The Thousands

Some people have names destined for greatness. Take Salman Rushdie, Florence Nightingale, Anais Nin, Jacques Cousteau and that house DJ James De La Cruz. Do you think the halls of fame would be decorated with their portraits if they’d had names like Justin Case, Anita Hoare or Margaret Peed? We think not.

In terms of locals with auspicious monikers, there seem to be few and far between (Tali Shine doesn’t count), but we recently stumbled across a talented artist who fits the bill. His name: Benedict dos Remedios.
**In his first solo exhibition at Charles Hewitt Gallery, Benedict has created 30 works that explore the

macabre and mercurial beauty of bluebottles and jellyfish. Rendered in a day-glow spectrum of fuchsia, lemon and lime, the works scream with a radioactive energy that’s at once dangerous and delicious. And to really capture that sea-faring lustre, he’s coated each work with a heavy resin lacquer that encases the soft bulbous forms in a thick, gelatinous top coat.

Whether ‘the sea creature motif is metaphor for the true nature of an artist drifting in society’ is for you to decide. In any case, we think the infinite tendrils of our nastier marine friends depicted in all their hypercolour glory looks rad.