Renowned Painter Mitch Griffiths to launch first UK solo exhibition in nine years

 

New art exhibition IMMORTAL opens on Thursday, April 28 at Halcyon Gallery in London’s New Bond Street, featuring 28 new works by the acclaimed artist

The first UK solo exhibition in nine years by contemporary British artist Mitch Griffiths is to open at Halcyon Gallery on London’s New Bond Street on Thursday, 28 April.

IMMORTAL is the culmination of six years’ work by the artist and will feature 28 new oil paintings, including three complex, multi-figure monumental canvases, Griffiths’ largest works to date. The exhibition will cover a wide range of contemporary themes including the pandemic, feelings of isolation, identity politics, social media and youth activism.

The self-taught artist has a distinctive style that juxtaposes contemporary imagery with classical iconography, inspired by history and myth, and creating heroes and dramas out of ordinary people and places.

Keira Knightly, Bob Geldof and Ray Winstone are among the celebrities who have modelled for Griffiths’ works, and his art is collected by many famous collectors and celebrities including Earl Spencer for his family home at Althorp House.

In this new exhibition at Halcyon Gallery, Griffiths reveals scenes of unnerving intensity, from the eerily prescient Social Creature with its depiction of the now well-known Covid-19 symbol and reference to our increasing independence on social media, to the vast Like A Pack of Gods, a multi-figure composition encompassing ideas of mortality and social alienation.

Griffiths says that the title of the exhibition, IMMORTAL, ‘suggests something that lasts forever and can stand the test of time. I want my work to do that, I want my ideas to do that. I want to give all of my work a classical edge along with the contemporary edge – to reference the timeless and ageless quality of oil painting. And I think the title also connects with the idea that my subjects are immortalised on canvas’.

Though his works may be described as realist, Griffiths says that his aim is not to recreate reality, but instead to pull the viewer into his own fantasy world: ‘My world, featuring recurring characters and a cross pollination of ideas and imagery, is mirroring the strangeness of modern times yet unclear if it is the past, present or future. In it, the mundane becomes exceptional and vice versa. It is at the edge of our imagination but, in some way, all around us’.

Mitch Griffith’s solo exhibition IMMORTAL will be at Halcyon Gallery on New Bond Street from 28 April – 31 May 2022.

For more information visit: www.halcyongallery.com/mitch-griffiths

Though his works may be described as realist, Griffiths says that his aim is not to recreate reality, but instead to pull the viewer into his own fantasy world: ‘My world, featuring recurring characters and a cross pollination of ideas and imagery, is mirroring the strangeness of modern times yet unclear if it is the past, present or future. In it, the mundane becomes exceptional and vice versa. It is at the edge of our imagination but, in some way, all around us’. 

Mitch Griffith’s solo exhibition IMMORTAL will be at Halcyon Gallery on New Bond Street from 28 April – 31 May 2022. 

For more information visit: www.halcyongallery.com/mitch-griffithsÂ