In Long Live Romance, Part II, LipanjePuntin artecontemporanea presents a two-city exhibition showcasing six emerging British artists. The show will be curated by renowned British-based artist Franko B (Milan, 1960).

Long Live Romance, Part II is an exhibition born of the collaborative efforts of Lipanjepuntin artecontemporanea, where Franko B’s Long Live Romance, Part I was exhibited in April-May of this year, and Galleria Pack. Galleria Pack will be hosting an additional section of Long Live Romance, Part II in its Milan exhibition space in October, providing even greater visibility for this group of artists.

“These artists are all British, based in the UK, and can all be considered either young or under-assessed in their medium,” explains Franko B. “More importantly, these artists are all notable for their highly involved – even extreme – commitment to the media, ideas or techniques that characterize their unique artistic styles. In this sense, they are considered in England as being involved in a deep and sometimes troubling relationship with their artistic practices.”

Kieran Brown’s work explores mortality, the body and the artist’s use of technology to create myths, usually utilizing video and cast sculpture. Kris Canavan stages performances for camera, creating strikingly beautiful and moving photographs that investigate the play of intimacy, sexuality and violence across the body. Reuben Murray paints huge and obsessively detailed studies of wounded or diseased children, based on found images selected from newspapers and medical journals. David Rickard creates witty and intricate conceptual installations from unlikely sculptural elements, exploring architecture, design, death and subjectivity. Lady Stubbs works across an array of forms, including small sculptural events and large-scale paintings, by drawing upon her own unique and compelling experiences. Anna Thew has been working in single and multi-screen film installation for over twenty-five years, in which her lush, erotic explorations of time and color are fused with a commitment to sustaining and nurturing a threatened artistic form.

More than a simple investigation into the theme of “romance” – replaying the familiar and often dull commitments to “normal” loving – the work of these six artists testifies to the process of romancing the work of their art.

Long Live Romance!