“Pop Saints and Sinners, and Other Stories…”

 “Pop Saints and Sinners, and Other Stories” brings together work from a diverse range of contemporary artists, illustrators and cartoonists, working in different media, and converging on the notion of the pop art portrait of everyday heroes and villains.

Pop art interprets the portrait as an icon, transforming run-of-the-mill, everyday pop culture celebrities and anti-heroes into contemporary saints and sinners. The theme of the show is inspired by pop culture’s notion of the portrait as icon, but is open to interpretation; some of the artists in this group show look to the past, reinterpreting traditional notions of saints and sinners, while others look to the celebrities, stars, and anti-heroes we love to hate, or admire and adore in the contemporary church of media and spin.

A queer strand runs throughout the show, as many of the artists are LGBTQ or share a queer sensibility. Queer artists have traditionally felt excluded from open representation both in the world of fine art and in that of commercial popular culture, and are branded by culture and religion as sinners rather than saints. This show creates a space for the work of those queer artists who have had to search through the detritus of art and pop to reclaim, reconstruct and create their own heroes and villains, and to reinterpret what saintliness and sin might look like.

The artworks in the exhibition are for sale, but the exhibition will also house a shop space – inspired by the likes of Keith Haring’s Pop Shop – where you can buy one-of-a-kind zines, comics, and artist-made goodies as well.

Exhibition produced and curated by Kev Clarke and Sina Sparrow.

69 Camden High Street, London, UK

January 27th – February 8th, 10.30-6, closed Mondays

Contact thefaceopfpop@gmail.com  for more information.