No penguins (Unknown, 2014)

'No Penguins'

Unknown, 2014. Fore Street/Bree Shute Lane Alley.

The juxtapositioning of Bodmin's Mackays and what is most likely to be a penguin instils a sense of confusion in the viewer. The artist exploits this confusion in order to angrily hit back at the establishment through this artwork. The penguin (assuming that it is a penguin) is symbolic of the cold treatment faced by Bodmin's youth, who are being dictated what they can and can't do by a government who doesn't understand them. The bold use of red and black outlines this anger, and the naive style in which the bird is depicted reveals the artist's inner child, a young boy or girl who just wants to play with their toy penguin without having to deal with the pressures and stresses of modern Bodmin life.