In four scenes, Anne Marie Hall’s ‘Inside An Illegal Bite Pit’ tells a wry yet devastating tale of loneliness – a man, unemployed and unmarried, breaks beneath the alienation of modern life. Outside, a cruelly competitive workforce rages while inside he is all alone, comforted only by a bureaucrat with a pamphlet.

Reminiscent of Australian pop artist Richard Larter, Hall appropriates mass media to critique modern life. Among collaged comic book illustrations, she winds her paintbrush – bringing an eerie, hallucinatory techni-colour to the work. Delivering a stinging punch to a society that outsources sympathy, Hall declares: if you don’t laugh, you’ll cry.

Like Joy Hester and Mirka Mora, Hall forged a compelling female voice in an otherwise male dominated field. Now, collected by The National Gallery of Australia, the Ian Potter Museum and Geelong Gallery, her absence in the canon of Australian art is being redressed. For collectors of modern art, pop art and female artists, ‘Inside An Illegal Bite Pit’ is a salve for the modern age.

Anne Marie HALL (1945 - )
'Inside An Illegal Bite Pit'
Ink and collage on paper
Image Size: 24 x 28 cm
Dimensions: 24 x 28 cm
Signed: Unsigned
Comes with Letter of Provenance
 
Condition: Very Good: Describes a work of art's image as Excellent, but may show some small signs of surrounding wear to paper or frame. There are no tears to paper margin or disruption to the paint surface.
 
(c) The Artist or Assignee