To cut through our cyncism and give images again the power to disturb is quite a feat; that Semple manages it via the medium of paint is even more impressive. His approach is summed up by the famous line from They Live: “I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass… and I’m all out of bubblegum”

– Jonathan R Jones, Modern Painters

In the show’s centerpiece, A Love Song’s Not Enough, made of acrylic and spray paint on canvas, and spanning six-by-ten feet, a boxer slumps with half-closed Byzantine eyes in a tumble of marble-pale skin, haunting a divided picture plane of greys and distressed rainbows above acres of gestural abstraction, like cake frosting marshland.

– Shana Nys Dambrot 

 

You can see elements of this journey through the exhibition; the terror and power of the medical environment; the boundless curiosity and humour that drives his practice; the dark places visited enroute and the generosity of an artist whose work challenges walls, encourages dialogue and continues to laugh in the face of death.

– Lee Cavaliere

 In Oh, dream maker, you heart breaker (2013) for example, the journey across Moonriver in the song of the same name is illustrated at its close, where the Huckleberry friend has come to the end of the rainbow – a place where hope and treasure are expected – to find just an amusement arcade instead called ‘Rainbow’s End.’

– Clare Hazelton

ABOUT THE ARTIST:

Stuart Semple is a multidisciplinary British artist whose practice spans painting, performance, internet art, and installation. His works adopt a sociological lens to explore themes of youth politics, mass culture, image, technology, and anxiety. Often activist in nature, his broader projects frequently strive for fairness, equality, and access, particularly within the arts.

Semple has enjoyed numerous solo exhibitions worldwide and has presented projects at international institutions, including the Denver Art Museum, The Whitworth, Barbican, Hong Kong Arts Center, and Dulwich Picture Gallery. He is the author of “Make Art or Die Trying,” published by Quarto. Semple regularly speaks on art and mental health, with appearances at Oxford University, The Southbank Centre, Frieze, RCA, and the ICA

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Selected works:

Selected works:

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Recent exhibitions, commissions, publications and press

Top Sante – now on the shevles

Top Sante – now on the shevles

Stuart Semple has drawn the artwork in the current issue of Top Sante which is dedicated to positive Mental Health in association with Mind. His Tshirt doodle's are worn by spokespeople in the current issue for their #TopSanteLetsTalk campaign  

Now Open – BETTER THAN YOUR NEIGHBOUR | Schloss Wiesen

Now Open – BETTER THAN YOUR NEIGHBOUR | Schloss Wiesen

[slideshow] [/slideshow]   Better Than Your Neighbour Schloss Wiesen Frankfurt 22nd March - 22 May Group exhibition curated by Johanna Stemmler & Friedrich Gräfling including Christian Jankowski, Stuart Semple, Florian Meisenberg, Felix Oehmann, Matthias...

This Is Our Time by Cat Garcia

This Is Our Time by Cat Garcia

Our Time: photo-stories of Britain’s creative generation by Cat Garcia A day with Stuart Semple has been documented with words by Sarah J. Edwards for the beautiful new book Our Time, in which the photographer Cat Garcia has been documenting the working lives of...

Introducing the Weekly Wonder

Introducing the Weekly Wonder

[slideshow] [/slideshow] The WeeklyWonder follows on from the hugely successful Daily Doodle series by Stuart Semple. The premise for the DailyDoodle was simple. From new Years day last year (2013) Mister Semple would produce a small picture a day and pop it on eBay...

ARTICULATE – Victoria Miro Gallery,  27th November

ARTICULATE – Victoria Miro Gallery, 27th November

ARTICULATE Victoria Miro Gallery 16 Wharf Road London N1 7RW   Rachel Whiteread, Anthony Gormley, Anish Kapoor, The Chapman Brothers, Stuart Semple, Jillian Edelstein, Whitney McVeigh, Tom Gallant, Tom Price, Patrick Jacobs, Adeline de Monseignat, Mário Macilau...

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