Norman O'Flynn, South Africa

Norman O’Flynn born (b. 1971), lives and works in Cape Town as a painter, sculptor and all round constructor. He graduated from BA Fine Arts, Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town, South Africa. Norman has a deep understanding of the pop art tradition and explores the meaning of this genre in today’s context. Daily encounters with people and media are his creative inspiration. The state of humanity is questioned and interpreted in his work with ironically portrayed by playful and harmless manner, an intentional cynical and dark sense of humour. The globally recognizable imagery is used as his unique visual language ranging from comic book superheroes to demi-gods, triumphant ballet dancers, and space-age fertility figures, that are employed in his satirical observation of society. With regards to medium, he uses oil paint and acrylic on plexi-glass, combined with a technique of layering and patterning. It reflects on the universal contemporary themes: the noise of the world, the explosion of knowledge, the viral spread of imagery and ideas, the culture of celebrity and self-idolatry, the speed of change, the uncertain threat of violence... these are normalised and made palatable as it is fed to our many screens, which is paradoxically keeping us both connected and disengaged.

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