Judy Garland

Artist Dawn Mellor : A Curse On Your Walls

I like the way Artist Dawn Mellors paintings disort and deform familiar media figures. In my eyes she responds to an era of empty superficial values. Her portraits communicate the face of death, a world less lovely than it appears in Vogue or MTV.  I was fascinated by her view of actress and singer, Judy Garland who starred in movies such as Meet Me In St. Louis and The Wizard Of Oz. I watched a TV- programme last week, where Mellor was talking about how Judy Garland, at the age of 16, was drugged on amfetamine while shooting The Wizard Of Oz. Which sadly caused future addiction, and had a huge impact on her life. How the producer and director were concerned about her weight, giving her pills to maintain it. How she was slapped in the face, when giggling adolescent. How she forever hated the song "Over the rainbow", which she was forced to sing for the rest of her life. And eventually, how she at the age of 47, died of an overdose, abused and wrecked by the industry.

And I Quote Pink Floyd/Breathe: "And balanced on the biggest wave, you race towards an early grave".