Sculpture titled "A Hand-Held, Candle…" by Wilf Tilley, Original Artwork, Clay

A Hand-Held, Candle-End, Oliver Or Insolvency Fetish (1998) Sculpture by Wilf Tilley

Not For Sale

Original Artwork (One Of A Kind) Sculpture, Clay / Metals

Artworks classification

One of a kind (OOAK / Original Artwork)

One-of-a-kind works of art are also known as “OOAK” artworks. This means that every work of art is unique and there will never be another identical one.
Dimensions Height 3.5in, Width 3.5in
Fit for outdoor? No, This artwork can not be displayed outdoor
Categories Conceptual Art Humor

Clay model with wax candle end, boxed in a metal and glass specimen jar. Affixed to the base of the box is a lengthy, explanatory text of the fetish' use. This begins: "The recovery of money on loan by agents appointed for the purpose - often paid a percentage of recovered funds - is the second oldest profession. And those given the task have always been selected for their peculiar combination of second-hand avarice and first-rate rapacity. But in the late twentieth century the extension of consumer loans via an electronically managed scheme of credit cards in which individuals often paid usurious rates of interest for unsecured borrowing created such a need for loan recovery agents or "Olivers" that they almost enjoyed social acceptability as "Insolvency Consultants"." There is also an explanation of the model's confusion with the Lord Ganesha: "Olivers are usually modeled with large "elephant" ears and a snooper's trunk-like, nose hence the confusion with Lord Ganesha." (The model is signed with a catalogue number on the based, and the dimensions provided are approximate.)

Wilf Tilley

Japan

Wilf Tilley (Prof. Michael W. Miller) was born in the North of England and began his career as an actor, age 16, with the National Youth Theatre at The Old Vic in a production of[...]

Wilf Tilley (Prof. Michael W. Miller) was born in the North of England and began his career as an actor, age 16, with the National Youth Theatre at The Old Vic in a production of Antony and Cleopatra in which Helen Mirren played Cleopatra and he carried a spear. “Wilf Tilley” (a combination of parental names) was part-adopted for a first solo exhibition at the AIR Gallery, London, when he was 27. Following an MA degree at the Royal College of Art, London, an interest in the neuro-anatomical drawings of Leonardo da Vinci led, via the Open University, to research on neuronal modelling in the Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics in the University of Oxford. He was a Fellow of St. Catherine's College, Oxford, and after a two-year Fellowship in the International Center for Medical Research, Kobe, was a founder member, then senior adviser at the RIKEN Brain Science Institute, where he designed a brain science exploratorium (BrainBox). Wilf has held eight solo exhibitions, participated in group exhibitions internationally, and held a first retrospective in Japan (The Neuro-mytheologian And Other Works), in 2003. A novel (The Ladyboy Murders) was shortlisted for the Impress Prize for New Writers in 2015. In November/December 2017, he held a second retrospective at the Frederick Harris Gallery, Tokyo. And a recent portrait (Manami-san) is part of the New Light Art Prize Exhibition in the UK, touring five galleries nationally (2023-2024).