The title and point of departure for Art Malarkey was generated by a question asked of my wife by Paul Duke; "Jane what do you think about all this art malarkey?". I thought it a great phrase that summed up the popular view of abstract art.

Art Malarkey is divided up into a checkerboard structure, whose squares contain layered sections from images of modern masterpieces by abstract artists such as Rothko, Mondrian and Pollock. These images are placed over an underlying alphabet sequence that forms the basis for the composition. The top tier of meaning is delivered by another sequence of letters covering the whole pictorial space, spelling the names of famous artists. Faine creates a visual conundrum between the art images he quotes and the names that lie on top of them. The viewer is left to identify the images and then decipher the artist's names. The effect of the piece is to de-mystify the rarefied air of the upper echelons of the art world and have a bit of fun playing around with the modern masters.

Art Malarkey is a signed limited edition comprising 50 digital prints each finished with a silk-screen printed satin protection varnish. Art Malarkey is a first generation original print, which only exists in this form.