This is one of five prints from a series entitled
Carrier Bag Top Ten, in which Stephen Palmer has used the technique of photographic screen printing to reproduce ten images of shopping bags. Each one depicts a different flattened polythene carrier bag with commercial designs and slogans, that is typically given to customers at corner shops, fish and chip shops, discount stores and market stalls. By depicting the bags on a dramatic glossy background, Palmer wryly elevates them to an iconic status and transforms these ubiquitous objects into emblems of contemporary urban life. His use of commercial graphics is reminiscent of Andy Warhol’s soup can and soap box packaging of the 1960s. Palmer’s presentation of the bags as rare icons hints at their possible future extinction, as people are encouraged to use them less. Palmer’s artistic production spans painting, screen printing, photography and installation work; alongside a curatorial practice.