2 - ! - Solo Show - 2020

The young British Artist, Luke Newton has been pursuing, for more than ten years, a work of research and an almost ethnological creation which reflects upon the world around him. An insatiable observer of daily life, this graduate of the prestigious Saint Martin’s School borrows symbols, colours, and objects from the codes of design to produce works thought of as aesthetic and heterogeneous objects. His artistic production is built over time like a scrap book, compiling and merging technology and sociology. Decompartmentalizing the disciplines, his creations take the form of sculptures, paintings and collages.

With “!”, His second solo exhibition presented from the 9th to the 28th of November at the Gallery David Pluskwa in Marseille, the artist expresses his confusion in face of our contemporary society. Diverting everyday objects into subversive and offbeat works, he questions the paradoxes created by our consumer society. Between the naivety and seriousness of emotions, conformism and marginality, the different series, sometimes taking the form of multiples, question the value of creation and that of manufacture. His “Warning Signs” call out like so many injunctions from society to conform to pre-formatted emotions and actions. His “Heart Axes” and “Target Heart” encourage the vision of a flamboyant and cruel love while his variations of “Pencil” objects (pistols, dynamite or skulls) invite us to question the symbolism of these images and the power of art.

For nearly a year, the diversion of symbolism has been at the heart of Luke Newton’s work. By highlighting the symbolic value to the detriment of the practical function of the objects, the artist creates a space of communication between the idea and the material, and opens the field of interpretation of his works, in an «almost childish» way, making his work accessible to all audiences.

“We are torn between our constant desire for entertainment and novelty and our need for safety and routine,” says Luke Newton. Presented without apparent correlation, the works in the exhibition are presented like a news feed on social networks. Oscillating between humour and seriousness, Luke Newton’s gaze reveals a contemporary society shaken up by its technological and societal evolutions that is facing crucial choices. Confusing and uplifting!

Catherine Mairet, 2020

Click here for the virtual visit of the exhibition!