March 27, 2024 |
Catalan artist Marría Pratts is one to watch. Her new solo exhibition, Some Wizards In Savile Row, hosted by Carl Kostyál London, shows the weird and wonderful elements of Pratt’s self-taught and impulsive style all in one curated space. It’s utterly entrancing.
Embodying her go-to maxim, “flow and be free,” Pratts’ eclectic practice embraces all forms of creativity from drawing, painting and sculpture to carpeting and furniture creation. Featuring a series of familiar cartoon-like motifs from ghosts to mice to melting clocks, the paintings showcased at the Savile Row-based gallery draw primarily from her meanderings around London. They are stylised in her signature way – with an energetic flare and a hint of chaos. Sporting an assortment of bright and playful colours, the paintings at Carl Kostyál perfectly represent Pratt’s informal and instinctive approach to creation.
Taking inspiration from her surroundings is a regular practice for Pratt, whose studio at L’Hospitalet del Llobregat in Barcelona is a paint-splattered space likened to stepping inside one of her vibrant pieces. Using her creative relationships with photographers, designers and musicians to inform her aesthetic, Pratts’ work also highlights the challenges of living in cities that are increasingly gentrified and the contradictions of urban landscapes. “I feel an aesthetic attraction to stuff most people ignore,” Pratts notes, “I’m inspired as much by walks in my neighbourhood, as I am by flowers growing out of the cement, abandoned tires, paint on asphalt, etc.” What Pratt produces as a result is work that is layered, complex and resonates with her ever-growing cult following.
Some Wizards in Savile Row is open to the public and on show until April 20. Discover more here.
Photography courtesy of Marría Pratts.
