Painter Liam Buckley on the “narcissistic therapy” of his latest series

Date
1 August 2017

Painter Liam Buckley brightened up a grey winter back in February with his off-kilter, irreverent cast of characters. Six months later, Liam is set to take over a disused house in an unconventional solo show titled Winchelsea Road after it’s north London location.

The instantly likeable characters are still there, but these days Liam has broken away from the gender fluid, lego-haired beings which populated his paintings earlier this year. Brightly coloured backgrounds have been stripped back to off-white pastel colours, allowing Liam’s increasingly developed characters — many of whom look to have fallen straight out of Studio 54 — more room to dominate. “Stylistically the paintings are a bit looser,” he says, “and I have included some recognisable characters, such as Uncle Fester and David Bowie.”

So what of that house in Tottenham? “The opportunity to have a show in an empty house in Tottenham came through a friend of a friend,” Liam explains. “It made me feel way more positive that there are still some people in the capital happy to give up space to be used for art and culture, rather than it simply sitting empty.”

And how does one go about planning an exhibition that spans a two-floor house? “For the exhibition, downstairs I will be showing a selection of paintings from the series No Colour Blues. This series came about when I won a boat load of black and white paint in a card game. Upstairs, I will be showing a selection from the series Paintings vs Cigarettes,” Liam says. “The act of making and now showing this series has been my form of narcissistic therapy and the title of the series sums up the internal battle between the feeling of having to make work or risk feeling guilty for not. This is kept in check by the money it costs to make said work, and that it could be spent on other things, such as a deposit for a flat(!) or cigarettes or something.”

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Liam Buckley

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Liam Buckley

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Liam Buckley

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Liam Buckley

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Liam Buckley

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Liam Buckley

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Liam Buckley

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Liam Buckley

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Liam Buckley

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About the Author

Bryony Stone

Bryony joined It's Nice That as Deputy Editor in August 2016, following roles at Mother, Secret Cinema, LAW, Rollacoaster and Wonderland. She later became Acting Editor at It's Nice That, before leaving in late 2018.

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