Locked Down, Locked in, Lucked Out | Sinna One @ Gallery Lock In | Hove | 2 – 4 October 2020

Tonight we visited the public opening of Sinna One’s studio at Gallery Lock In – before it has to close next week, and the walls, and the art on them, will be painted over. The art was created by Brighton street artist during the months of lock down. Canvases on show include a pop-art ‘Ganesh’ and stencilled word-art: ‘Disobey’, which references Shepherd Fairey and Disney. There is poetry, and roses created from used spray cans. But the real stars of the show are larger than life, portraits of Brighton artist’s models, done in a spray – painterly style.

The model portraits are transgressive in a 1970s way – street-art style nudes with disco lighting and bondage ropes. They recall the mainstream male gaze. But these subjects return the gaze, and the viewer – confined in this dingy, locked-down garage space, four at time with the artist, his models, and his stories of a half-glimpsed bohemian other-world, that might still exist behind the façade of locked-down Brighton – the viewer finds himself wondering: who is the subject, and who is the object of this gaze? The artist, the model and the viewer form a living, inter-subjective alliance in the gallery, exposed, distanced and isolated in small groups. Perhaps we, together, have become the object, controlled, manipulated and spied on by abstract authorities we cannot see.

The artist’s stories show how the human spirit hasn’t changed much during lock down. It’s just become distorted by masks and isolation. But chance encounters still occur and create magic.

Viewing by tickets booked in advance only – 4 members of the public at a time only.

Artist’s website: http://sinnaone.com/