These are characters slipping between time and space, dressing up in private or in public. To be seen or not. It doesn't really matter. They are inhabiting something, in a moment, and the viewer is invited behind the curtain to observe…

Bo.Lee Gallery is delighted to announce an upcoming solo exhibition by Lindsey Bull, an artist whose work explores psychological states, reality and illusion through figurative painting. Bull depicts a curious cross-section of people – they often seem lonely, melancholy, shy and introverted, as if trying to avoid our gaze or to distance themselves from the world. But they are also often eccentric, gregarious characters who enjoy their subcultural affiliations and live out inner fantasies through their outward appearance – dressing up in unusual clothes or fancy dress, unorthodox hats, over-the-top make-up, way-out hair. It is a bohemian cast, an eclectic community of outsiders and auteurs, interlopers and introverts, waifs and strays, dandies and extroverts.

Having long been captivated by the nature of performance, Bull’s latest body of work draws influences from the mesmerising worlds of carnivals, circus and theatre; her characters are crafted from original sources, gradually becoming fictionalised as her artistic process evolves. These ambiguous characters, suggestive of no particular place or time, are placed within contexts that ask the viewer to consider how the stage is set and the layers of authenticity that may be at play. A recurring theme, Bull’s long-held fascination with costume, dress and ritualistic behaviour and how clothing can determine behaviour, becoming a marker of a particular sense of belonging (or desire not to belong), is utilised to capture a moment that gives something away about her subjects’ states of mind. She exposes their personalities, their psychologies – these are the momentary revelatory flashes that Bull immortalises in paint. This new cast of characters continues Bull’s raison d'être - to herald the non-conformists, the outsiders and the independent-minded. Whether strong characters or those more insecure in their alternative fashions, Bull is a champion of the unconventional, of anyone who wishes to live their life outside the mainstream…

Lindsey Bull was born in Hereford and now lives and works in Manchester. She completed her BA in Fine Art at Manchester School of Art in 2001 and her MA in Fine Art at Chelsea College of Art and Design in 2009. She is a Liverpool Biennial Associate Artist and received a grant from the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation in 2017. She has exhibited widely in the UK and abroad at galleries including Griffin Gallery in London and Baltic 39 in Newcastle.