Andy Dixon: On the Ceiling of My Suite in the Royal Palace

Andy Dixon’s On the Ceiling of My Suite in the Royal Palace features four works that reflect on various interpretations of the myth of Narcissus, including a self-portrait and a recreation of a painting of Narcissus.

Many of Dixon’s works are ‘paintings of paintings’. They are both homage to the original as well as a kind of subversion or commentary, through which he explores the aesthetics of value and money and speaks to a world of luxury, a familiar domain in the art world. His work playfully highlights how a still life painting consisting of valuable objects becomes yet another valuable object through the alchemy of art.

On the Ceiling of My Suite in the Royal Palace continues this same meta concept but the subject matter's focus is on both the artist and audience's vanity instead. If Oscar Wilde is correct in saying "It's the spectator, and not life, that art really mirrors." then we are all Narcissus as we stare at him staring at himself.