Finding paradise in east London

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Mathew Tom: 'Welcome to Paradise' - closes 22nd December

The title of Mathew Tom’s first solo exhibition ‘Welcome to Paradise’ seems out of place when faced with London’s current wintry rain and gales but opening the door to the Hoxton Art Gallery, in Charlotte Road, EC2, is a step into a calm oasis. This gallery shows Tom’s paintings to perfection with an intimate display of seven works over two floors.

For this series the artist, with a post-baccalaureate certificate in Painting at the School of Art Institute, Chicago, in 2008 and a recent MA graduate of Goldsmiths College, took inspiration from various sculptures and decorative art in the V&A and British Museum. Tom states that he rejected the conceptualist principles taught at Goldsmiths, choosing a different path, which he calls ‘the antithesis of the Goldsmiths approach’; instead choosing to place emphasis on the symmetrical with an exploration of ornamentation ‘and its relationship to mass consumer culture’.

You can catch this unusual show before it closes on Saturday 22 December, 2012

Hoxton Art Gallery
64 Charlotte Road
London EC2A 3PE

Reporting: Rosalind Ormiston