Ben McLaughlin's cinematic figurative works explore intimate spaces, fleeting moments and ambiguous states of mind. Through unusual cropping, strange viewpoints and muted tones, everyday scenes become quietly unsettling; poised somewhere between the familiar and the imperfectly remembered.
In his new show with WSJ Gallery - Radio Times - McLaughlin draws inspiration from a vast personal archive of photographs, newspaper cuttings, books and magazines, alongside the influences of artists such as Walter Sickert and Edward Hopper, and filmmakers including Alfred Hitchcock and Wong Kar-wai. His enigmatic titles, in this instance taken from listings in the Radio Times, add another layer of mystery and ambiguity.
Born in London in 1969, McLaughlin studied at Central St Martin's and Camberwell College of Art. His work has been exhibited widely across Europe and the USA, and in 2005 he was awarded an artist residency at the Joseph and Anni Albers Foundation in Connecticut.
