Size: 635 x 480mm unframed (Framed with Art Glass – 835 x 770mm)
Medium: Graphite on 300 gsm Fabriano
“Every S.S.100 Pendine model is guaranteed to have been timed to exceed 110 m.p.h. before delivery to the customer,” is from the 1927 sales catalog. Elegance, performance and limited production are what have made Brough (pronounced like “bruff”) motorcycles world renowned as the best out of England and Europe before World War II; most would say they were the best in the world at the time.
In 1927 the thirst for speed was strong in England. George Brough was thirstier than most. Pendine Sands, a seven mile long, firm, flat expanse of beach on the south coast of Wales, some 220 miles west of London, was the place for land speed record runs. Excepting Glen Cutiss’s run on a motorcycle powered by a V8 aircraft engine, George Brough’s 1928 recorded speed of 130.6 mph on an SS100 was the fastest speed in the world for a solo motorcycle. Some report he blew the engine on the return run so there was no official record. Clearly the SS100 was a very fast machine in its day, and Brough capitalized on performance feats and striking appearance to promote his machines.” https://nationalmcmuseum.org/2019/02/15/1927-brough-superior-ss100-pendine/
I visited the Pendine Speed Museum in 2010, took the photograph of the SS100: Brough Superior (which is behind glass) with the view of making an artwork of it some day – 12 years later, and here it is.
The work is done in pencil on Fabriano 300 gsm cold press paper – really great paper to draw on.
The artwork is part abstract/part realistic ( in fact if you look carefully at the reflection on the tank you can see a vague image of me taking the photograph) – a comment on the state of our physical memories, unless we do something to retain these precious events. The idea is that just as the victories of the SS100 at Pendine in 1927 will fade and be forgotten if it weren’t for the Museums, historians and motorcycle enthusiasts, so too our own victories fade due to our own flagging memories; as time marches on we remember fewer details (see the rear of the SS100 in the drawing – only hints of the actual motorcycle).
It has been submitted to the 2023 London Biennial for selection – the panel select some time early in 2023. Fingers crossed.