Elliot Love
’68 Mustang // Queen Street
Oil on Canvas
1045 x 1550 mm
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Elliot Love explores notions of nostalgia and offers a sense of observation through his works depicting familiar cars from the recent and more distant past, typically set within still and quiet streets.
’68 Mustang // Queen Street’ puts the ’68 Mustang as the subject within a scene, however as the artists explains, there are elements of departure from his usual subject, “One of the few old school cars I saw in Auckland city after two years of living there …It’s uncommon for me to paint a scene where everything is in such good condition, verging on idealistic. Often times I portray obviously aging cars in front of a derelict building, rather than a pristine vintage car within glimmering and busy high-end retail environment. My way of bringing this painting back to earth was through the rubbish bin. The open lid is a symbol for the strain this city is facing, in particular relating to the homeless scene. Homelessness has dramatically increased since my moving to Auckland at end of 2020, and nowadays it’s not uncommon to see people digging around trying to find some scraps of food in the bins around the city. This is an issue I’m not able to propose any solution to, this is merely an observation of the reality around me. I believe as a realist, my job is to encapsulate an environment, as it is, good and bad.”
Image Size:
1010 x 1520 mm
Elliot Love is a contemporary painter living in Auckland, New Zealand.
Nostalgia is inherent in these acutely observed depictions of Love’s obsessive interest in cars of the 1980’s and 90’s, all set within a city’s still and lifeless streets. Working in both oil and acrylic on canvas, often on an unusually small scale, Love’s beautifully rendered compositions present delightful mysteries and provoke inspection, with an invitation to linger within his finely detailed architectural landscapes.
Equal attention is given to light; the humming glow of a street lamp, a glint reflecting off the boot of the car, or shadows brought by dusk. With no people present, the paintings evoke a sense we are here in secret observation of stillness and subject, a car belonging to someone else’s life: Are we alone? Who does this car belong to and where are they now?