The Story
On the Rocks is a 40" x 63" original mixed media artwork by The Connor Brothers, presented in the form of a carefully painted row of vintage Penguin-style paperbacks. Here, every book spine is emblazoned not with literary titles of the past, but with sharp-witted aphorisms and alcohol-fuelled wordplay: Beauty is in the Eye of the Wineholder, I Drink Therefore I Can, Not Drunk Just Tipys, and Pour Decisions Make Great Stories. The humour is intentional, but so is the cultural commentary. By transforming the familiar visual language of classic publishing into a catalogue of intoxication and self-awareness, the artists tread the line between nostalgia and provocation.
The palette is dominated by red and cream tones, echoing worn paperback covers, while the repeated penguin motif grows and shrinks across the bottom edge like a playful timeline of emotional states. The illusion of ageing – faded edges, distressed paper, softened ink – is deliberately artificial, reminding us that memory and history are often curated rather than truthful.
The Connor Brothers, the artistic partnership of Mike Snelle and James Golding, have built a career on blurring truth and fiction. What began as a fictional backstory evolved into a lasting exploration of how stories are constructed, believed, and sold back to us. In On the Rocks, the bookshelf becomes a metaphor for coping mechanisms, identity, and the myths we willingly arrange in neat rows.
Description
On the Rocks is a 40" x 63" original mixed media artwork by The Connor Brothers, presented in the form of a carefully painted row of vintage Penguin-style paperbacks. Here, every book spine is emblazoned not with literary titles of the past, but with sharp-witted aphorisms and alcohol-fuelled wordplay: Beauty is in the Eye of the Wineholder, I Drink Therefore I Can, Not Drunk Just Tipys, and Pour Decisions Make Great Stories. The humour is intentional, but so is the cultural commentary. By transforming the familiar visual language of classic publishing into a catalogue of intoxication and self-awareness, the artists tread the line between nostalgia and provocation.
The palette is dominated by red and cream tones, echoing worn paperback covers, while the repeated penguin motif grows and shrinks across the bottom edge like a playful timeline of emotional states. The illusion of ageing – faded edges, distressed paper, softened ink – is deliberately artificial, reminding us that memory and history are often curated rather than truthful.
The Connor Brothers, the artistic partnership of Mike Snelle and James Golding, have built a career on blurring truth and fiction. What began as a fictional backstory evolved into a lasting exploration of how stories are constructed, believed, and sold back to us. In On the Rocks, the bookshelf becomes a metaphor for coping mechanisms, identity, and the myths we willingly arrange in neat rows.
