Andy Hope 1930 draws his inspiration from a number of sources, including the world of comic strips. However, rather than appropriating them in Pop Art style, he embellishes the figures, stories and landscapes. His eclectic approach involves overpainting, collage and cut-outs. In his works, extinct primordial monsters, SS thugs, flying superheroes, heroically battling warriors and aliens all meet. Exploring art history, especially the works of Edvard Munch and Kasimir Malevich, is as important to him as exploring the Hollywood classics of the 1930s onwards, including trashy B-movies and sci-fi films. Hedy Lamarr, Frances Farmer, Veronica Lake, John Wayne and Charles Manson play as much a role in his work as Spiderman and Batman.
The artist created a new installation Infinity Crisis (2009) specially for his exhibition at the Sammlung Goetz: a wallpaper patterned with multiple repeat reproductions of motifs from several paintings on display, like a futuristic sci-fi cabinet, covered the walls, so that only on second glance did the viewer notice that the original paintings themselves were also hanging there. With this visually confusing effect addressing the issue of original and reproduction, the exhibition itself was transformed into a blend of fiction and reality.
