Just arrived....

Great show last night, followed by several beers in the pub - not feeling too great this morning!

Good to meet a few people from here as well

The hammer and nail is superb. 

I need to get along and see these in person.
Apparently his next 2 shows already have very long lists for pieces!
I guess because they're large and he doesn't do too many of them.

I popped in last night too. Got to say the skill level of Oli's work is up there. Great paintings and a good turn out

I've been on a list since late 2017

I'm not sure it's even that, more how big the queue is !

Interested to know what it is that people like about Oli's work. A lot of threads about him on here talk about the quality or otherwise of the printing on his releases or his 'next big thing' status, but what is it in his work that gets your interest?

I first heard of him on this forum and initially didn't think much of Multitasking or Carpe Diem, which were the first pieces I saw. They just looked like they were doodled on Microsoft Paint. I happened to be in Paris when Epiphanies was on at Semiose, so I went in to check out this guy who everyone thought was a big deal. Completely changed my opinion seeing all his work together. 

Aside from the fact you can see his technique much better up close, mixing simple, blobby figures with super detailed mundane objects, I saw much more of a story with the paintings grouped. I don't know if it's the 'correct' reading, but to me his work mostly seems to be about trying to work out who you are and the sadness you go through trying to get there. There are lots about wanting to look better. 'Detox' shows someone wearing a face mask, apparently brushing their teeth, but the toothbrush is pushed so far back that the intent is clearly to throw up. There are several involving sun beds, the quickest way to make yourself think you look better. I think 'Abnormal Adonis' is him looking at his reflection and wanting to see a six-packed Adonis but knowing he's just a guy wearing an ab-trainer and hoping for the best (or it might be him kissing a guy and comparing himself to him physically). I wondered if the figures in his work are really crudely drawn, while other elements are very detailed, because the person in them hasn't found his proper shape yet. 

A few seem to be about coming out and feeling alone even though you're now part of the gay 'community' 'Invisible' shows a figure standing against a rainbow wall, with disco lights shining on him, but all we see of him is a shadow, i.e. he's not really there; 'Social Chameleon' shows a rainbow-striped figure, with head bowed and heart exposed, but his stripes don't fit the stripes behind him; 'Pride' shows a figure waving the rainbow flag but with a mask over his face. I'm probably way wrong on this one, but 'Self Hypnosis' reads as a gay man trying to be straight, staring at the fruit that I'm pretty sure is meant to look vaginal, but his little rainbow eyes are still gay as can be and the sooner he gets this particular straightjacket off the better (haha, I've only just got the pun in 'straightjacket' as I wrote that). A straight person may well read all those pieces completely differently. 

I now really like Carpe Diem too, since I looked at it more closely and thought about the fact this guy has a 'seize the day' tattoo on his arm, but he's working a job that would be considered the antithesis of that. But that could be a snobby, middle-class reading and the intent is actually that this guy is seizing the day, working to fund a life that means he can buy the diamond stud in his ear and go out and get laid (the love bite on his neck), i.e. this job isn't him, it's his job.

Work that I initially thought was uninterestingly simple, I now look at as both funny and sad, and with loads of meaning I probably haven' even got close to. There are still plenty of his images that are unclear to me, like 'Neighbourhood Watch', but I enjoy that too, that I don't get them yet. Don't think I'd ever have known about Oli if not for this forum. 

Anyway, this long ramble was to put off doing some work and to ask what other people get from Oli's work. Do you read his art completely differently to me?

I like the simplification and reduction process, a bit like the work of Julian Opie but he's thrown that element of realism in and and found a unique formula that is very recognisable. I agree that although initially humorous there could be darker side, all up the the viewer to interpret as they wish I guess.

A little bump - still keen to see if anyone is wanting to trade a Carpe Diem for my Multi-tasking (plus cash)...

Interesting statement, up there where?  He only got out of kindergarten a year ago and some are already praising him as the next messiah.  Seriously get a grip or a new hobby!!!

Well, he specifically asked people to come and visit him. So I don’t think that it is a disturbance in his creative force.

Good luck with your search I have a feeling its going to be tough one.

He has a waiting list back to 2017 apparently