Enter Gallery is a Brighton institution. Sitting on Bond Street for the past twenty years, the only thing that’s really changed is the name. Formerly known as Art Republic it’s always been at the forefront of the UK art scene. Enter Gallery, it’s art and artists, have recently entered a new phase. You can read all about the recent rebrand here.
The majority of this post was written a couple of years ago. Part of a bloggers get together we joined with the gallery to discuss social media, branding and blogging. Around us hung art of all kinds. From so many different artists and all with a high pedigree. The placement was eclectic, so many colours surrounded us.
It’s always good getting together with bloggers. Especially those from outside your particular niche. Certainly when one of the main focuses of the discussion was art. It gives a real feel for what other people think and how art can mean so many different things to different people.
To be honest it was just good to get down to Brighton. A place we know well and not least because of it’s amazing street art. The city has some of the the best in the country. The last time we’d visited prior to this was a month previous. That was to see the impressive Angel of Brighton mural from Cosmo Sarson. Suitably impressive and shimmering amongst the back streets of the city. It is sadly no longer there but there are many gems like that one to come across.
Let’s take a look at ten of the artists from Enter Gallery we picked out at the time as being worth knowing about…
LUCY SPARROW
Okay so clearly we are gravitating here towards one of our own favourite artists and someone who regular readers will know we have featured a number of times. There’s a reason behind that of course, Lucy Sparrow is imaginative, innovative and is an artist who has literally carved out her own niche. You can read about Lucy here and also have a wander around her felt cave here.
RICHARD BERNER
A local, Richard only lives down the road in Hove and only really considered art as a career when his prints started to sell in Art Republic. Famous for his otherworldly illustrations of popular images, he takes the shape of an iconic piece of architecture and then fills it in re-imagining a whole other world of debauched chaos. We interviewed Richard and you can read about him and his work here.
EELUS
Inspired by Banksy and originally from the north of England, Eelus is now firmly settled in Brighton. He is known for his giant murals and his dynamic screen prints. He was also responsible for helping to launch the community art project, Wide Open Walls in Gambia. We’ve loved Eelus’s work for a while and even included him in our list of the ‘Best Street Artists working in Britain today‘. Not only that we interviewed him for our Art Related Noise podcast with Art Republic. You can read all about that here.
BENJAMIN THOMAS TAYLOR
Now living in Bristol, Benjamin Thomas Taylor knows Brighton well having studied art here. His works are bright, fantastical and full of life. Makeshift imagined landscapes which blend into each other, he seeks to exude positivity in his work. Often overlaying his paintings with words and phrases his work will also have more of a passing nod to the paint by numbers kits of the past. We interviewed him recently for our Art Related Nonsense podcast series and you can listen to that here.
LOUISE MCNAUGHT
Creator of the most delicate and beautiful portraits of animals and birds, she often puts a fantastical twist onto them and has really carved out her own style. We’ve met Louise a couple of times now, most recently live painting at the Whitecross Street Party in London. Her images and her style are delicate and captivating.
DAN HILLIER
Dan Hillier’s fantastical black and white portraits have become instantly recognisable. We even have one at home, it’s hard to describe though, it’s a picture of a moustached man with what seems to be a small forest growing out of his head with a black bird looking out. Hillier certainly does have quite an imagination and as a result his prints are popular. So popular in fact that his work was recently used to brand one of the seasons at the Globe Theatre. You can read our interview with Dan here.
SARA POPE
Known for her senuous lip paintings, Sara Pope is an artist who has made a career by exploring the different shapes of the mouth. Full of personality, each set of lips she creates are first photographed by her. Drawing on her background in fashion and design she then creates an image which is both sleek and alluring.
MINTY
I see Minty’s work all over the place especially in Brighton. His style is unmistakable and much of it is influenced by the work of Roy Lichtenstein. You can see that in the pop art style imagery of his work. Originally from Detroit, Minty is now living in Brighton and has also recently started adding his brand of pop art paste ups to the walls of London which we love and have been seeing everywhere. You can see some of Minty’s posters and paste ups alongside a host of others here.
JAYSON LILLEY
A pick from Katy Earley from Modern Mummy, one of the bloggers joining us at the event, was Jayson Lilley’s striking work. Here’s what she had to say, “I absolutely loved his urban landscapes, in particular ‘From Primrose Hill’ which is a view I know well and adore. Stirs up emotions for me – which is what art should do! love the mixed used of print, paint/ink and collage. The contrast of the finer detail against the large areas of simple block colour are really effective.”
MAGNUS GJOEN
Another pick from Katy was Magnus Gjoen, himself a former designer for Vivienne Westwood, and I love her response “How had I not heard of him until last week! Love the fact he combines pop art and fine art – they work so well together. Quirky and clever – definite conversation starters! I loved “(It’s Not) The End”. Magnus had a number of pieces on show in the gallery and his striking skull images in particular were getting a lot of attention.
Enter Gallery was visited on Tuesday 13 March 2018 alongside bloggers from Modern Mummy, Brighton Girl Mag, Lady Land and We Love Home Blog. The event was arranged by Blog Authentic and hosted in the former Art Republic Gallery.
