Behind the Black #1#8 Print

Ant Pearce’s practice focuses on the concept that man is condemned to exist imprisoned. He explores the fragility of life, drawing on human psychology. Influenced by Freud and the writings and philosophies of Dostoyevsky, Kafka, Camus and most recently Schopenhauer and Kant, his work alludes to the idea that the omnipresent external authority is what brings about man’s aberrant destructive behaviours. Through a web of cross-references between medium and form, the viewer is positioned before each work in discourse between order and chaos. Thus, bringing into visibility the sense of imprisonment and anxiety, which underlie human existence, and the instinctive desire to return to an inanimate state. Ant is an emerging British artist, based in London. He attended Central Saint Martins School of Art and Design, after which he studied the MA Visual Arts course at Camberwell College of Arts, graduating with Merit in late 2012. His work continues to be exhibited and collected in London, the UK, Europe and the US. He is currently represented by Artvera’s Gallery, Geneva, Switzerland and internationally via Artsy and White Court Art.