On the trail of the photoreal

THE Manchester-based artist David Hancock's relatively short career as a painter has been boosted by several awards, most recently a commendation from the BP Portrait Award in 2001. His chosen subject matter most of the time is young artists who are also friends.

Bedrooms, night-clubs and department stores are just some of the backdrops for the narratives painted in a meticulously detail-laden photorealist technique on to large canvases which sometimes wrap around corners.

Central to his most recent work is his commitment to document the often invisible, or at least not patently obvious problems faced by young people existing in society at the beginning of the 21st century.

Background paraphernalia in some cases act as symbols which allude to the sitter's state of mind and/or personal situation.

Hancock is one of a recent crop of loosely-termed photorealist painters to emerge in Britain over the past several years. Cathy Bell spoke to him recently to find out more about his art.

CB: What do you think about the debate over painting being a redundant medium?

DH: Painting is probably the most versatile medium and still one of the many ways of expressing art. You could claim that every conceivable style has been done, but there is still potential to do something original. Besides, even using new media doesn't make an idea original, you can probably trace any contemporary artist's work back to a movement within art history.

CB: Do you ever use other media?

DH: Not in any way I would consider art.

CB: Do you ever make abstract paintings?

DH: Abstract art seems quite pointless and is incorporated into society in such a filtered way. There seems a lack of commitment which leaves me cold. Since each viewer is free to interpret the work in anyway possible, the artist's intention is too easily lost. It also perpetuates the false myth of the artist that is unattainable and irrelevant.

CB: Your paintings obviously involve a lot of mental and physical effort so does it annoy you when an artist like Martin Creed wins the Turner Prize for things like sticking a cube of masking tape on to a gallery wall?

DH: No, because I would believe that there has been a lot of effort gone into the work other than merely placing a cube of masking tape on a wall. Because the process of the work isn't visible doesn't mean it isn't worthwhile.

CB: I agree. Can photorealism develop (excuse the pun). If so how - by style or content?

DH: Photorealism is mostly about style rather than content. Few of the original artists pushed this aspect, in fact they tended to oppose content. The recent crop of photorealists seem to continue this, insisting on banal subjects with only the context of the work differing. In this respect I wouldn't consider myself a photorealist as the technique is only a means to represent the subject.

CB: I suppose you could say you are taking the genre off in a different direction in that case. You say your models should be artists under 21. Why?

DH: A person's art says a lot about their personality so by incorporating their artwork into the picture plane I was hoping to gain more of an insight into their personality. The age limit has become less of an issue . I just prefer artists who are experimenting and pushing their work. There also has to be a certain attitude in the person that draws me to them.

CB: Which artist do you admire most? Have they influenced you?

DH: Andy Warhol and his working methods are a major influence. More directly are the Victorian Social Realist painters in terms of subject and the pre-Raphaelites for technique. There is also the distancing from photorealism and inspiration from fashion photography.

CB: Do you express yourself in this particular way because you can, you have to or are there other reasons?

DH: I do what I do partly because I can. For the work to become art though, I have to consider and justify every aspect of my process and constantly push the boundaries of my work forward.

David Hancock also works as the Exhibitions Administrator at the Chinese Arts Centre in Manchester.

His solo exhibition The Beautiful People is at Dean Clough Galleries, Halifax until April 7, 2002. Website: www.david-hancock.com