–Mark Tansey, Purity Test, 1982.
«From an early age, Mark Tansey was exposed to pictures of works of art by way of his art historian parents, who were authorities in the field.
His approach to painting reflects a deep knowledge of art, as many of his motifs are either lifted from historical paintings or depict important artists and philosophers.
The recognizability of his illustrative images, however, is accompanied by allegories of his own devising about the meaning of art and the mystery of the human impulse to make images.
Each painting is carefully calculated both in terms of technique and meaning.
The single hue in which his paintings are rendered acts as a constant reminder of the essential falsehood of all painting, and as a means to focus on the ideas presented.
Tansey achieves the precise photographic-like quality of his canvases by a complicated set of maneuvers involving the application of gesso and either washing, brushing and/or scraping the monochromatic paint into it.
The specificity of his technique extends to the ideas probed. Tansey’s subjects are fantastic, sometimes surreal scenes in which intellectual theories about art are dramatized, often complete with portraits of “characters” drawn from art history. »
http://www.articlesandtexticles.co.uk/2006/08/29/mark-tansey/