Let John Tierney's paintings whisk you away to an idealised, sun-drenched USA

Us Londoners were greeted this morning with a bitterly cold, spiteful wet snow that didn’t even have the good grace to settle and give us a day off work. But thankfully John Tierney’s paintings whisked me away from the grizzly February morning to the sun-kissed streets of Los Angeles. Until recently John was a criminology professor but since retiring he has dedicated his time to his paintings, going from the darkest recesses of human behaviour to the searingly bright boulevards of LA and the surreal moonscapes of the Joshua Tree National Park.

There are obvious nods to Edward Hopper and David Hockney in his work, but also a kind of wide-eyed wonder British artists often bring to quintessentially American scenes, an idealised aesthetic forged in the movies, books and films through which we first engage with our cousins across the pond.

John’s first UK solo show takes place in March, organised by The Horsebox Gallery and The Osborne Studio Gallery.