Introduction

The continuing art adventures of Doofus and the Duck and their Company of players, as created by my wonderful wife Emma during the time of quarantine: the COVID-19 pandemic, now continuing into 2021. This is the tenth installment of works, the Company remaining at the height of their creative endeavors.

Without further ado, back to the Doofus and the Duck…

January 2021

Doofus and the Duck present, as part of their Raise The Flag series of Patriotic Australian Paintings, their tableau of famed Australian Impressionist (known locally as the Heidelberg School) Frederick McCubbin’s well-known and popular work, entitled “On the Wallaby Track (1896),” starring the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot as Barney “Lightnin’ ‘Ands” McGowan, an itinerant shearer, and featuring the Purple Hippo as The Kid

A gorgeously beautiful recreation of McCubbin’s original capturing the dry, brutal nature of the Australian landscape with marvelous precision. The ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot is, once more, wonderful as the despondent rural worker, down at his heels, yet with a wife and child to feed. Totally convincing!

Doofus and the Duck present, in commemoration of the recent speedy recovery by the Duck from its recent trials, their tableau of famed Dutch Post-Impressionist Vincent van Gogh’s reinterpretation of the early Dutch Master Rembrandt van Rijn’s work of the same name, entitled “The Raising of Lazarus (after Rembrandt) (1890),” featuring the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot playing Mrs Roulin from Arles, who is in turn playing Mary the Sister of Lazarus, and featuring China Baby as Mrs Ginoux as Martha, the other sister

It is hard to know quite what to do with this work, either the original van Gogh or the Company’s interpretation. Like an onion, there are layers to unravel, layers that are possibly best left undisturbed but to simply wish the Duck a speedy recovery from its ordeals.

Doofus and the Duck present, in honor of Australia Day / Invasion Day, their tableau of a work by an influential spokesman on Australian Aboriginal (First Nations) social justice, and esteemed elder of the Wurundjeri people, William Barak, entitled “Ceremony (1897),” starring the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot as A Handsome Young Warrior, and featuring Shaun the Sheep as a Terrible Warrior, and the Purple Hippo as a Woman in a Possum-skin Cloak

Touching, and a timely reminder of how little progress has been made on reconciliation. As Senior Australian of the Year 2021, Dr Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr Baumann, said in her acceptance speech, “For years, we have walked on a one-way street to learn the white people’s way. I’ve learnt to walk in two worlds and live in towns and cities, and even worked in them. Now is the time for you to come closer to understand us and to understand how we live, and listen to what needs are in our communities.” This work by the Company may, perhaps, help inspire us all to take one small step. Such can be the power of art.

Doofus and the Duck present, as part of their on-going series of solo works, their tableau of 18th century English master Thomas Gainsborough most famous portrait, as seen through the eyes of American artist and cartoonist Ward Walrath Kimball, entitled “The Blue Boy (c.1770),” starring the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot as Eddie “Sweetlips” Hightail, leader of The Blue Boys Blues Band whose debut single, “Painted in A Blue Tone,” will be available shortly

Fantastic! Layer upon layer of meta-whatsits provide hours of post-modern mirth. Bravo, Bandicoot!

Doofus and the Duck present their tableau of a work from Russian romantic nationalist painter Viktor Mikhaylovich Vasnetsov, entitled “Sirin and Alkonost: A Song of Joy and Sorrow (1896),” starring the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot as Alkonost, the Exemplar of God’s Mercy and Divine Providence, and featuring Shaun the Sheep as Sirin, the Embodiment of an Unhappy Soul

Another excellent rendition of a Russian folktale masterpiece by the Company, with the two main actors superb, and the set design exquisite. Bravo!

Doofus and the Duck present, as part on their on-going series of iconic Australian paintings, their tableau of English-born Australian Impressionist, and key member of the Heidelberg School, Thomas William “Tom” Roberts’s best-known and most celebrated work, entitled “Shearing the Rams (1890),” starring the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot as Timothy Anderson, a Young Fellow Learning the Family Business, and featuring Shaun the Sheep as The Next Head on the Block, and the Purple Hippo as A Jolly Tarboy

The Company has always done excellent work recreating Impressionistic works, and this effort takes them to an all-new height. Here they have captured the reality that Roberts hints at, yet glosses over, and much of that grit is due to the excellent work by Shaun the Sheep playing a role as if he was born to it. Exquisite work also from the Background and Set people for the convincing recreation of a late 19th century shearing shed. Fantastic work!

February 2021

Doofus and the Duck present, as part of their on-going occasional series of solo works, their tableau of a work by Italian late-Renaissance master Giuseppe Arcimboldo’s portrait of humanist scholar and historian Wolfgang Lazius, entitled “The Librarian (c. 1566).”

A superb rendition by The Book, clearly with a few friends helping, of a work that may have been made for it. Regardless, the execution is stunning and the likeness uncanny. Once more the Company’s third, and most unassuming, principle shows just what talent lies within those usually quiet pages. Magnificent!

Doofus and the Duck present, as part of their on-going series of solo works, their tableau of modern Russian painter Nikolai Burdykin’s mythological canvas, entitled “The Abduction of Europa (c.2000?),” introducing Koo the Viet Buffalo as the Great God Zeus, in the form of a Bull

This fine rendition of a little known work from an obscure painter is definitely worthy of our attention. The original depicts Zeus as a Cretan-style bull from the mid-7th Century, while Europa, the to-be mother of King Minos of Crete, is shown as a Mediterranean beauty who appear quite content with her lot, almost challenging us with her gaze and reminding us who the bull actually is. Doofus does a fine job of Europa, however credit must go to Koo the Viet Buffalo for providing an excellent take on Zeus in bull-form. Simply wonderful!

Doofus and the Duck present, in honour of Te Rā o Waitangi, New Zealand’s national day, and as part of their occasional series of great cartoon illustrations, their tableau of the cover to the thirteenth volume of NZ cartoonist extraordinaire Murray Hone Ball’s series of life on a farm near the fictional town of Raupo, entitled “Footrot Flats 13 (c.1983),” starring The ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot as The Grey Ghost of the Forest (aka Dog), and featuring Shaun the Sheep as Wallace Cadwallader Footrot a NZ Sheep Farmer

A brave effort from the Company in attempting such a technically difficult subject. It would have been wonderful to see them attempt the entire cover but understandable that they didn’t (a full mudslide with Pongo and Rangi “surfing” down? Tricky!). The use of the Remarkables as a backdrop is also quite impressive, if not entirely accurate. All that aside, fine work from Shaun the Sheep and the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot bringing two beloved characters to life! Excellent work!

Doofus and the Duck present their tableau of English Academy painter Sir Edward John Poynter’s epic canvas, now housed in the Art Gallery of NSW, entitled “The visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon (1884–90),” starring the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot as That Most Ravishing Monarch, the Queen of Sheba, and featuring the Purple Hippo as A Fierce Fellow with a Fan

Epic! A full Cecil B DeMill production number on a rather trivial, yet magnificently grandiose, work, including a wonderful over-the-top moment from the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot who appears incapable of restraint in this case. Fabulous!

Doofus and the Duck present their tableau of Swedish Romanticist (national liberal school) artist Mårten Eskil Winge’s most famous work, entitled (in English) “Thor’s Fight with the Giants (1872),” starring the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot as The Mighty Thor, Wielder of Mjölnir, and featuring Shaun the Sheep as A Vanquished Ignorant Frost Giant, and the Purple Hippo as The Fearsome yet Tasty Goat Tanngnjóstr

There are times, such as this, when it is difficult to quite know where to being when reviewing one of the Company’s works. For instance, do you start with the original? Or do you simply concentrate on the work at hand and let it be what it is? In this case we have a stunning, yet bizarre, interpretation of a painting whose original meaning–the banishing of ignorance and triumph of democracy–is now so buried beneath neo-Nationalism symbolism that the painting can not be displayed for fear of encouraging extremists. That is not the case in the Company’s tableau, a far less serious affair, yet what do we have? Regardless, excellent work from the Company!

Doofus and the Duck present, in honour of the birthday of a Company sponsor and as part of their occasional series of classic movie posters, their tableau of a publicity poster for Joss Whedon’s culminating film of the “Firefly” franchise, entitled “Serenity (2005),” starring the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot as The Terrifying Human Weapon River Tam, and featuring the Purple Hippo as the Amazing Folk Hero Jayne Cobb

Ha! Nicely done! Though, truth be told, the Purple Hippo, even armed with Thor’s Hammer, does not make a totally convincing Jayne, but does anyone really care? I think not!

Doofus and the Duck present their tableau of one of the most famous and iconic images in Western Art, painted by the famed Italian Renaissance master Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni as part of his commission to illustrate the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel within the Vatican, entitled “The Creation of Adam (c. 1512),” starring the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot as Deus Creator Spiritus, and featuring the Purple Hippo as a Pretty and Holy Archangel

The Company, in this scene, has revisited one of their earliest works and it gives us a fascinating insight into their artistic development. Now, instead of the barest of symbolic sketches, we have powerful and mature work, full of colour, life and movement, that leaves little doubt the intention of their efforts. The sheer vitality of this work would, I believe, have left Julius II wondering, if only for the briefest of instances, whether he could get away with having a bandicoot on his ceiling. I believe the world would have been a better place had that occurred. Stunning!

Doofus and the Duck present, as part of their on-going series of great book illustrations, their tableau from the pen of English author and amateur artist, J. R. R. Tolkien, taken from his best-selling novel, “The Hobbit,” entitled “Bilbo comes to the Huts of the Raft-elves (c. 1937),” featuring a Little Blue Man as Bilbo Baggins, an adventurous hobbit!

Simply wonderful! In now way is Tolkien a great artist however his works do have a certain charm, and this is, I think, the best of them, and the charm has been excellently captured by the Company (with a special congratulations to the Set Dept.). A wonderful achievement!

Doofus and the Duck present, in honour of the commencement of the Christian period of solemn religious observance known as Lent and as part of their on-going series of solo works, their tableau of a work by the English-based street artist and activist known as Banksy, taken from a wall mural in Port Talbot Wales (site of the worst air quality in the UK), entitled “Season’s Greetings (2018),” starring the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot as Rhys Lloyd-Jones, a hopeful schoolboy

Lovely work from the Bandicoot as it enacts a three-dimensional version of the Banksy mural who manages to capture the pathos and humour of the original, along with the Company’s signature deprecating style. Fine work indeed!

Doofus and the Duck present, in honour of the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, their tableau of a late work by the Swiss-born German (highly individualistic) artist Paul Klee, entitled “Mask of Fear (1932),” starring the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot as The Mind Behind the Mask

It is fantastic to see the Company attempting, and doing a remarkably fine job, of a work by one of the greatest, and certainly most fascinating, artists of the 20th Century. That they chose this work–done in a semi-primitive/children’s art style–is not surprise, rather the wonder comes at simply how good their version of the Klee is. The use of the Bandicoot as the mask’s eyes is simply genius and opens the painting to another level of interpretation, one where we get to witness the madness of the age. Perfect!

Doofus and the Duck present their tableau of possibly the best-known work by the great Italian (Florentine) Mannerist Agnolo di Cosimo (known as Bronzino), entitled “An Allegory of Venus and Cupid (c. 1545),” starring the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot as The God of Desire, Cupid, and featuring Shaun the Sheep as Father Time and the Purple Hippo as The Putti Folly

What to say about this allegory of a Mannerist allegory that is not immediately obvious? The Principals are, as ever, totally committed to their roles even if the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot is a touch “mutton dressed as lamb” in this role, however some of the supporting cast appear to be phoning in their efforts. Whilst there are few in the Company who can look quite as foolish as the Purple Hippo, a bit more effort is required to achieve some semblance of credibility. All in all, I’m with the new fellow in the corner on this one…

Doofus and the Duck present their tableau of a work by Flemish-born Dutch still-life master Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder, entitled “Still Life with Flowers in a Glass Vase, with a Butterfly and Housefly (1616),” starring the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot as A Stunning Yellow Flower, and featuring Shaun the Sheep as Some-kind of Nice Flower, and the Purple Hippo as a Very Pretty Butterfly

Simply a stunning, not to mention fun, interpretation of a perfectly standard Dutch still-life. Magical!

Doofus and the Duck present, as part of their on-going occasional series of famous photgraphs, their tableau of a street portrait by the champion of French humanist photography Robert Doisneau, entitled “Le Violincello Sous la Pluie (1957),” starring the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot as Henri de Petit Chemin de Fer, the famous cellist, and featuring the Purple Hippo as Georges, A Street Artiste

Superb colours and textures in this marvelous rendition of one of Doisneau’s composed vignettes of post-War Parisian life. Both the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot (as a matter of course) and the Purple Hippo (surprisingly not phoning it in) produce excellent performances however, the real star of the show, is the Company’s set designers. Fantastic work, and including the “Madeline” tableau is a work of self-reflexive genius. Bravo!

Doofus and the Duck present, as part of their on-going series of solo works, their tableau of a religious painting by French Baroque master Jacques Blanchard, entitled “Saint Veronica (1633).”

Oh dear! While this is a beautiful rendition of a pretty Baroque portrait, I suspect there is an element of this work that cause hilarity in some circles and controversy in others, and I don’t believe I am referring to the Duck’s excellent portrait of Saint Veronica, which is magnificent. Beautiful work, but how do you not discuss the hippo in the room?

Doofus and the Duck present, as part of their occasional series of innovative three-dimensional art, their tableau of French-American “outsider artist” Niki de Saint Phalle’s late sculpture entitled, “Nanas – The Three Graces (1994),” starring the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot as The New Age Nana Jeune, and featuring Shaun the Sheep as Black Nana

A complete delight! I’m certain Mz Saint Phalle would have loved the Company’s work, and be honoured by their inclusion of one of her Nanas Series in their repertoire. Well done!

Doofus and the Duck present, in honour of the Return of the Choir and taking the Reading of the Day as inspiration, present their tableau of a work by famed Italian Renaissance master Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio apropos to the Holy Bible Reading Genesis 22, entitled “The Sacrifice of Isaac (1603),” starring the ABC Interpretive Dance Bandicoot as the Rather Distressed and Innocent Isaac, and featuring Shaun the Sheep as The Angel of the Lord, and introducing the Little Sheep as a Lamb Led to the Slaughter

Once again the Company shows why Caravaggio is one of their favoured artists. The expressiveness and pathos of this work are wonderfully conveyed and they don’t shirk from the horror of this particular story. Lovely work from Shaun the Sheep, and it is good to see another wide-eyed innocent enter the Company’s fold. Excellent tableau!