Grear Patterson: True Romance

True Romance, is a solo exhibition of new works from the New York-based artist Grear Patterson, which appropriates its title from the cult 1993 film. Patterson’s mixed media works present stylised sunsets, alongside auditory and visual recreations of the Tony Scott directed picture, exploring pop-culture, imagery and processes of perception.

Inspired by the visual vernacular of a sunset as an auspicious moment - simultaneously a romantacised ending and yet a promise of new beginnings – the exhibition explores the artist’s interest in celebrations of naiveté, as portrayed within films of this era. Large-scale sunsets created from a variety of found material – including parachutes, boat sails, wedding tablecloths and vinyl – and smaller-scale block colour paper works in purples, pinks, blues, oranges and greens, become a memorialisation of youthful possibility, odyssey and adventure.

The idealised tropical aesthetic – a popular visual motif, particularly within today’s social media-driven landscape – extends to the gallery itself; banana trees and hammocks – signifiers of a beach scene – will inhabit the space. The gallery’s largest wall will be dedicated to a site-specific sunset rendered in coloured vinyl; the pieces position the gallery as its own sunset scene, whilst providing a location to absorb and interact with the work on display.

A former member of The Still House Group, Grear Patterson was born in 1988 in Redding, Connecticut; USA. He studied at Duke University and the School of Visual Arts in New York.