The Golden Calf, 2006
(Oil on canvas)

After graduating from Falmouth College of Art and Design with a BA in Fine Art Painting, London-based artist Simon Tupper’s commissions include Tate Modern in response to their surrealist exhibition. Tupper believes that every painting is a journey into a new place, and his depiction of bleak locations evoke strange and unexpected emotions. He describes his tortured landscapes as being reminiscent of Paul Nash’s early war paintings but instead of the debris from war scattered on the land, farm animals roam around in the desolate space. “The playfulness of the animals, set against the almost traumatic landscapes, creates stark contrasts, suggesting at times a sinister narrative,” he explains. His painting The Golden Calf goes one step further. “Here there is no landscape, only a calf floating on stray cloud in the darkness. I was thinking of the biblical story and wondered why Moses got so angry with the Israelites for worshiping the golden calf, a story wonderfully portrayed by Poussin in the National Gallery. However, when I was told it was a sheep standing on its own wool, fully exposed and sad, I realised this was probably nearer the mark.”

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