Tim Long

Tim Long’s polymathic compositions were first seen at the Frith Street Gallery in 1990 in The Illuminated Library – an exhibition of books – when he exhibited original work from his recent publication ‘The Lost Image’. He now returns to the gallery to show a series of work developed gradually from an open ended approach to method and a variety of source material.

Long’s work has been described as 'a Romantic, English variation on intertextual experiment of ’80s post-conceptual painting.' Long himself admits that his images deviously employ cherished motifs in a manner which distorts them. Religious and mythological imagery rubs shoulders with doodles or comic figures and they are distorted on two levels, literally – through technique – and metaphorically through a change of context and intention. It is a disorienting experience, not least because Long combines different techniques – lino-cut and etching, for instance, in the same composition.

Long characterises his work as an exploration of 'states of mind, flux, imagination, mood' and an attempt 'to project all the paradox and absurdity I sense back into the world where I found it.' Combining a respect for high art with an unaffected comic book naivete, Long’s compositions become a battleground between intellectuality and street credibility as well as an exploration of invention and of many layers of meaning.

Tim Long studied at St Martins and the Royal College of Art. His last one man show was at Pomeroy Purdy Gallery in 1988. Since then he has exhibited in numerous group exhibitions including Death at Kettles Yard, Object and Image at Stoke City Art Gallery and the Whitechapel Open. His publications include: The Lost Image’ and ‘Joker!.