Lot 85

Reinhardt Dammn: Anytime Baby, Gould Galleries @ Melbourne Art Fair, Melbourne, 31 July-3 August 2008
All Sorts 2011, Gould Galleries, South Yarra,11 May-18 June 2011

Queensland artist Scott Redford has long used his fictional character 'Reinhardt Dammn' to express and critique contemporary surf culture. Dammn is twenty-two, "looks like a blond-haired surfer dude"(1), and has ambitions of making it big, either in contemporary art or with his band 'Honey Pump'. He has been an agent for Redford's critique since 1996 and was the focus of Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art's 2010/2011 exhibition titled 'Introducing Reinhardt Dammn'.
'Reinhardt Dammn: Wild One', produced in 2008, serves as a portrait of the character whose name is constructed from the American painter Ad Reinhardt (modern/high art) and the word 'damn' (pop/low culture). In this same year Redford was commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery to execute a work of professional motorcyclist Casey Stoner, a logical progression from surf sport into motor sports for the artist.
Essentially a Tamiya model decal set on steriods 'Reinhardt Dammn: Wild One' draws you in with its glossy surface, bright colours and Tamiya designs which have been appropriated in order to 'quickly get a visual response and emotional one'(2) from its viewers. This pull is employed to help the viewer engage in notions of originality in art, making the piece not about the work, but the audience.
The work is a brilliant mix of nostalgia, Pop Art and appropriation. Imbued with a hint of the artist's sense of humour, it is also about the democratisation of art. The character of Dammn is important to Redford, as he noted in an interview with Malcolm Smith that "without Reinhardt I couldn't conceive of making art within art as it is now. To escape fiction, you must lose yourself in it"(3). It is easy to be lost in this fiction, and fascinating to see another facet of his character Reinhardt Dammn unfold.

(1) Scott Redford interviewed by Malcolm Smith , Reinhardt Dammn's Cold War, http://www.ima.org.au/pages/.exhibits/at-imatcb128.php
(2) Dr Christopher Chapman, Speed Demon, http://www.portrait.gov.au/magazine/article.php?articleID=108
(3) op. cit.