This is the happy house, we’re happy here in the happy house, oh it’s such fun We’ve come to play in the happy house, and waste a day in the happy house It never rains. We’ve come to scream in the happy house, we’re in a dream in the happy house We’re all quite sane This is the happy house, we’re happy here there’s room for you if you say “I do” But don’t say no or you’ll have to go We’ve done no wrong with our blinkers on, it’s safe and calm if you sing along This is the happy house, we’re happy here in the happy house, to forget ourselves And pretend all’s well there is no hell
‘Happy House’ Siouxsie & the Banshees, 1981
This is Stuarts first UK solo exhibition in 3 years, Semple has returned to London where he first became recognised for his politically charged witticisms, presenting his most personal collection to date. Offering glimpses of his eccentric past and a much longed return to his natural colour-fuelled style, Semple’s latest series also signals a new era for the artist as he reveals provocatively illustrated works in which he finds himself and his social and political annotations woven into each individual work.
Lifting the lid on the state of Britain today, Semple pushes the manipulation of imagemaking to the extreme; revealing the empowering effect of pictorial demonstrations in an active stand against the ‘middle of the road’ attitude of modern media. In the light of the forthcoming general elections, the future of Britain’s arts sector hangs in the balance. Semple is deeply concerned about the fragility of Britain’s current cultural climate as he recognises how critically this could contribute towards Britain’s economic recovery.
For Semple, it is crucial that his work speaks to audiences on an emotional level, inspiring a response that transcends the limits of the work itself and encourages a critical re-evaluation of daily life. In his latest series Semple dissects contemporary popular culture, which he believes presents a skewed version of reality, giving society a safe yet ultimately confined existence. The homogenisation of culture is the backdrop for the exhibition in which Semple expresses his total dissatisfaction with the monotonous compliance of a bland middle-ground society and the irony of a ‘cushioned’ culture that is fundamentally false. Semple particularly associates this plastic utopia with America and conveys his sadness at the obsolescence of the ‘Brit Pop’ generation and the death of variety in the type of popular culture Semple once loved and admired.
At Morton Metropolis, Semple’s compilation of works will flow like tracks on a musical album. Consisting of 10-12 paintings with a lyrical underscore provided through his signature use of text; each work will at once be a self-contained story, yet weaved together in harmony. The works will be large in scale and alive with intense imagery and a direct humour that makes no attempt to obscure itself.
Semple explains, “I feel I have been analysing popular culture from outside itself by using its own languages”. His work shouts loudly and fluently in the vernacular of a young media soaked generation,
depicting a world that is absorbing and exciting, yet precariously underpinned by the hollow daily cycle of tabloids, Hollywood movies, and endless media intrusion.
