Now Showing

Currently showing at Eleven is Munchies, an exhibition of new paintings by Kent Christensen.

It has been nearly twenty years since Sugar, Kent Christensen’s first exhibition of his paintings with Eleven in London. With his inimitable tongue-in-cheek wit and social satire, Munchies affectionately revisits popular subjects like burgers, ice cream cones, Jell-O, and macarons. Employing his characteristically colourful palette and elements of nostalgia, he has widened the scope of subject matter to include some pop culture newcomers. He notes,

“There has been a paradigm shift in attitudes around the use and usefulness of substances once capable of landing a person in prison. Now these are found in shiny new dispensaries that bear more resemblance to the Apple Store than the head shops of the sixties and seventies.

“Lately, authors like Michael Pollan and a host of podcasters in the health and wellness space have changed the narrative around these issues with more practical discussion about these former taboos.”

The fast-food / burger-themed paintings in this show reference two brands; Bob’s Big Boy and Five Guys. Bob’s was the original burger chain, especially for a kid like Kent in Southern California.

“Those iconic enameled fiberglass statues captivated not only my imagination but that of artists like William Wegman, who used the Big Boy statues in his work. Sadly, the chain has dwindled and there are now Big Boy statue “graveyards” across America.”

Twenty years ago, there were just five Five Guys locations, all in the Washington DC area. Now there are thousands of locations worldwide, including seemingly every major intersection in London. Interestingly, both Bob’s and Five Guys feature the classic red and white checkered pattern in their branding.

In popular culture, as in life, change seems to be the only constant.

Kent Christensen was born in Los Angeles in 1957. He currently lives in Salt Lake City and works from studios there and in Los Angeles. His work has been exhibited worldwide including Absurdly Familiar (2024), a retrospective at UVU Museum of Art, Utah.