Whatever Happened to the Space Age

£403.56

Original painting by Peter Bright .

Media: Painting and Screen Print on canvas, signed and dated 2011.

Size: 500mm x 400mm

ARTIST + S T A T E M E N T …

My heroes have grown old with me or they have died – maybe their death has been a way to freeze time, stop the aging process – not only for them but for me also?

Buzz Aldrin on July 20, 1969, became the second astronaut to walk on the moon and the first to spacewalk. According to different NASA accounts, he had originally been proposed as the first to step onto the moon’s surface, but due to the physical positioning of the astronauts inside the compact lunar landing module, it was easier for the commander, Neil Armstrong, to be the first to exit the spacecraft.

‘Peter’s exhibition was inspired by iconic images he used when he was at art school in the 70s on the theme of Beauty and the Beast – inc Sid and Nancy and Guy the Gorilla! – and I think the results are really bold and impactful.’

I have always been a hoarder, newspaper clippings, postcards etc. It is only now that I have decided to recycle them.

Guy the Gorilla (May 30, 1946 – 1978) was a Western Lowland Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) which was London Zoo‘s famous resident, something of a celebrity in the 1960s–70s and was often profiled on kids TV shows and natural history productions. Guy the Gorilla was one of London Zoo’s best-loved animals.He arrived at the zoo on 5 November 1947,  Guy Fawkes Night, hence his name. He was a tiny baby, weighing just 23 lb (10 kg) and holding a small tin hot-water bottle.