JOE CHEETHAM

b.1992, British

Engaging directly with the historical weight of portraiture, these new figures look out of the painted surface acknowledging the presence of someone else in the room - we are there and we are part of the work's unfurling. Yet this relationship is never in balance - heads turn at an angle as if only momentarily attentive to our presence, caught between acknowledgement and dismissal. Both painted figure and viewer oscillate between vulnerability and strength, at once consumed by the moment and our gaze whilst all together resistant to this predicament. In this repetitive/ constant search for a boundary, a point of tension within Cheetham's paintings, compositional elements that verge on romanticism are curtailed through simplification and deliberate restraint; facial features swollen, enlarged and saturated as if at breaking point, somehow remain steadfastly resistant to betraying defined emotion. Indeed, the true power of these paintings is in the preservative nature of the medium itself: oil paint elongates and suspends moments that could so easily be lost; it enables one to attempt to capture this ambiguous, fraught in-between. If the paintings achieve a physical response, it is through this subtle ambiguity not because it is painted plain. We feel these paintings beyond the emotions they portray.

LOTTIE STODDART

b.1988, British

Lottie Stoddart's multi-disciplinary practice encompasses painting, ceramic, textile, animation and creative writing. These varied modes cross-pollinate in endless strains and variations around her core interest in narrative constructions; stories which are condensed, cut-up, distorted, layered and repositioned to create versions and inversions. An engagement with the evolution of literature underlies this process of distillation, where fictions are excavated and reinterpreted. Stoddart often stages these formations within a recessed space that has intimations of theatre, memory boxes and bass relief. She likes each component to be as specific as the word choice in a verse of free-form poetry, where the clews to decoding lies in illusion, materiality and humorous juxtaposition.

ZACH ZONO

b.1999, South African

Zach Zono (b. 1999) is a London-based, self-taught painter, born and raised in Cape Town, South Africa. His work serves as a meditation on the sensations of memory, rooted in internal experiences that manifest in various ways. Zono's intuitive approach to painting translates his lived experiences onto the canvas, creating complex and distinctive compositions. These works can be viewed as maps of the mind, landscapes documenting the passage of time while retaining the fluidity of ideas and feelings.

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LONDON ART FAIR 2026