Loughran Gallery POP-UP at The Gallery

The Gallery in Redchurch Street is a place to stumble upon, as you would a small boutique. Damien Hirst’s Psalm Print: Exandi, Domine hangs to face the front window – something you wouldn’t expect to find walking down such a small, modest road. Presenting the works of Dave White, Damien Hirst, Harland Miller, Marc Quinn and emerging artist Lara Carew-Jones, Loughran Gallery will set up shop for four days only with the aim of selling art in an unusually accessible atmosphere.

Walking into the space, Dave White’s Warrior portraits immediately fixate the viewer, his seemingly delicate watercolours so mesmerising that when examining the works up close, the warrior becomes an explosion of colour. The paintings of Lara Carew-Jones are beautiful, her latest Thailand-inspired works playing with the engagement between subject and viewer, while Harland Miller’s silkscreen prints captivate with his striking use of colour and language.

Nihilistic and sinister, Miller’s statements “I am the only one I’ve been waiting for” and “It’s all fun and games till someone loses an eye” are aptly juxtaposed with two of Hirst’s renowned butterfly prints, one entitled Hope and the other Fate. Butterflies that seem neither dead nor alive evoke uncertainties, the idea of hope leading you beyond mortality and into the spiritual realm. Quinn’s small skeleton (Angel) kneels in mid-prayer, playing with these same dualities. It is cheeky yet distressing, there to remind the viewer that, in the end, fate will trump hope. The physical is later caught transmuting to the spiritual, with the titles We Share our Chemistry with the Stars and Separation of Body and Soul suggesting a bigger picture beyond the self.

With around 30 works on display, this small exhibition gives access to Britain’s most infamous art practitioners, capturing a sense of belief and a solidarity that is seldom seen in today’s society. The works are enchanting, chic and most importantly accessible to all – this is a pop-up show that’s not to be missed.

Verdict: ••••

Harriet Gibson

Loughran Gallery: POP-UP is on at The Gallery in Redchurch Street until 7^th April 2013, for further information visit here. For further information about Loughran Gallery and future events, visit here.