Snogger: Hancock
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Snogger: Hancock (2022)
Oil paint and gold leaf on wooden panel with black frame
Hand-signed by the artist
55 x 48 x 5 cm (Framed)
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Cast your mind back to June 2021 when news broke that then-Health Secretary Matt Hancock had been having a secret affair with his closest aide Gina Coladangelo, whom he hired in 2020 with taxpayers’ money.
At the time, Coladangelo was also communications director at Oliver Bonas, the fashion store founded by her husband Oliver Tress. She was also a director and major shareholder at the lobbying
firm Luther Pendragon, which offers clients a “deep understanding of the mechanics of
government”. In April 2021, she was handed a parliamentary pass, giving her unregulated access to Westminster and attended a number of Downing Street meetings. “Before Matt does anything big, he'll speak to Gina. She knows everything.”
Matt first met Gina at Oxford University in the early 2000s while working on student radio together. They both studied politics, philosophy and economics (PPE) - get it… PPE!
Despite her unregulated access being an absolute conflict of interest with her position in the lobbying firm, they were both married - to other people! Hancock abused his position of power.
Matt was also at the centre of many public spending scandals throughout the pandemic, and many questions were asked about the PPE contracts he signed with close acquaintances.
At least Hancock did the right thing and resigned as Health Secretary on June 26 in the wake of mounting pressure from colleagues within the Conservative party. Every cloud and all that…
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Adam Hayley aka.AD13:. (b1984 Stockport UK) graduated from the University of Salford in 2008 with First Class Honours. He attended Edge Hill University to obtain his PGCE and is currently the Head of Art at Cheadle Hulme School, Stockport. In 2008 he won the Mooch Artist of the Year Prize judged by Peter Saville and Wayne Hemingway, subsequently being commissioned to paint Wayne’s portrait. After an interview on the XFM breakfast show in 2009, Adam was commissioned to paint the portrait of Mancunian legend Clint Boon (Inspiral Carpets), with Clint commenting, “this guy’s
work is genius!”. In 2022 he was shortlisted for the ‘People’s Choice Award’ at the Stockport Open competition with his painting of Boris Johnson on a pan entitled ‘The Great Panhandler Claps for Carers’. Visitors were encouraged to clap for carers whilst simultaneously hitting Boris in the face with a wooden spoon.
Adam’s work explores the context surrounding Britishness, stereotypes and how we identify with our British identity (or his perceived lack of it). Through humour, his current and predominant focus is upon politics and documenting ‘The State of It’. This body of work aims to document the key political moments of the 2020s as we navigate the subsequent carnage and tumult of post-pandemic Britain. The evolution of international politics, the threat to western democracy, and the loosening of state regulation against the roaring backdrop of social media and mainstream commentary.
In a highly polarised and populist governed world, his work aims to seek both sides of the story and find the common ground in the argument. Sometimes it simply aims to call out the bad stuff. Adam believes that the future hinges on finding balance and carefully negotiated compromise. Will our politicians let this happen?
The next decade promises to be a truly defining period in this century, and through this work, he hopes to document a small perspective of it. Failing that, it’ll gather dust in his attic.