Most Wanted

On Friday the White Cube Gallery in Hoxton Square, London, opened a rather interesting exhibition of two-metre high celebrity portraits: Richard Phillips: Most Wanted. These oil paintings aren't taken from life, but from "found images". (Note: it's considered bad form for contemporary artists to work from photos. So they work from "found images" instead.) Each portrait is backed by the logo of some luxury brand, similar in style to photos taken at award ceremonies, and each head is surrounded by a halo to emphasise the stardom of these secular deities. Fair comment on society's obsession with celebrity and wealth. As I'm not into this obsession, the only two portraits I recognize are those of Leonardo DiCaprio and Miley Cyrus (shown). She's a popular Disney starlet, I believe. The show runs until 5 March. Click the title link for a BBC slide show. CLICK for White Cube.