Unless you are familiar with Tom French's works, you may initially miss the figures hidden within his ominous skulls. Next Friday, the British artist will open "FLUX" a solo exhibition of his dynamic oil paintings at Lawrence Alkin Gallery, where viewers can look into the dualities French has seamlessly fused into one image.
French combines two conflicting styles, realism and surrealism, to portray the two sides of the human mind. The figures camouflaged inside his oil paintings represent the conscious mind, which humans recognize and engage with when studying the works up close, unaware of the bigger picture. The sinister faces and skulls, on the other hand, represents the natural, sometimes repressed urges that drive human action.
"Though many of the works appear initially sinister, this is not always the case—encouraging a sense of self awareness and mortality can infect be quite liberating," French explained in a press release.
"FLUX" opens April 11 and will be on view until May 3.
