About this artwork
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.
Updated before 2020
-
artist:Bruce McLean (born 1944) Scottish
-
title:The Gucci Girls
-
date created:1984
-
materials:Acrylic on canvas
-
measurements:211.20 x 168.50 cm
-
object type:
-
credit line:Bequeathed by Gabrielle Keiller 1995
-
accession number:GMA 3996
-
gallery:
-
subject:
-
artwork photographed by:Antonia Reeve
Bruce McLean
Bruce McLean
Born in Glasgow, McLean studied at Glasgow School of Art and, from 1963 to 1966, at St Martin's School of Art in London. Influenced by tutor Anthony Caro, McLean experimented with making formalist, floor-based sculpture in materials such as steel and fibreglass. However, by 1967 he was beginning to...