Shelf Obsessions I

Size:21 x 16 in.

Shelf Obsessions I is a 17" x 12" mixed media work that reflects The Connor Brothers’ playful interrogation of truth, nostalgia and contemporary culture. A row of slender book spines is arranged with careful casualness, their muted greens, reds and creams recalling the patterned covers of mid-century paperbacks. Each title is an invented aphorism, blending humour with melancholy: “Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Wineholder”, “Afternoon Drinking – Don’t Wine About It”, “Alcohol You Later”. What first appears charming and decorative soon reveals a deeper narrative about escapism, self-medication and the quiet absurdities of modern life.

Coffee stains mark the surrounding white space, as though the books have been lifted from a real, lived-in desk or bar table. The imperfections are intentional, reminding us that fiction can be more revealing than fact. The work feels both intimate and theatrical – a still life of ideas dressed up as a bookshelf.

The Connor Brothers, the collaborative pseudonym of British artists Mike Snelle and James Golding, are renowned for using fabricated identities, visual pastiche and ironic text to expose the fluidity of truth. Emerging from a fictional backstory that fooled the art world, they continue to explore the tension between belief and invention. Their work borrows the familiar language of vintage publishing while loading it with contemporary anxieties, ensuring the viewer is never just looking at books, but at the stories we tell ourselves in order to cope, to laugh, and to belong.