Description

Love Aint Dead by Mark Davies

‘Love Ain’t Dead’ is a wonderfully beautiful piece that transforms a scene devoid of hope and full of despair, and showcases the sheer power of love, epitomising its ability to mask over the gritty undertow of reality.

Deep eh! In concept yes, but visually no. This is a whole-heartedly positive image that is full-to-bursting with emotion, passion and detail. Combining cherished romantic movies such as ‘Casablanca’, ‘Gone With The Wind’, ‘Titanic’, ‘Lady & The Tramp’, ‘West Side Story’, ‘Romeo & Juliet’, ‘Dirty Dancing’, ‘Ghost’, ‘Beauty & The Beast’, ‘When Harry Met Sally’, ‘La La Land’, ‘Broke Back Mountain’, ‘Pretty Woman’, ‘Love Actually’, ‘Notting Hill’, ‘Moulin Rouge’, ‘Mama Mia’, ‘Sleepless in Seattle’ and ‘The Notebook’!

It’s not all about setting things on fire and mucky language here, I do have a soft side! I love to mix things up and everything is created for a reason, art with meaning, always for a reason. It’s important to stay authentic as an artist whilst also keeping the most important part, the collector at the forefront. I know everyone has a dark side but there is a lot of love out there too! ‘Love Ain’t Dead’ is a blend of my ‘Lost in Hollywood’ and ‘Storyteller’ signature styles, designed to yank at your heart strings and draw you in to seek out the meaning and the detail, guaranteeing a genuine love affair for all of you old-fashioned romantics!

As a break away from single film or story focused compositions, I have become more interested in creating ‘mash ups’ that combine an array of titles that come together to deliver a truly unique and interactive experience when seeking out the details and the narrative that drives the piece. This was showcased in my 2022 ‘Spielberg’s Hollywood’ blockbuster that has been so well received by my collectors. So, my thinking was to create a piece that would give the same appeal and serve as a bargaining tool for those who were aiming to convince their other half to let them buy ‘Spielberg’s Hollywood’. I hear this so many times, especially at shows when I have to step back and watch it play out, it rarely seems to fail! I love you lot!

The intention for this piece was to start off with a gritty, almost post-apocalyptic scene of decay and neglect and then to set about transforming it so that you don’t notice what surrounds you, instead being overwhelmed by beauty and positivity. The idea being that true love can give you focus and hope. The central detail focuses on Lady and her ‘Tramp’ seated for their meal and completely and utterly consumed in each other’s presence and with all of what goes on around them falling silent. Really sweet and so, so honest. I won’t spoil it by listing out all of the detail, some is blatant, others are much more subtle and harder to digest, oh and if you decipher the teddy bear reference then you really are hard-core!

I loved creating this piece, I have a rosy glow about me now and the burner torch can stay hidden away in the cupboard for another day. I feel like I need to listen to ‘Boys to Men’, chop some cucumber for the eyes and put my hair in a fluffy towel! Ten years in this art game and I think I have finally lost the plot! Bring me the straitjacket bitch, oh and my slippers!

Is love dead? Is it bollocks!