A mural on the back wall of the gallery depicts an amethyst desert landscape. Mirroring the language ofthe paintings on canvas, it is blown up to form a backdrop, similar to the way that a scenic paintingprovides visual context for a narrative in a play. ‘Imitation Sand’ weaves together a narrative ofdisplacement, romanticism and internal-logic that subverts the domestic element of the paintings whichare plucked from the context of decoration and display.

Transported through repetition to an abstractworld, the paintings become at once enticing and ensnaring. The exhibition forms a fictitious world inwhich visual devices, such as a mirrored screen, divide the room and reflect the landscapes of thepaintings, placing the viewer inside the maze-like nature of the work.

Neil Raitt (b. 1986, Leicester, UK) lives and works in Los Angeles and London. Raitt received his MAfrom the Royal College of Art, London in 2013. Raitt’s work has been exhibited at public and privateinstitutions including the Centre d’art contemporain La Halle des bouchers, Vienne;Villa Du Parc centred’art contemporain, Annemasse; the DePaul University Art Museum, Chicago; and the Goss-MichaelFoundation, Dallas. He was the recipient of the Northern Trust Acquisition Prize, 2016 and the CatlinArt Prize, 2014. Recent exhibitions include solo exhibitions with Anat Ebgi, Los Angeles (US), NicelleBeauchene, New York (US) and Mon Cheri, Brussels (BE).