Exhibition Review: London by Frank Kiely

Leicester Square Frank Kiely

Artist Frank Kiely has been building a significant following for his contemporary artwork featuring striking images of London - including some real icons - for some time.  

I first spotted both his screenprints and him at the Bankside Gallery back in 2007 - which in turn led to an interview for this blog (see Making a Mark: Frank Kiely - an Irish artist in London 03 May 2007

Since graduating from the Royal College of Art in 2002, Frank has developed a significant record of exhibitions and awards.

His latest exhibition "London" opened at the Bankside Gallery last week and is on until Septemper 5th, 11am - 6pm daily.  There's also a "Meet the Artist" drinks reception TONIGHT  Thursday, September 2nd, 6-8pm.

It's a definitive exhibition of London - Kiely style.  The show features:

    •    his first endeavours displayed next to his latest works - three very large paintings covering the main Gallery walls
    •    Examples of painting in watercolour (he's normally a screenprinter)
    •    The first prints of a series for a proposed children’s book
    •    New works Inspired by London Monopoly board landmarks
    •    a children’s Interactive map of the Exhibition

Three massive paintings cover the main gallery walls plus there's a handful of new screenprints that he's made inspired by his son's favorite automobiles. One of these "Pablo's Mini", was selected for the Royal Academy summer show.  Very bling as it glitters and you get a choice of three colours of glitter!

I like the way he starts from photos but soon abandons them and switches to collage, embellishments and drawing.  His work is much less mechanical than people also renowned for producing outlines of subject matter eg Michael Craig Martin.  Frank's very clear his inspirations lie elsewhere with people like Paolozzi.