The Great Offender
Caroline Coon
15f Micawber Street, Hoxton, N1 7TB
29 SEPTEMBER - 22 DECEMBER 2019
Free
Garish, daring, brash and bold: four words I think adequately describe the works of Coon currently being displayed in Tramps Gallery, Hoxton (more easily discoverable as 15F Micawber Street on Google Maps).
A mixture of casual works of passers-by on a London street, and much more provocative works of hyper sexualised beings being thrust into every viewers eyeline. Despite the differences of content, each work is intricately drawn in the same perfectionist yet surreal style. Despite the level of detail, the people in Coon’s works look hardly human – more like a distorted, exaggerated version of man. Imagine a mushroom trip gone slightly wrong: this is what you’d see.
The exhibition is small but rich – from muscular yet feminine naked basketball players, jumping in unison with both breasts and penises on show, to a scene of powerful women in transparent clothing, stoning men they’ve stripped out of their monotonous suits. Undeniably dark, but incredibly interesting, Coon’s works make you question just what the hell she was thinking at the time, whilst also allowing you to find your own meaning to her interpretive works.
My two personal favourites of the exhibition were a bedroom scene of a woman and what looks like a monster: an over-bearing, discoloured, enormous man. The woman doesn’t look scared, rather more energised, waiting in eager anticipation of what’s to come: the result? Dark, naughty connotations that keep the viewer as intrigued as the woman lying on the bed herself. The second work is a more comical parody of the wealthy gentleman. Grotesque men sprawl out in a decadent room, both their stomachs and their beverages spill over the confines of their containers. In the foreground, a man flicks through a book of women he can purchase for the night, whilst in the background a painting depicts a woman dancing with death (a coincidence? Probably not.)
If you like your art like me: detailed, original, and a little sinister… then Coon’s work is for you. They say art is subjective, but I find it hard to believe that anyone would be able to deny the talent of this woman. A bit of a faff to get to, but totally worth it.
OVERALL RATING: *****
https://www.trampsltd.com/CURRENT-London
