Article written by Valeria Lasso.
On the 10th of June, two friends and I went on a little adventure. We went into the Valley to an art gallery at Greaser. In case you don't know, Greaser is a small bar on Wickham Street and it is very well hidden. It took us a good 15 minutes of walking around before we actually found the bar. Here's where it gets fun; when we went inside, there was no gallery to be found. There was nothing in view that looked like what we had come to see. There were some photos on the walls and for a second we wondered if that was it.
Gareth Worrall's art looked nothing like what we were seeing on the walls of that bar. We were looking at old black and white photos of random people. That is exactly the opposite of what Worral does. His art is full of colour and vibrancy and the people he illustrates are not random. He takes celebrities and cultural icons and makes amazing and colourful illustrations of them.
We were confused when we didn't find the gallery and so we left, thinking maybe we were too early. After a while, we returned to the sketchy bar and once again, we found nothing. By this point, we had basically given up on finding anything. As a last resort, I pulled out my phone and decided to personally DM the artist to ask if his art was still being displayed that night.
Just as I was about to press send, one of my friends speaks up "Wait, don't do it. I found it."
How on earth? Where? I was pretty sure we'd looked everywhere in the bar. However, I was wrong. In the back of the bar, there was another room with an even sketchier entrance than the actual bar. But there it was. The gallery was being held in that small space at the very back.
The paintings lined each of the walls inside the small room. The plain brick walls were bland and worn away, but the paintings made the room come alive. Each one had something different and peculiar about it. I couldn't help but want to see them all. The colours and the style that the artist used in his art was very hypnotizing.
Not all of the pieces were as colourful. Some of them were in black and white. Others had just one or two colours apart from the black outlines. There were also pieces that were filled with varied vibrant pigments.
One of my favourite parts about looking at his art is that if you look at his work, you're very likely to recognize at least one of the icons he's illustrated. I was able to recognize quite a few so I know for sure I haven’t been living under a rock. Some were fictional characters and others celebrities that I see on my Instagram feed daily. Whoever he was illustrating, he was able to display them in a lively and captivating way.
I thought it was impressive how the artist can make his illustrations come alive. He did it in a way that makes you feel like you know who the person in his painting is, even if you have never even seen them before. The colours he uses and the way he uses them to draw the viewers’ attention to the focal point of the piece is outstanding.
His work is not very conscious demanding. It's not the kind of art that makes you sit down in front of it for hours to try to decipher what it means. His work doesn't necessarily have some concealed profound meaning and that is okay. Each piece is very fun to look at. It’s the kind of art that doesn't give you a headache because you know and understand what it is. It's entertaining and brings a sense of familiarity and comfort.
There were more people than I thought there would be, and I'm glad. I hope that – even though it was hard to find – more people were able to go into that small room and admire his work. I hope that the night was not anticlimactic for the artist and that he keeps making amazing pieces of art for people to enjoy.
I, for one, can say that I enjoyed myself that night. To be honest, I almost didn’t go, but I'm so glad I did. If you were to ask me for advice, I'd encourage you to get out there. Go see art galleries, go look at new things. You lose nothing by going. On the other hand, if you don't go, you might end up missing out on awesome things. If you're like me and don't like going to places by yourself, invite your friends, someone is bound to say yes. Even if what you went out to see is a letdown, there's always a food place somewhere around the corner. If you're in good company, the day can still be saved.
If you want to take a closer look at some of Gareth Worrall's work you can check out his Instagram feed @gw.artwork
I really recommend that you do!
All photos taken by Valeria Lasso.
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