Robin Clare Contemporary Artist

The idea for the series titled Super Villains was born out of a discussion on the imaginings of what retired world leaders do when they no longer hold public office. Not contented with roles as Middle East advisers or the like, nor gradually fading into the background in some guise of democratic change, I saw them finding friendship and companionship in an organisation I called 'The Super Villains Club'. This would enable them to hold onto their power and allow them to manipulate the strings of world politics from behind the scenes possibly with even more power than before, now without public office, being able to act without reprisal or constraint.

To keep the project manageable I have limited the portraits to those leaders who have held office within my own lifetime. Each portrait is painted in oil on canvas and captures an image representing an amalgamation of my own memorised interpretation and a mass media interpretation of a particular figure. This has allowed me to subtly play with the popular perceptions of each personality in my composition. For example: Reagan, the Teflon don with his glinting movie star smile; Thatcher, tough, proud, formidable, hawk like; Gorbachev, driven, single-minded, stone faced. Without creating caricatures I have tried to subtly inject individual characteristics that tell a little more than the official portrait might do.

The ground behind these figures has been painted white, paying homage to the attempted blank slate that the new decision maker takes on or creates and onto which they make their mark. The white background also suggests the haze of disinformation that surrounds many a public figure and the inference of other forces working behind the scenes, like wool being gently pulled over the eyes. The real story is on a strictly need to know basis for us non-members. The series as a whole is a reflection on the levels of transparency and the nature of a finely crafted public image. As the project has progressed many smaller narratives have emerged within it. Links are automatically created within groupings of figures offering up a bit of fun, much like a game of connect the dots with a who’s who narrative.