In a contemporary social climate defined by increasing media presence, online identity and consumerist ambitions, the role of artists and creatives who advocate the ideals of a counterculture is of increasing value. It is the imagination and energy of such individuals that interrupts the routine business of twenty-first century existence in the developed world, of communication and miscommunication, of consumption and depletion. They provide the cultural commodities that, in particular, counterbalance the runaway economic power structures of the time.
Trained at the University of Brighton and currently based in north London, Luc Waring is quickly establishing a reputation as one of the city’s most dynamic young artists. Working with large-scale painting, printmaking and
mixed-media sculpture, his art is driven by a observance of eclecticism and diversity. His practice evokes the jazz-age concerns of improvisation and visual syncopation, incorporating symbolism from the streets, the fashion industry and documentary archives to dramatically reimagine the images we see every day and, as such, take for granted.
His experimentations with, as he calls it, ‘counter-propaganda’ have been widely noted around London. The recent street-art effort known simply as “And then comes diabetes” offered a pointed dialogue with corporate junk food advertising in the otherwise domestic setting of Highbury Grove, north London. This example of art as civil disobedience resonated with local commuters and, most importantly, young people, who would ordinarily have simply absorbed or disregarded the advertising slogan plastered across their urban environment.
In his London studio, Luc works with layers of paint and mixed-media on canvas as an expression of pure energy and human spirituality. Images from advertising and archive photography are incorporated into his finely-crafted print works, leaving neither a celebratory nor critical study of the original images representing fashion, consumerism and politics. Instead, his art seeks to show the viewer what is, in fact, always on show around them.
Luc had his first solo exhibition in Marylebone at the age of 19, proceeding to exhibit in Los Angeles, New York and London. He has also learned his practice on the job, collaborating with Danish artist Kristian Hornsleth, London-based street artist Inkie, and graffiti artist Maximilian Wiedemann. This is a young artist, with experience and experimentation under his belt, ready to make his mark on the world wide art scene.
