Hello peeps, as you may have gathered from my Instagram whinings I got back to good old grey London last night – sob! It’s not all bad though, I can’t wait to share pictures of my trip to Malaga, me thinks I got some OK ones!
In the meantime I still have a few more throwback artsy posts. As I mentioned in my post about neon artist Rebecca Mason, I was fortunate enough to come across her work at the amazing Leontia Gallery in Old Street, all the way back in October. Stopping by Leontia Gallery was a wonderful accident, as I was simply having a wander around Old Street on my Birthday when all of a sudden I saw an awesome neon sign stating “Everything is going to be fucking amazing.” There is no better way to draw people into an exhibition!
Leontia Gallery has a very interesting concept – as a pop-up gallery, it indeeds pop-ups in different parts of London, the latest having been in Leonard Street, Old Street, from the 29th of October to the 10th of November. That exhibition, titled There and Now, included not only Rebecca Mason‘s awesome pieces but also a few other artists, three of which I decided to write about here…
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| “Fucking Amazing.” |
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| My unintentional selfie when photographing “To The Moon & Back.” |
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| “You Blow My Mind.” |
Lauren Baker is a British artist who has a fresh and playful approach towards neon. Her phrases are fun, light-hearted and look pretty damn cool, don’t you think? I am actually thinking about framing one of my Leontia Gallery flyers, which was basically a perfect photograph of the first of my pictures. But Baker doesn’t just do neon – if you have a look at her website, check out her crazy and animalistic sculptural creations.
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| “Yes No Maybe.” |
Butch Anthony is my new heroe! I absolutely adored his work. This American artist is an amazing painter – and, as I was told by a member of Leontia Gallery, a quirky, eccentric and impossibly cool individual – who embraces kitsch, traditional imagery and wording by putting his own darkly humourous spin into the mix. The result is beautifully executed and visually stunning imagery that may be easy on the eye but has a mysterious, slightly unsettling and at times ironic vibe. If I were rolling in the dosh, I would definitely treat myself to one of these awesome pictures.
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| “4 Years Of Art School Got You Nowhere.” |
I love the story behind this painting. Apparently Butch Anthony heard someone, seemingly unaware that the artist was pretty much right next to them, snort something like “Four years of art school got him nowhere” in regards to one of his works at an exhibition of his… I would be thrilled if a negative comment of mine were to inspire such a hilarious piece.
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| “Sugar Mama.” |
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| Detail from “Sugar Mama.” |
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| “Mickey Mouse Gas Mask.” |
This fascinating and disturbing piece is by Dutch artist Sara Le Roy – horrible, I know! But it is also amazing and brilliantly executed. Le Roy is inspired by traditional folklore, which she gives a thoroughly modern update with elements from today’s society, values and visuals. Some of her other very clever work included photographic montages and a fascinating use of 3D painting, but because of its simplicity and directness I personally found this piece the most striking of all.
There were four other artists whose work I didn’t get around to photographing but were just as incredible: Nina Fowler, Jesus Leguizamo, Jean-Luc Almond and Rosie Emerson. It was a very complete, varied and gorgeous exhibition, perfectly varied yet straight-forward and with just the right amount of art. It was great to discover so many new multi-disciplinary artists and such a variety of art in one place – who knew that neon and oil paintings could look so great together?
I cannot wait to hear about Leontia‘s next exhibition – for those who are just as curious as I am, I suggest you follow them on Instagram or Twitter to see what they get up to next.
Which artist is your favourite from this selection? Do you find them amazing or disturbing? I would love to hear your thoughts on these artists!
Photographs taken by me on October 31st and November 6th, 2015 at Leontia Gallery‘s Hoxton space on Leonard Street, Old Street, London.
xxx
