Chalton Gallery is delighted to present the exhibiton 'Magic in Somers Town' by Max Prus

Max Prus’ work tends to be dependent on the locale of his studio. Avoiding settling in one place for a prolonged period of time helps keep the narratives fresh. The works displayed in Chalton Gallery during this exhibition are the result of some walks embarked on by the artist. The walks generally began at ‘The Cock Tavern’, a pub twenty metres away from the gallery. Upon completing each walk, the artist set up studio and painted, sometimes inspired by things he had encountered on the journey.

Strange things happen…. The imagery in this artist’s paintings has occasionally predicted a later truth. That is to say – some of his paintings to date have prophesised an occurrence in reality. Let’s cite a singular example - just hours upon completing a painting depicting a man wearing a sling, the artist crashed his bicycle, fracturing an elbow. Whether this phenomenon is merely coincidental or if there are other forces at work remains to be confirmed. The artist is as incredulous towards these remarkable occurrences as anybody. Tests are continuously carried out.

For part of his exhibition at Chalton Gallery, Max Prus will be collaborating with the local newsagent ‘Costcutter’, to produce a cycle of paintings designed to give birth to winning lottery tickets from within the store.

Further off-site installations will be on display in the local pub ‘The Cock Tavern’ and the local latex fashion shop ‘Breathless’.

Max Prus (born in 1987) graduated from the Royal Academy Schools in 2015. Recent solo shows include Breathless Dowser, The Old Waterworks, Southend, UK, 2017, To Fly A Homemade Aeroplane, Built from Scrap Metal Sourced in Local Junkyards, Over Bangalore, 1Shanthi Road, Bangalore, India, 2016 and Batik Babes, Sewon Art Space, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, 2015.