McDonalds is part of Keith Coventry’s 'Junk Paintings’ series. These works are inspired by the crumpled remnants of a Big Mac wrapper and show fragments of the famous McDonald’s logo – the golden arches - which are cropped and positioned in such a way that they become iconic Constructivist compositions. The Junk Paintings explore the dark side of modernist idealism: urban decay and mass consumerism. Coventry has said of these works: "I wanted to present them as Suprematist-looking objects, using the colours red, yellow and blue. I like this idea that capitalism can consume anything, that McDonalds can consume Suprematism. No matter what you do to react against it, it just welcomes it with open arms and says 'let's make some money from it.'
KEITH COVENTRY (British, 1958)
oil on canvas
43 x 37.50cm
Acquired in 2003