Marcus Harvey’s Myra painting
Marcus Harvey - Myra Hindley: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
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Marcus Harvey. Portrait of Myra Hindley (1995).
Semioticians argue that photographs are indexical signs because rays of light act on the sensitised film inside the camera and physically change it. But most photographs are also iconic in that they resemble the external appearance of objects, people and places. Marcus Harvey’s source was thus an indexical/iconic sign— a full frontal photograph of Myra Hindley’s face taken by the police in the 1960s that has been reproduced in the mass media countless times. Looking at the painting, at least one art critic was reminded of 1970s Photo-Realism, in particular Chuck Close’s huge facial portraits. By appropriating / copying and enlarging / enhancing the mugshot, Marcus Harvey relays an already striking image. Myra Hindley’s manic, staring eyes are particularly memorable. The artist has even claimed that he finds Myra Hindley a sexually alluring figure.
In a work of art virtually every characteristic is a signifying element. The size of the painting—11 ft by 9ft—has been compared with that of an advertising billboard. By making the image so large, Marcus Harvey endowed it with a monumental quality associated with public memorials. But a contradiction arises because heroes and heroines are normally accorded such treatment, not criminals. Thus Marcus Harvey has been accused of glorifying and glamorising Myra Hindley. This charge is surely unfair. Artists in the past have made use of criminals. Andy Warhol’s contribution to the New York State Pavilion for the World’s Fair in 1965, for example, comprised a series of huge portraits of American criminals (“Thirteen Most Wanted Men”) based on wanted posters which were deemed so offensive by the authorities that they were obliterated.
Marcus Harvey - Myra Hindley: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
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