Lefty Out There: Tempus

Lefty Out There returns to London in March with ‘Tempus’, his much-anticipated third solo exhibition with Maddox. Taking over our new Berkeley Street gallery space, this immersive experience reveals Lefty at his untethered best, free from constraint and unbound from convention.

An exploration of time through the lens of growth, energy, and artisanship, ‘Tempus’ is Lefty’s most complex and intricately crafted show yet. Envisaging a show entirely in colour, his sophisticated palette is intertwined with multidimensional shapes, forms, and proportions. Exploring just how far he can push his abstractions his trademark polymorphs breathe and grow as the exhibition unfolds through more than 30 unique works. 

Hailing from Chicago, Lefty’s immersion in the city’s buzzing street art scene marked the start of his career-long obsession with patterns. Always chasing perfection, his studio in Los Angeles is part traditional artist’s atelier, part experimental workshop. Harnessing the power of machinery, technology, carpentry and a myriad of different mediums and techniques, the new works reflect the patience and passion Lefty invests in every stroke and contour. 

Inextricably linked to time, the underlying theme in ‘Tempus’ is dimensionality. In Caeruleum Porta and Rosa Porta, Lefty creates a 3D portal into each work by deepening or decreasing the intensity of colour with each layer of paint. Using CNC machining, he crafts his organic shapes in their truest form, with their rounded contours emerging from the canvas. In a series of Texere works — a Latin word that means “to weave” — separate planes of polymorphs are seamlessly meshed. Outlined in undulating, custom-made frames, the pieces feel thrillingly alive. 

“Lefty’s ambition has always been to cover the world in his polymorphs, and with ‘Tempus’ he is one step closer to achieving that goal,” says Maeve Doyle, Artistic Director at Maddox. “Constantly evolving his practice through experimentation and innovation, this bold new show defies categorisation, with everything from textural knitted works and multi-layered amorphous canvases to incredible sculptural pieces.”

‘Tempus’ opens on 15th March 2024 and runs until 4th May at Maddox Gallery, Berkeley Street, Mayfair.

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