A steadied pistol, trails of smoke, enormous concrete pillars, these are just some of the external forces that threaten to determine the fate of the “Girls in Carl Stimpsons paintings.

These maidenly young women of equivocal age, synonymous with girls of the Archie comic’s era, are staged in ever-unpredictable situations. Their discordant presence within scenes of car crashes and other impending danger are crucial features of Stimpson’s role as creator, pulling the strings and playing games with the viewer.

Stimpson’s source material, the works of cartoonist Dan De Carlo (of Archie comics fame) and Edgar P.Jacobs among others, provide the subjects and visual information for his presentation of appropriated compositions. Painting from the enlarged originals via projection Stimpson’s method exploits the printed form and rich surfaces of the comic book image to create equally unique and new works of art. As in his painting ‘Museum Pin-Up and ‘Showgirls Stimpson confronts us with an inflated sense of both proportion and content. Through Stimpson’s faithfulness to the original image and his painstaking rendering of the printed surface, we find him working in an artistic form which itself mimes the origins of the comic book source material.

Typically, Stimpson’s paintings have been informed by the brand of illustration ‘Linge Claire’, and these paintings show on exception to his favoured style of line economy and bold graphic form. ‘Girls’ is a celebration of female characters that once adorned the comic book page and who at the hands of Stimpson are now at the mercy of an unpredictable fate!

Jetta, 2010 Acrylic on canvas. 109 x 80 cm. 

Girl (Girl Crash), 2010 Acrylic on canvas. 90 x 74 cm 

Museum Pin-Up, 2010 Acrylic on board mounted on frame.

49.5 x 70 cm

Train Pin Up, 2010 Acrylic on board mounted on frame. 49.5 x 70 cm 

Trap, 2010 Acrylic on canvas. 54.5 x 74.5 cm. 

Showgirls, 2010 Acrylic on canvas. 50 x 50 cm 

Gun, 2010 Acrylic on canvas. 50 x 50 cm 

Girl Crash, 2010 Acrylic on canvas. 90 x 74 cm. £POA.

Beach Ball, 2010 Acrylic on board mounted to frame. 47 x 50 cm. 
.

Zero Explosion, 2009 Acrylic on canvas. 54.5 x 74.5 cm. 

Cockpit, 2009 Acrylic on canvas. 94 x 59 cm. 

Girl Car Crash, 2010 Acrylic on canvas. 79 x 94 cm 

Josie Track, 2010 Acrylic on canvas. 50 x 65 cm 

Josie, 2010 Acrylic on canvas. 50 x 65 cm

109, 2009 Acrylic on canvas. 50 x 50 cm 

Child, 2010 Acrylic on canvas. 104.5 x 55 cm. 

Hopper, 2009 Acrylic on canvas. 65 x 50 cm 

Bunny, 2009 Acrylic on canvas. 50 x 35 cm 

Mask, 2010 Acrylic on canvas. 50 x 50 cm 

The Character Yoko Tsuno, originally created by Belgian illustrator Roger LeLoup, had her first comic book adventure in 1970. The series of adventures consist of twenty four volumes and are still being created to this day.

Carl Stimpson has used this series as inspiration for a collection of paintings. His method of painting (drawing the enlarged image of vie projection) exploits the sophisticated and rich styles of the comic book image to create equally unique and new art works.

LeLoup’s styles, and consequently Stimpson’s paintings, are informed by the brand of illustration ‘Ligne Claire’ pioneered by Hergé and his Tintin series. Typically the content of Stimpson’s paintings take frames or details from the comic strips of the “Brussels School” (LeLoup, P.Jacobs et al) as their source material, the uniform lines and strong colors being his favored style.

In manipulating the original image Stimpson confronts us with an inflated sense of both proportion and content; the incongruous nature of each painting allowing us to identify at once with the predicaments and graphic form of this highly original character.

Stimpson’s altered compositions and appropriation of images from the original material are a celebration of this character and the unceasingly strange events that surround her life.

Yoko Zero, 2009 Acrylic on canvas. 40 x 80 cm. 

Yoko Bound, 2009 Acrylic on canvas. 80 x 50 cm 

Yoko with Jag, 2009 Acrylic on canvas. 100 x 80 cm. £POA.

Yoko with Magda, 2009 Acrylic on canvas. 100 x 80 cm. 

Yoko Portrait, 2009 Acrylic on canvas. 45 x 45 cm 

Ingrid Portrait, 2009 Acrylic on canvas. 45 x 45 cm 

Tintin Car, 2009 Acrylic on canvas. 45 x 45 cm. 

Tintin Plane, 2009 Acrylic on canvas. 45 x 45 cm. £POA.

Copter, 2009 Acrylic on canvas. 80 x 80 cm 

Shot, 2009 Acrylic on canvas. 45 x 45 cm. £POA.

Ash Tray, 2009 Acrylic on canvas. 45 x 45 cm.

Jet, 2008 Acrylic on canvas. 80 x 75 cm 

Snowy Car, 2008 Acrylic on canvas. 80 x 45 cm. 

Blue Star, 2008 Acrylic on canvas. 94 x 80 cm. 

Starlings, 2008 Acrylic on canvas. 90 x 75 cm 

Land Oak, 2008 Acrylic on canvas. 120 x 80 cm 

Batman II, 2008 Acrylic on canvas. 100 x 80 cm

Batman, 2008 Acrylic on canvas. 100 x 80 cm 

Cottage, 2008 Acrylic on canvas. 95 x 80 cm

House, 2008 Acrylic on canvas. 80 x 75 cm. 

Lax Lane, 2008 Acrylic on canvas. 80 x 67 cm. 

Switch Back, 2008 Acrylic on canvas. 109 x 80 cm. 

Barrels, 2007 Acrylic on canvas. 80 x 73 cm. 

Carl Stimpson’s paintings serve as a satire on the mundane nature of everyday life. His acrylic paintings exploit a comic book aesthetic following in the tradition of pop artists like Roy Lichenstein but his interests lie in work that feeds popular culture (Edward Hopper for instance) as much as work that appropriates it.

In his most recent work Carl is borrowing from the ‘Herge’s Adventures of Tintin’ series. At points the images from these books are being directly lifted and manipulated through a change in the captions or the addition of a prop in the scene. At other times Stimpson simply uses their style to describe a contemporary object or situation. By utilising the clean line and bold colour of the comic book Carl Stimpson infers a wonder in the everyday or perhaps a playful comment on how often through a passage of time nothing really happens.

The work is attractive, thought provoking and humorous. Stimpson is able to command all these qualities in one clean stroke.