John Ball

Based in Romford (London, U.K) and working primarily in the South East of the United Kingdom, contemporary artist John Ball creates unsettling images of a bleak suburban landscape. John is probably best known for his appearance on the Sky Arts ‘Landscape Artist Of The Year’ television show where he was fortunate enough to place as finalist.

His paintings, Reproduced from iPhone snapshots, document typical scenes of everyday Britain, fragments of our decaying heritage. an analysis of deteriorating architectural spaces charting the socio economic decline of the suburban wasteland.

This series of observational studies, painted in oil, are the reflection of the artists environment, an exploration of liminal spaces via the lens of a smartphone camera, the meticulous reproduction of disposable digital images like sunset postcards you’d find in cheap gift shops. Mundane and repetitive everyday scenes of working class Britain. The market towns, caravan sites, trashy seaside gift shops and arcades, the car boot sales and fun fairs. THIS is England.

In ‘Icon’, opulent religious imagery collides with the gritty reality of consumer culture. The juxtaposition between the sacred and the mundane, prompts the viewer to contemplate their own relationship with spirituality and materialism. Referencing classical religious paintings and using a formal symmetrical composition the work challenges us to question our own perceptions of beauty and value, and evokes a sense of contemplation and introspection, inviting the audience to explore the deeper complexities of the world around them.