British artist, Christopher Thompson, presents a new series of portraits. The subjects are all young and attractive, painted in Thompson’s trademark ‘chiaroscuro’ style. Anonymous, but distinctive, they are self-contained, avoiding, or unaware of, the viewers’ gaze.
Isolated, these figures are caught between acts. They pause and contemplate, waiting for action, cautiously weighing up their options. Essentially romantic, the paintings make reference to historical notions of male agency, but locate them in the contemporary everyday. Thompson combines mastery of traditional technique with a raw and immediate context.
