Second Class (2018)

Heath Kane says he wants his work to engender a ‘smile in the mind’ of viewers but there’s also a sincere attempt to ‘tell stories’ that relate to wider social issues. A brilliant example of this is Kane’s new print for flyingleaps: Second Class (2018). “The Brexit vote was a vote to go back. But back to what? Britain no longer has an empire, it no longer rules the waves. We are lead by a Prime Minister who voted to remain and now tries to lead us out. Are we heading to a future where we will all travel second class?” Kane’s imagery is from derived from politics to pop culture, Barbie appears as the Holy Mother and with his Rich Enough to be Batman (2014-17) series the Queen’s eyes stare out from behind the Dark Knight’s iconic cowl. In Second Class Liz has shed her superhero status but rather has the look of that lady in the back row at the Rhinoceros Exhibition. But instead of bearing a blackened visage as in the 18^th century painting by Pietro Longhi the Queen’s cryptic smile has been replaced, blotted out, by a somewhat grubby lipstick red rendition of Theresa May’s infamous calamity gurn. www.heathkane.co.uk