About the work

Mania uses pencils on thin veneers of wood to depict young men. He uses precise lines to define features, whilst his subject’s clothing and backdrops comprise solid blocks of colour or scribbles. In larger works Mania extends colour onto the frame, large expanses are interrupted by staring, pretty and fabulous eyes. Stylized disco features strongly in Mania’s portraits, recalling 1980s album covers and the ambiguous sexuality of New Romantic poster boys. Young men stare at the viewer with piercing or twinkling blue eyes and rosy red lips. Mania often leaves bare veneers exposed in his compositions and where drawn on in colour pencil the grain adds a textural quality.

 

Date and country of birth

1974, GB

Career Highlights

Solo exhibitions include Andrew Mania, Bloomberg SPACE, London (2009) and Gogolin, Holbourne Museum of Art, Bath (2007). His work has been shown in group exhibitions including; PINK, Colette, Paris (2017); Adult World at Clearview Gallery, London (2017); BRISTOL, Peter von Kant Gallery, London (2017); Valentin at monChéri, Brussels (2017); Viaggio in Sicilia: Maps and Myths of the Mediterranean, Museo Archeologico Regionale Antonino Salinas, Sicily (2017); Portraits, Francesco Pantaleone Arte Contemporanea (2012); Nothing but Youth, Turner Contemporary, Margate (2011); Evening’s Tears, Morning’s Dew, Ancient and Modern, London (2011); Just Photography, Martos Gallery, New York.