This project was originally developed for the Liverpool Biennial Independents:
18th Sept - 27th Nov 2004

Anton Chekhov had what he described as autobiographobia - a horror of self-exposure.

It is not only the famous who are the subject/victims of the modern media. Ordinary "civilians" often have to account for themselves too.

For example: someone rescues a child on Sunday - is hailed a hero on Monday - by the weekend all manner of facts, half-truths or lies about him/her can be seen circulating in the media, usually accompanied by photographic evidence.

If asked to supply a photo (you could choose several) to represent or disguise who you are, would you prefer to offer:

A TRUTHFUL PHOTO(S) - a genuine photo(s) from your own life,

or

A FALSE PHOTO(S) - a lie, to maintain your privacy (a red-herring to put people off the scent of the truth- the real you)?

I would like you to send me these photos, images or photocopies by post or e-mail. I do not need to know if it is a true or false image. Your name and contact details are not necessary, but they would be useful for future development of the project.

These could be any type of images - objects, places, people - the 'lies' randomly selected from any source, (e.g. Simply rip an image from a newspaper, catalogue, holiday brochure etc.). Send a photocopy if you need to keep the original image.

I will use these photo/photocopies as source material, working from them to create multiple-image oil paintings (the original photos will never be seen or reproduced in any other form, as this would undermine and invalidate the aim of the work).

These paintings were originally exhibited in the Bluecoat Arts Centre as part of the 'Independents' strand of Liverpool's International Arts Biennial 2004.

This is still an on-going project exploring the nature of truth/identity, incorporating the glut of images that saturate our culture - please contribute an image. To paraphrase William S. Burroughs:

"Everything I paint is autobiography, everything I paint is fiction."