Laing's Modern Review        (Events)

Last night saw the return of Gerald Laing, one of the leading lights of British Pop Art, at a private viewing of his first solo exhibition for over forty years.

New Paintings for Modern Times was unveiled at London gallery ocontemporary and will open to the public from today until 15th November 2008.

Kenza Darley            (17 Oct '08)

Laing has clearly picked up his paintbrush where he left off in 1969 when he was one of the few Pop artists to paint and exhibit in both London and New York and was aligned with contemporaries including Lichtenstein and Warhol.

Back then he was famed for his portraiture of icons such as Brigitte Bardot and Anna Karina. He resumes the celebrity theme with his new exhibition which features paintings from 2004 to 2008. Amy Winehouse, Kate Moss and Victoria Beckham loom large in his work which features contemporary technique as well as subject.

With Amy Winehouse cast as muse, Laing’s The Kiss II (above) shows Winehouse locked in a passionate kiss with husband Blake Fielder-Civil, who was later imprisoned. Gethsemane captures the couple's farewell as Fielder-Civil is arrested following a tip-off from the media.
Belshazzar’s Feast (pic below) takes its cue from Rembrandt’s masterpiece in the National
Gallery and depicts the singer reaching for more wine on a table laden with food and alcohol typifying today’s celebrity excess.

Mother, Child and Alter Ago captures the tender side of Winehouse while Domestic Perspective (pic left) resumes the disorder theme.

Model Kate Moss, notably Lucien Freud’s muse, forms the subject of Laing's abstract portrait KM. New Paintings For Modern Times will include approximately 13 paintings and several drawings, along with limited edition signed silkscreen prints and two unique sculptural print editions.

Some of the work will be for sale; new paintings by Laing reached in to the
region of £150k+VAT apiece last year.

What they said:

Olivia Connelly- Gallery Director, ocontemporary:
“Laing was the truest example of original British Pop Art that we had, pioneering the newsprint technique and large scale canvases and being the only artist brave enough to confront society with his work relating to the Cuban Missile Crisis (Souvenir 1962) and the Kennedy assassination. After a long period producing beautiful sculpture, his role and importance as a painter is now being rightfully restored with these exceptional new paintings which retain and revive the freshness, integrity, and approach that make Laing such an important artist of our time.”

New Paintings for Modern Times marks the second show in an exciting new exhibition programme for ocontemporary, which has recently relocated from Brighton to a new permanent London gallery at 193 Wardour Street.