Emulsion, oil, BLK 3.0, PVA glue, frame points, sunflower seeds, cardboard, ash, roaches and rain water on wood in wood frame.

61x46x3cm

£3,200

A torched sunflower in the fields between Rodez and Carcassonne in southern France, painted during a savagely hot Tour de France 2022.

The grand tours of cycling are not simply annual sporting events. They are a spectacle rooted in tradition, where we witness physical greatness against the backdrop of beautiful scenery. Travelling together through time and space, retracing the journey made by those who came before, young people trying to make their mark. 

“Cycling is life”

Tadej Pogačar

Some consider the Tour de France to be the pinnacle of cycling. From mountain vistas to the pomp of the Champs-Élysées, one of the most iconic images of this famous race has always been the peloton gliding past fields of sunflowers as they appear to watch on like spectators, their heads tracking the sun like a crowd watching the ball in a tennis match.

Despite the romance of dreams becoming reality there is also a brutality, with conditions and crashes that earn the riders a deep respect from each other and those looking on. To embody this juxtaposition between this beauty and ugliness we zoom in on one such sunflower cooking and falling apart in the hot sun, road markings, tarmac, damaged skin, dried blood, sweat and tears across an undulating surface.

So we may ask ourselves, can there be beauty without ugliness? Joy without pain? A sense of achievement without sacrifice? Brotherly love without common experience?