National Galleries of Scotland

In this painting McLean satirises the materialistic consumer culture of the 1980s. For some, designer labels like the brand Gucci were signs of success and power. The two women in this painting wear their handbags on their heads, ridiculing the obsession with expensive accessories. The ladder on the right of the painting hints at the social ladder such people were so keen to climb. Even the women?s viciously spiked tongues are gold - a further vulgar display of wealth. McLean was aware that it was often this type of person who bought contemporary art, viewing it as another possession and status symbol, and here he overtly mocks them. McLean had concentrated on performance art and sculpture since 1965, and began painting again in 1981. He uses unmixed colours applied directly to the canvas.