Bob Jenyns - Humour

Humour

In Jenyns' art, humour exists in a number of different forms. His titles often include puns (such as Putting Money Where Your Mouse Is (1967)), and his subjects are parodied (for example Humble Hero (c. 1984)), although generally in a good-humoured manner. His clever observations of social, political and cultural structures, and celebration of everyday objects and events, are humorously captured in his work, and the many works which celebrate these easily forgotten moments of life are amusing simply due to their banality (Dog (1993)). Satire is mostly used by Jenyns in a subtle manner, emerging in quietly subversive works that hide behind a naive exterior; however, occasionally Jenyns produces blatantly critical works which use ironic humour to air political or cultural disapproval (Meanwhile... Down South In Tasmania (2005)). Additionally, his novel use of materials and techniques to produce works of art regularly undermine traditional notions of high and low art.