CANAL is pleased to present its show for the summer, an exhibition by Phil Ashcroft, mixing live painting, large scale canvases and screenprints.
Ashcroft’s works are influenced by 1980s graffiti, comics, street art and graphics. His paintings are rendered in a bold, graphic style, combining loose, gradient brushwork utilising a limited palette.
Post-apocalyptic, overtly heroic landscapes reference sources as diverse as Japanese Ukiyo-e art, American pop art, Abstract Expressionism, graffiti and Marvel comics. The works draw on the myths of failed civilizations.
Ashcroft also collaborates on live-painting projects in galleries and alternative spaces from street locations to shops. These have included No Soul for Sale , Tate Modern, London (2010); Cans 2 Festival , London (2008); Special Relationship , Scion Space, Los Angeles (2008), Elephant Technique , Village Underground (2006), All The People We Like Are Dead , London (2004), and Graffiti Meets Windows 1 , Hank-Yu Department Store, Osaka (2002).
His first monograph, Solar System Parameters , with forward by Paul Hobson, was published by Gamma Proforma in 2013.
Works are held in public and private collections worldwide. Commissions include projects for Aedas Architects, Amnesty International (UK), British Film Institute (Godzilla film poster/dvd cover), Levis, muf architecture, Nike Town, Royal Mail, Sony PSP and Yahoo (UK).
Live painting every Thursday in June 11am-4pm