Vampire hope
PRP / Dallas, USA
9 - 20 April 2022
PRP is pleased to present “Vampire Hope” a collection of works by British artist Michael Pybus made between 2017 - 2022 curated by Michael Wynne.
Blending a plethora of imagery into disarmingly playful works Pybus’ no holds barred approach reveals the sinister mechanisms that operate beneath our glossy culture of pathological positivity, infinite abundance & constant self promotion. Though his sardonic wit & iconoclastic approach he remixes contemporary iconography into darkly comic uncanny facsimiles that reflect upon the extremities of our heightened times. Together yet isolated, violent yet celebratory his work decodes the absurdity of our overstimulated society as it struggles to find its footing at the dawn of the 21st Century.
Global mega brands IKEA & Pokémon, Blue Chip Masters Warhol & Hockney, obscure cultural knockoffs like Chris-Chan’s infamous so bad its good Sonichu comic books & the “Disneyland Memorial Orgy” blacklight poster commissioned in 1967 by Paul Krassner for his satirical magazine “The Realist”, all find their way into Pybus’ twisted Brave New World of mash ups.
Whilst an air of joy abounds in his use of colour & high spirited imagery, this initial lightheartedness reveals itself to be a honey trap luring in the viewer to be confronted with his sharp cataclysmic punch of cultural commentary. IKEA is on fire, Marilyn is distorted, Warhol’s are being doused in radioactive piss, Sonichu is lamenting on a society steeped in isolation & exploitation whilst Pepe the Frog sits defeated blankly staring out from his vehicle.
Refreshingly bleak, enticingly alarming Pybus is not afraid to explore images & ideas that operate outside the narrow bandwidth permitted by the gatekeepers of mainstream society & culture. Unshackled from the restrictions of a present day status quo he operates as an antidote to a short circuiting cultural environment imploding under its own bloated weight of falsity, ego & attention deficit.
However all is not lost in Pybus’ world. Where there is art there is always hope, but art & even hope itself can be manipulated by the vampires who operate amongst us. Sucking the life out of anything & anyone they can infiltrate & intimidate. By working with images & ideas an artist is not “supposed” to, ones which are “unpopular” or seen to be “bad taste”, Pybus deftly challenges the wealth of structures & restrictions being imposed on us by the very institutions, corporations & authorities who claim to be safeguarding our personal freedom & liberty when in reality they are bleeding us all dry for their own nefarious gains.