“Media distracts and entertains, a gullible public willingly swallows fake news and those in power happily exploit the weaknesses of the populace. Right and wrong blur in a universe where no one is completely innocent.”
— Eleanor Heartney, Contributing Editor, Art in America
In Once Bitten, Twice Shy, news headlines and incidents resurface as allegories in Louise Reynolds’ textural drawings on wood panels, which reference political hypocrisy, social inequality, migration, morality and celebrity culture. Recently returned from a residency in Florence, the artist also takes inspiration from mediaeval paintings, in which the scale of figures indicates their relative importance. This clear-cut hierarchy is upended in contemporary media consumption, as puff pieces and urgent issues occupy the same airspace.
Through large-scale paintings exploring the mid-century and desert modern architecture of Palm Springs, this exhibition highlights the often-overlooked labour involved in building and maintaining these perfectly built environments.
New works from 13 London-based artists showcase an expansive overview of living and working as an artist in the capital. Featuring Alfie Rouy, Alma Berrow, Amy Hui Li, David Hockney, Effie WanYi Li, Gavin Turk, Grayson Perry, Haeiji Min, Helen Beard, Henry Hudson, Jake Wood-Evans, Lian Zhang, Nick Hornby and Tracy Emin.
Armstrong’s brand-new print edition, The Old Southwest, captures the glittering lights which illuminate the homes across the rolling hills of Los Angeles, forging a noir-esque fantasy of the city at night.
Hosted at Michelin-starred space Frevo NYC, the exhibition explores references from eighteenth and nineteenth-century English artists, examining how their works communicate notions of transience, nostalgia and intangibility through a contemporary lens.
Image 1: Louise Reynolds, Safe Passage, 2023, Watercolour pencils and gesso on plywood board, 59 cm x 84 cm. 2: Louise Reynolds, Is The Feud Over? The Drama Explained, 2023, Watercolour pencils on plywood board, 59.5 cm x 42 cm. 3: Louise Reynolds, Once Bitten, Twice Shy, 2023, Watercolour pencils on plywood board, 59.5 cm x 42 cm. 4: Rex Southwick, The Spring, 2023, Oil on canvas, 300 cm x 280 cm. 5: Alma Berrow, Fried, 2023, White earthenware, 29 cm diameter. 6: Seth Armstrong, The Old Southwest, 2023, Archival Pigment Print on Juniper Baryta Rag 305gsm, with cut edges, Hand-signed and numbered by the artist, Edition of 120, 76.2 cm x 76.2 cm. 7. Jake Wood-Evans, Water Lilies, after Benjamin Williams Leader, 2023, Oil on canvas, 205 cm x 265 cm.
All images courtesy of the artist and Unit London.
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