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Shaun Tan - "Never Wait For an Apology" - oil on canvas

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Never Wait For an Apology

Oil on canvas by Shaun Tan (2012).

Artwork size: 86 x 76 cm (33.9" x 29.9")

Frame size: 88.5 x 78.5 x 4.7 cm (34.8" x 30.9" x 1.9")

"This strange train, like a carriage and engine fused into an elemental form was inspired by news images of cars covered in volcanic ash. It seems built only for the purpose of incarcerating a single passenger, with an unsettling resemblance to fairytale ovens. Crows, ovens, crowns and contracts: familiar Grimm’s tropes with a post-industrial twist. It’s not clear what the older or younger boy is thinking, but it’s possible that both characters are somewhat resigned to an inevitable situation. Neither are particularly enthusiastic or resistant.

The crows surrounding this drama are, I think, a neutral presence, neither good nor evil. Like real crows, they are adept at exploiting opportunities. We don’t know why they want the younger brother, and it’s important that we never know. The repetition of so many black angular forms against a colourless landscape suggests vacuousness, a loss of individuality, creativity or purpose, the dissolution of all things that make life interesting."—Shaun Tan

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