The source of the subject-matter in Kondracki's paintings is memories and remembered images. It may be a memory from his childhood, reinvented and transposed, or it may be something seen briefly near his studio that fired his imagination. The paint is laid on with passionate gusto and humour, so that even a potentially pathetic situation becomes full of exhilaration. 

The Usherette is one of these remembered images. Its subtitle, Beauty and the Beast, is from the well-known fairy tale, and the work shows the cinema girl - Beauty - standing in front of the Beast. The Beast is a monster from the fantasy adventure film, Clash of the Titans.

Henry Kondracki, born 1953

Kondracki, born in Edinburgh, enrolled in 1981 at the Byam Shaw School of Art in London. He stayed in London to attend the Slade School of Art from 1982 to 1986.