Art Lounge
Stephen Gosling
One might say that the Art Lounge has every base covered. Exhibiting an eclectic mix of work from different artists, there is bound to be something available that will suit not only everybody’s taste, but also everybody’s budget. There are works of sculpture, photography, mixed media, original jewelry and paintings ranging from as little as 25 GBP ($40-$45) up to, and even surpassing, 6000 GBP ($10,200-$10,250). Among the most prominent works exhibited are from Alicia Dubnyckyj, Dan McDermott and Ed Ball.
Alicia Dubnyckyj’s work is vibrantly evocative, yet when viewed from up-close, this feeling can become elusive. Working with paint on boards, Alicia creates massive urban cityscapes of recognizable destinations (New York, San Francisco, Manchester) that, when viewed closely, look like the beginnings of a jigsaw not yet finished. Take a step back and everything becomes clear, your eyes readjust and the city comes alive.
Dan McDermott works within the genre of painting, and his on-canvas creations are no less evocative that those of Alicia. Dan’s paintings are influenced by journeys and americana. His images look like a memory of a journey you took when you were a child. The memory is long ago and has become blurred due to the passage of time. His images are reassuring, making you think of a time that was comfortable and pleasing. His use of color, composition and focus all lend to his images in some way feeling like home.
Ed Ball’s work is a departure from some of the more recognizable pieces around the gallery/shop. His work, highly expressionistic and primordial, uses gloss paint on Perspex canvases. The orgasmic-looking explosions become three-dimensional the longer you look. This kind of visceral work looks completely at home amongst the other images surrounding it, amongst the paintings of tulips and photographs of casino dice. It is with this mix that the Art Lounge has succeeded in bringing something unique to the commercial art-buying market.
The Art Lounge is something new, something good. It takes art out of the gallery setting and allows it to be viewed by a higher volume of people. And it is in this way that people are now buying art.
