“The pointlessness in life is the point to life”: Alan Fears’ 80s inspired paintings

“At the age of the 38 I decided to paint like it was 1989,” says multidisciplinary artist Alan Fears. We’ve written about Alan previously for his expression filled paper mache heads, but this time the artist has applied his paintbrush to canvas with brilliant results.

“As an only child growing up in the 1980s, I spent a lot of time drawing caricatures of pop stars, movie stars, fictional people, and imaginary worlds. I failed one art course and dropped out of another and so I left the art thing behind for 20 years,” says Alan.

“I find an image that makes me feel something, whether it be a scene of strangers posing on their holidays or some pop stars from the past, then it gets painted,” Alan tells It’s Nice That. The random decision making in the artist’s work creates pieces that have you staring at each painting trying to work out the person featured. Alan’s style, and mentions of contemporary pop culture have you chuckling at paintings of Morrissey, Wham, Tears for Fears and The Human League.

While painting Alan says: “I try not to ponder or analyse my choices, so I work quickly. I don’t like to study an image for too long, and I don’t really consider the intention or the message of the image until I am about half way through. I find that fussing over the rules leads to misery and failure, so I aim for an approximation of a composition rather than a perfect interpretation.”

Overall Alan notes, “Picasso, Peter Blake, Kienholz and Roger Hilton all play a part in my artistic style, but I also like humour, pop culture and illustration.” The underlying message in each of the artist’s work is positivity. “Thematically, I try to communicate the idea that we are all equally ridiciulous and that none of us should take ourselves, or art for that matter, seriously. Serious people are the ones who ruin the experience of life, limit enjoyment and bum everyone out. The pointlessness in life is the point to life, that’s how it appears to me.”