We are all Animals

Artist of the surreal, Otto D’Ambra brings his brand of imagination to Curious Duke Gallery for his first UK solo show, We are all animals. Humans meet the inanimate as love and societal ideals collide into chaos of hybrids, even with a swordfish nestling on the naked body of a woman, and all in East London. With a chance to have your own bespoke artwork, will you be brave enough to enter the surreal world this June?

A favourite on the London art fair scene, Otto D’Ambra has built up a curious following since 2012. With his signature etching style that crosses Victoriana with concerns of love, society and our perhaps not so hidden animal instincts. The Italian print maker and illustrator explains his first solo show to be a platform “to provoke us all into thinking of how society perceives and changes us, sometimes actively and sometimes passively, by slowly eating away at our individuality.” We are all animals certainly changes our perceptions and boundaries.

Kick off your summer with a visit to a new, surreal world. D’Ambra’s latest collection of work is lavished with detail and mystery. From the etching of a hand bell ringing bird in Wake Up, to the hand drawn rhinoceros-come-fish hybrid, which carries its own message with the current armed guard surrounding the last living White Rhinos.

D’Ambra's new work has an additional motif- collage. Working into his existing style, D’Ambra understands collage to be a “new way to build images and compositions, whilst keeping the same clearness and powerful message.” This can be seen most clearly in his Sweet Dreams- a stunning ornate etching of a tall ship in the harbor of a woman’s hair, with her eyes masked by individually collaged pages from books that will be different for each of 20 editions. Curious Duke Gallery is proud to present this collection of work that celebrates the artist’s traditional oeuvre alongside new trends in art.

This is not all; D’Ambra is inviting you to offer up your own photograph to be a part of a new collaged drawing that you get to take home. On Saturday 20th June, Curious Duke Gallery will be home to the artist and his camera as he takes your photograph to manipulate the image into your very own bespoke collaged drawing. Each A3 artwork will be a new design that will not be repeated, and all for £300.

Still not enough? Otto D’Ambra is an internationally renowned tattoo artist. Tattooing only his own designs of the surreal, the multi talented artist shows Art on Skin this June. On 4th June, we will have in the gallery a nude model showcasing a black and white tattoo of a swordfish nestling in fragments from the shoulder to her knee.

Be an animal this June.