We are delighted to announce ‘The Decadent Animal’, Joseph Loughborough’s first solo exhibition at Well Hung Gallery.

Seven years since his last solo exhibition in London, Joseph returns from Germany to proudly present a new body of works. Working with charcoal and pastels on paper, Loughborough focuses on the expressive and impulsive execution of form and line that has become his trademark.

Loughborough’s bold figurative compositions indulge the aesthetic and ethos of artists from the decadent movement, which reached its pinnacle in Berlin in the 30s. He draws upon iconography and themes evocative of this period (particularly theatre and film of the 1920’s) as well as his own experiences from living there, as a vehicle to explore the human condition.

Defiantly analogue in the advent of the digital age, Loughborough questions whether we are becoming that redundant animal whilst simultaneously exploring the nature of opulence, desire and fear. The rendering of the pieces fluctuates between expressive gesture and a critical layering of gold leaf and thick oil into flat geometrical compositions. A language or symbology seems to evolve from retrieving chaotic and automatic marks made during the primary stages of the drawing giving them an almost musical quality. This echoes criteria from the Dramatic Intermezzo within the symbolist manifesto. This series ambitiously treads new ground within the paradigms associated to Loughborough’s visual language.

Joseph Loughborough, b. 1981, spent his formative years exploring the derelict boatyards and creeks of Portsmouth, on the south coast of the UK. After graduating from Portsmouth University he pursued interests in art, philosophy and skateboarding culture, living in Berlin, Paris and currently London.

Please join us on Thursday 27^th June for a private view from 6-9pm. Music and refreshments will be provided, the event is open to all but please do email info@wellhung.co.uk to confirm attendance. Admission is, as always, free.