Opening credits roll. A young woman appears with her back to us: youthful, distinctly 1970s, voluminous hair swaying in the wind. She stands at the roadside, looking out at the Californian landscape. Beside her, a passing motorist, sprawled across his yellow convertible slows to catch her eye. The encounter may be brief but under Steve Rosendale it hangs, heaving with suspense.

In his work, Rosendal excavates the gendered stereotypes of 1960s and 70s popular culture. In ‘The Hitchhiker’, he captures a scene from ‘The Enforcer’, a 1976 American neo-noir action thriller. The third instalment of ‘Dirty Harry’ franchise, ‘The Enforcer’ was notable for its emphasis on female empowerment. Miki for example, the protagonist of Rosendale’s painting, is not only a prominent character in film but also a member of the Peoples Revolutionary Strike Force (PRSF).

Like a centrifugal force, ‘The Hitchhiker’ swirls around Miki. Rosendale distills the scene - Miki’s tresses, the man’s bristling muscles, the landscape signage - in dazzling detail. What was make-believe, transforms into a lucid dream, rendered hypereal beneath Rosendale’s eye.

Since the early 2000s, Rosendale has exhibited regularly across Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. A finalist in the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize, his work graces the walls of corporate and private collections in Australia and overseas, sparking the imagination of all who view it. For collectors of pop art, cinephiles and those before a crossroads, take ‘The Hitchhiker’ home.
 

Steve ROSENDALE (1973 - )
'The Hitchhiker'
pigment print on paper
Edition of 120
Image Size: 120 x 54 cm
Dimensions: 140 x 76 cm
Signed: signed, titled and numbered in margin

Condition: New

(c) Steven Rosendale / Copyright Agency 2024