Painter Liam Buckley is influenced by McDonalds, The Beatles and Picasso

Introducing London-based painter Liam Buckley, whose series Picasso/McDonalds/The Beatles brought a smile to our faces on the greyest Wednesday we can remember. Naked beings with prominent Roman noses prance across Liam’s canvases, reclining in cactus fields, posing on podiums or kicking back to catch some Vitamin D on the beach.

“I was recently thinking how to write an artist statement and luckily my dentist unwittingly wrote one for me when I had to get a tooth extracted,” Liam tells us when we ask how he wound up painting. “I think it sums up my creative background quite well. ‘He is medically fit and well. He has an allergy to shellfish and takes no regular medication. He smokes five cigarettes a day and works as a nightwatchman at a hotel.‘”
 
“I get buzzed up off a lot of things,” Liam says of his creative inspirations. “My three main influences for this body of work were McDonalds, Picasso and The Beatles as I think they are generally considered to be the three best things. Generally speaking it’s hard to talk about influences as I’m influenced by everything from a mark on a painting by Cy Twombly to a song by David Bowie.”

Still, the stories behind each artwork bounce off the canvas through titles such as Pink Floyd Hare Walk, Fried Chicken for Breakfast, Hoxton Chicken Hoxton Pizza, Ringos Off On An Adventure and Slim Harpo Taking Care of Kanye West. “I do enjoy coming up with titles for work,” he says. “They can mean different things to different people. I think most of the titles are recognisable to friends as maybe the footnote from a wicked party or lush day somewhere.”

Look out for upcoming solo shows from Liam this year, plus a group show the artist is plotting for the summer.