Sara Pope Launches Portrait of Pope at Pop-Up Gallery Boxpark

On 30 June 2015, artist Sara Pope unveils a unique ‘Pope-Up’ art exhibition at London’s BOXPARK mall. Featuring the seductive Lips series of works for which she is best known, the exhibition will also see the artist launch the first edition of her acclaimed portrait of His Holiness Pope Francis I.

Sara Pope’s work gained international prominence in 2014 when the portrait was accepted by the pontiff to form part of the permanent Vatican art collection, an incredible honour for the artist, who was invited to personally present the painting in Rome. The Pope Francis prints will be exclusively available to buy at the BOXPARK exhibition, will be hand finished with 23ct gold leaf and in a limited edition of 250.

Also at the pop-up gallery will be a selection from Sara Pope’s ever popular Lips series– lip portraits that pack a thought-provoking pop-art punch. Beneath their glamorous gloss there is a hint of disintegration, raising questions about the ideals of beauty and the transience of celebrity culture.

Lips hold a fascinating attraction for Sara; sexy and seductive, symbols of femininity, yet communicators of language. She comments; ‘Our lips can communicate a multitude of emotions, and are integral to us reading a face. Yet when colour is applied to these lips, they become powerful, sexual symbols’.

Within the Lips series - and especially created for BOXPARK - will be two new prints; Hoxton Rocks and Shoreditch both on sale at pop-up gallery for £100 (usual price £200). Other works included in this week long exhibition will be editions from Sara’s Violent Femmes series; a striking set of images taking typical editorial beauty shots and subverting and distorting them with violent washes of colour.

The ‘Pope-Up' Store will run in Unit 26 between 30th June and Sunday 5th July

Sara Pope will be holding a Q&A evening at Boxpark between 6.30 and 8.30pm on Thursday 2 July