Sara Pope: Red

Sara Pope: RED
06.12.23 – XX.XX.XX
Grove Gallery London
156 New Cavendish Street
Fitzrovia
London, W1W 6YW

Grove Gallery announces a seductive new solo exhibition by leading contemporary pop artist Sara Pope opening on 06 December 2023. Debuting in her first exhibition at Grove Gallery, Red presents a series of distinguished and voluptuous multi-media compositions that seek to capture the subjective sensuality and seductive power conveyed by the most primal of colours.

Psychologist Carl Jung described colour as ‘the mother tongue of the subconsciousness’ and in a season denoted by the rich and tantalising use of red, Pope explores the key themes of beauty, communication, and the desire for perfection to determine the power and influence that the colour has over the decisions we make and the emotions we feel. 

For an artist so commonly associated with the universal beauty of the human lips, this exhibition draws upon Pope’s personal perspective of the commercial experience during her years as an acclaimed fashion designer and magazine art director to emulate the stylistic slickness of advertising.

The result is a glossy and seductive composition, that seeks to demonstrate the cultural eloquence of a colour so often synonymised with love, lust, romance and of course, Christmas. Having become renowned for her acquisition of the human lips and mouth, Pope’s starting point is so often a makeup brush and red lipstick. Using the tricks and techniques of makeup and lightening, she illustrates the painstaking process of creating perfect lips displaying unique emotions, which she then captures photographically.

Using these shots as the bedrock of her media, she begins the artwork. The painting process involves several layers of thin-oiled diluted paint continuously overlayed and occasionally mixed with lipstick, to present a blend of smoothing and seductive colour – Red.

Using this medium Pope explores the power of colour; the result is a seductive, perfect and irresistible portrayal of human lips that fuses to our primal itches to demonstrate the colour red’s influence over our autonomy.

Her seductive works continue to take the art world by storm. Having been shown in countless solo exhibitions and art fairs across the world, including Paris’ Next Street Gallery, London’s Saatchi Gallery and the Royal Academy of Arts, Sara Pope has attained her distinction as an internationally acclaimed contemporary pop artist.

By developing her own unique technique and commentary, Pope continues to push her medium and perusal to extraordinary boundaries. Her work bridges her personal reflection of colour with its innate influence and association with the universal beauty of the body – demonstrating the limitless power of the colour red.

Sara Pope: RED opens on the 6th December 2023 at Grove Gallery London

©2023 Sara Pope