Tom Sanford 2010. Oil on Canvas. 120 x 160cm. Like many American painters who came up in the very late 20th Century, Sanford reveres Philip Guston (1913-1980). His “Sexy Monument” is a (slightly pervey) version of Guston’s painting “Monument” (1976), is one of several overt references to specific Guston works. While Guston’s gruesomely haunting image of tangled legs is believed to be intended to evoke the carnage of the holocaust, Sanford’s version does not appear to have such noble ambitions and has generally been dismissed by critics as smut or perhaps some ambiguous statement about fashion or femininity?
Tom Sanford 2006. Oil on Panel. 60 x 80 inches. Sanford, the arch moralist, painted this picture as a part of body of work he called “Bad Religion” for a 2007 exhibition at Galleri Faurschou in Copenhagen, Denmark. In the picture Sanford assigned each of the seven dead sins a celebrity avatar using characters who, at the time of painting were all alive and well and part of the cultural conversation. The then president, George W. Bush represented pride. While Bush survives today we is now remembered as a somewhat benign and lovable old man/Sunday painter. At the time Sanford painted him he represented the worst over reaches of American Exceptionalism and a national hubris. Kenneth Lay represents Greed,. The now late, and at the time recently disgraced, Enron executive at the time embodied the epitome of corporate greed. George Michael, probably because of a recent(ish) bathroom sex scandal, coupled with more recent (at the time) legal troubles stemming from “anonymous public sex” in Hampstead Park. Envy seems to be represented by Lindsey Lohan. At the time the young actress seemed to be constantly embroiled in controversy, but its unclear if she was really the envious one, or is the artist was merely envious of the actress. Comic actor Chris Farley represents Gluttony presumably for his weight, appetite not only for food and drink but for cocaine, which turned out to be fatal. Bill O’Reilly, the now cancelled over a plethora of sexual harassment lawsuits and various #metoo complaints, at the time seemed to represent wrath, undoubtedly for his hateful and partisan rhetoric as a political commentator on Fox News. Model Anna Nicole Smith, who at the time stared in an early reality television series, represents Sloth. Presumably Sanford judged her worth of this honor not only for how she came across on “The Anna Nicole Show” but also for her famed history of gold digging. While none of Sanford’s sinners seem particularly relevant today, that the artist would argue is a testament to the fickle nature of fame. Interestingly while all seven were alive when Sanford painted “Seven Deady Sins” only 3 (Bush, Lohan and O’Reilly) survive today and the other four died shortly after the paintings completion.