From September 25th - 30th, Enter Gallery is exhibiting Past Present Future Now, an archival collection from beloved Brighton artist, Bonnie and Clyde.
This dedicated gallery wall will feature original pieces, rare prints, and a series of unique studies that showcase the artist’s sublime attention to detail and texture. The exhibition presents a rare opportunity to experience and own unique works from the archive of this acclaimed artist.
In today’s blog, we’re chatting to Bonnie and Clyde to learn more about the artworks and the meaning behind the name, Past Present Future Now.
Infinite Potential
During lockdown, when news cycles were full of scary news, Bonnie and Clyde decided to focus on absorbing more positive information. This led her to the work of Dr Jean Houston, an author specialising in the field of human potential.
One teaching in particular struck a chord – the idea that while we’re all affected by our pasts, and our hopes for the future, really all we have is the now, and it’s up to us to do all we can in the present moment.
When the time came to name this exhibition, one idea immediately sprung to mind - Past Present Future Now, a perfect representation of Bonnie and Clyde’s approach to her art. She explains:
“With any kind of art, you go into your own world while you’re creating and connecting, and that gives you a sense of calm. When it’s going well, the work makes itself through you. You get lost in it. Anything that keeps you stopped in time is your thing, your calling, your gift or whatever you want to call it.”
“Living in the now is something I’m trying to be better at. There’s a lot of power that comes from being aware of how you’re feeling in the present and trying not to dwell in the past. You create your life from the now, so this is where I want to live and spend more time. All my work is based around this idea – the idea of capturing the moment.”
Summer Loving
Across this showcase of originals, rare prints and studies, a wistful sense of escapism infuses each piece, summoning fond memories of summer days in the dreamiest of locations.
Bonnie and Clyde masterfully evokes this sense of nostalgia by infusing her works with photographs that she has taken on her own travels, making us feel like we’re seeing the world through an artist’s eyes.
Locations like Havana, Mexico, Lanzarote and Los Angeles are found in this series, with the artist capturing anything that grabs her attention, from architectural marvels and road signs to lorries that are passing by.
Alongside their sense of nostalgia, Bonnie and Clyde’s compositions also have a distinctly futuristic aesthetic. This mixture evokes a real sense of peace when you look at them, making them the perfect embodiment of the title, Past Present Future Now.
City of Angels
Speaking to Bonnie and Clyde, it seems there’s one city she finds particularly beguiling, Los Angeles. When asked about this, she tells us:
“When I was young, I used to go to the Hockney Gallery in Bradford a lot, and I never used to understand LA from his perspective, but when I went there, I finally got it. The buildings, the spaciousness. The fact the beach is 22 miles long. Everything feels so different; the colours, the shadows. I’m always trying to capture that colour and magic in my work.”
The Strip is one such example – an incredible 18-colour screenprint with 3D collaged elements that form a strip of shops. All the images included in this piece hail from L.A, and Venice Beach in particular. Even the pink arch found beneath the street is incorporated to mirror the bridges that cross the canals of Venice Beach, as well as Venice, Italy.
Similarly, in another of her rare prints, Hot All Over, Bonnie and Clyde combines images of sandy white beaches with scenes from Lanzarote and shop fronts from Mexico, all against the recognisable backdrop of the Hollywood Hills.
All in the Detail
Bonnie and Clyde reveals that often her artworks will begin with an image that she finds herself drawn to. In the case of Leisure, her work was created around her painting of a surfer, and in Another Perspective, around the image of the man who’d climbed a wooden structure to enjoy a better view of the horizon.
When asked what she’s looking for when she takes her photos, Bonnie and Clyde reveals it’s an extension of her intention to live in the moment:
“I try not to overthink or overcomplicate it. I just let myself be drawn to whatever catches my eye. It could be anything from textures in the sand, to a shape that I find aesthetically pleasing. I often take terrible photos, but within that terrible photo I have captured the detail that caught my attention, and that I will later use in one of my artworks.”
One piece in this rare collection, Fly By, captures a diver mid-flight, and we wonder if there is any significance implied by their presence. Bonnie and Clyde tells us:
“The diver images are all about capturing someone in a perfect moment. These divers are living completely in the now, full committed to the leap that they’ve taken. There’s something I really like about that.”
Past Present Future Now is on display at Enter Gallery from September 25th – 30th. Swing by to see it for yourself or shop the collection online.
