Galeria Melissa London present Melissa Medusa; their latest installation from set designer and illustrator Gary Card.

Transforming Covent Garden’s Galeria Melissa London into the lair of a modern Medusa. Upon entering the Galeria, the viewer is met by an giant eyeball sculpture and LED screens featuring a graphic video created in partnership with long-time collaborator Ferry Gouw. In the main installation space in the basement, the viewer meets the giant floating Melissa Medusa head who has screens for eyes that flicker and spin. The hair of the Melissa Medusa also resemble tentacles and are made up of Max Fleischer inspired cartoon imagery illustrated by Gary bring the character to life.

I was inspired by the iconography of Medusa as a symbol for female empowerment. I wanted to make something that was beautiful, scary and a bit trippy all at the same time. I thought Medusa was a fun character to explore all three of these ideas and wondered what if Medusa had a teenage daughter, with flowing pigtails made up of cartoon cats instead of snakes.

(Gary Card)

Gary Card is a celebrated set designer, illustrator and firmly established talent, who for the past decade has been credited for helping shape the London fashion industry.

Born in Bournemouth, in the south coast of England, Gary Card moved to London at 17 to study Theatre Design at Central Saint Martins. His first commission was designing covers for Penguin’s Kafka reprints 9 years ago, he has since been unrelentingly commissioned for commercial jobs that have utilised all of his creative talents. The unique Card stamp has been spotted on his own range of apparel, in the Christmas windows for Loewe and Hermes, an array of watches for swatch and even his own children's book for Visionaire. Clients and collaborators have included Comme Des Garçons, Balenciaga, Hermes, Nike, Louis Vuitton, Loewe, Tim Walker, Dinos Chapman, Stella McCartney, JW Anderson, Harley Weir, Jamie Hawksworth, Nick Knight, Lady Gaga, Jeremy Scott, Frank Ocean, Paul McCartney and a variety of powerhouses within art, design, and pop culture.

His works have been published and featured in the likes of The New York Times, Dazed and Confused, i-D, Vogue, POP, V, W, Visionaire, GQ Style and many more.

Seminal works have included his award winning design for influential London fashion retailer LN-CC, and his 2014 collaborative installation with Dover Street Market that toured across the world.