‘Walk Away or Jump’ (2)

Painting for Broomhill exhibition, 55″ x 55″ oil on canvas

‘Walk Away or Jump’

Painting for exhibition

The image of the man holding the fish was taken in Cuba in 1999. We were staying in a beach complex. The canteen that feed us all ran out of food. A handful of us hired a boat to try and catch some fish. The red snapper in the photograph was caught by me and was quickly converted into a meal. Ironically I am highly allergic to fish and could therefore not eat it.

This painting was inspired by a cliff walk with one of Robert Rauschenberg’s assistants in 1978. The implications of this encounter still roll around in my brain. ‘Walk Away or Jump’. This was possibly one of the major turning points in my life – what did I turn down? Fame, fortune? See more…

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About peter

'Death by Sushi' Fish can kill me. When I was very small (maybe 3 or 4 years old) my grandfather, who lost the sight of one eye from a bullet fired by a German sniper (fortunately not a very good one) during the Battle of the Somme in World War 1, wiped my face with the corner of his apron, an apron he had used to wipe his filleting knife on. He was a grocery shopkeeper who specialized in wet fish.