LONDON.- The
work of Stuart Pearson
Wright (b. Northampton 1975) reflects a search for lost identity. One of
the
first children born in the UK by artificial insemination the artist
feels that
the process has created an ‘identity void’ which his work attempts to
deal with.
Wright’s new series of paintings at Riflemaker –
shown alongside a film installation
featuring Keira Knightley – explore and dispel the stereotypes of
masculinity
and femininity as depicted in films, books and comics; specifically in
the
stories and myths of the American West. Choosing
portraiture in an era when it
was not always seen as a legitimate part of contemporary art, and a
winner the
BP Portrait Award aged just 26, Wright has spent much of his career
attempting
to subvert traditional portrait painting. He distorts his subjects,
employing
his own features and those of his fiancée in meticulously painted and
stylised
characters set in pulpy, fictional situations.  On view
until 26
June.