Fleursdumal (Evil Flowers)

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Fleursdumal (Evil Flowers) Emma Bennett, Michael Boffey, GL Brierley, Bernhard Martin, Neal Rock, Dolly Thompsett Curated by Dolly Thompsett ‘The beautiful is always strange' said Baudelaire. The works in this show demonstrate within their painterly flourishes a strange ‘beauty' that alludes to a sense of corruption and to the festering nature of an often hidden aspect of human consciousness. The ‘idea' here that links the works to Baudelaire's collection of poems, is that by embracing a knowledge of death, horror and pain, something can be extruded, something that speaks most ‘strangely' of beauty. Within these paintings a moment of expression is fashioned by means of art that truly speaks of life, like a briefly blossoming flower that feeds from the decomposing carcasses of beasts, great and small, and from the sun above. ‘If rape or arson, poison or the knife Has wove no pleasing patterns in the stuff Of this drab canvas we accept as life - It is because we are not bold enough!' Lion and Lamb, 46 Fanshaw Street, Hoxton, London N1 6LG Open: Mon 1-11, Tues-Sat 12-11, Sun 3-10 Contact: lionandlambgallery@gmail.com http://www.lionandlambgallery.com The Lion and Lamb is a unique opportunity for painters to curate painting shows: perhaps visual essays or a kind of platform where artists can examine current practices in painting, take works from their usual contexts and experiment with new juxtapositions.