Andrew Maughan : The Great Divide

Larkin Durey is delighted to present an exhibition of new work by Andrew Maughan. In this, his second presentation with the gallery, Maughan continues to explore political and sociological schisms via his hooded protagonist. Curator and gallerist, Matt Carey-Williams has crafted an illuminating introductory essay titled A Road to Nowhere, an excerpt of which follows here:

Maughan’s slice through the signifying tropes and coda of America (as landscape, political machine, and idea) is only so that he can reveal just how hairy the journey is and how futile the destination (and our desire for it) ultimately proves to be. His compositional recipe, not unlike Warhol’s determination for seriality, remains steadfast as Maughan’s body of work narrates our shared journey to the abyss of absurdity: a space where notions of aggressor and victim; hope and fear become oblique. The mountainous landscape and the eventide gloaming inspiring awe and cliché in equal measure. The road always ahead yet always diminishing. The gloved hand (an image purloined from a thousand horror movies) casually clutching the steering wheel but not without a whiff of leathery menace.  And the Great Assassin’s eyes, literally lacerated from the canvas, haunting the viewer as Hitchcockian reflections in a rear-view mirror.

Maughan was born in 1987 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK.  He is a graduate of the Royal Academy Schools and is currently based in London.