ARTISTS ' STUDIO
Student Loan Pineapple
Chunks (2015)
Marker on paper by :
NGUYEN , Nathan
Unabashedly influenced by
Andy Warhol’s soup can series, the
artist chose to scale down the
colour profile to be black and
white. Andy Warhol, as an openly
gay man, served as an influence on
the artist by inspiring both a bold
confident persona and a prolific
body of pop art works. A can of
pineapple chunks has been chosen
because of the artist’s fruit tastes.
He was likely also inspired by the
1994
Wong
Kar-wai
film
Chungking Express, where canned
pineapple served as a prominent
motif as a metaphor for a failed
romantic relationship. The artist
purchased
canned
pineapple
during times of economic strain as
an undergraduate student. The
affordability of the canned
pineapple is reflected in the
relatively eager supplies used to
create the work.
IT Magazine / April Issue
28