About this artwork
This painting is one of a series of seven watercolours in which the artist explores a private world that contradicts the stereotypical male persona. The works show men dressed as women, influenced by Peter Ackroyd’s book on transvestism and dressing up, and by British comedians of the 1960s and 1970, who dressed as women as part of their acts. The title of the series, ‘Nightshift’, suggests a change in character or appearance that may take place at night. The men depicted in these works are not drawn from real life but are characters constructed by the artist. The exaggerated platinum-blonde hair and leopard-print dress on this man make him appear simultaneously comic, awkward and unsettling. In this series, Flannigan suggests that there is artifice involved in all types of beauty.
Updated before 2020
see media-
artist:Moyna Flannigan (born 1963) Scottish
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title:Nightshift No. 7
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date created:2002
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materials:Watercolour on paper
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measurements:76.10 x 56.40 cm
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object type:
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credit line:Purchased (Knapping Fund) 2003
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accession number:GMA 4670
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gallery:
Moyna Flannigan
Moyna Flannigan
Moyna Flannigan is best known for her fictional portraits based on wry and penetrating observations of middle-class society. Born in Kirkcaldy, Flannigan studied at Edinburgh College of Art and Yale University School of Art, New Haven, Connecticut. After a period of painting in an abstract style...