#SoftLads

Oliver Bliss

STRYX Gallery 

Friday 26 – Sunday 28 November
Private Viewing: Friday 26 November, 6:30pm
Open 11am – 5pm Saturday & Sunday.

Free 

#SoftLads by Oliver Bliss 

The portrait series explores notions of masculinity.  Themes included span from contemporary hero worship, body image, impact of social, democratic celebrity, activism, sexuality, gender variation and history of identity. The series is focused on male tattoo, facial and body art from Instagram as a starting point.

The pieces explore how and why we generate images of ourselves and promote ourselves on social media. The pieces aim to celebrate and question how online sub-cultures have developed through hashtags to create global communities. Why do we seek validation from each other? Why are we democratically selecting new heroes through likes and heart emojis? How will we all be viewed in history? What will our ancestors say about how spent our time scrolling through our phones, clicking on these images?

The series aims to collect a sample of portraits of men all sourced through Instagram as global social network. The images uploaded were used as a starting point to transform them in tapestries. The series uses textiles as a nod to historic approaches in portraiture and craft and provides a new approach with a contemporary twist. 

Oliver Bliss is a textiles-based artist living in Worcester, UK. He explores social issues within his working focusing on identity, sexuality, and history. 

Please contact jakubceglarz@blgbt.org to arrange a viewing outside of the opening times.