Now! Gods, Beasts & Other Items

Christopher Page has caused a furore before the opening of his one-man show of paintings at Gallery 118 in Notting Hill. The show, which opens at 6pm on Wednesday 15 October, comprises a series of paintings investigating the potent symbols of political and religious belief. Yesterday locals peered angrily through the window as the exhibition was being mounted, outraged by the startlingly photo-real paintings of vultures, poodles, children and gorillas, all wearing bizarre costumes and baubles adorned with swastikas, crescent moons, crucifixes, Stars of David and a medley of Masonic emblems. Yet the exhibition, maintain the artist and his dealer, does not set out to cause offence. It is an experiment in demystifying and neutralising dangerous symbology by presenting it in a highly-wrought kitsch context - since humour, after all, might be the ultimate means of deflating extremism and curing the world's ills. Page’s work is augmented by two installations by Christopher Shilling that look at sex, in particular the bittersweet discrepancy between ambition and achievement. The work proclaims a finely-tuned flippancy towards traditional techniques and media.

Christopher Page studied at Camberwell College of Art and graduated from Central St Martin's in 2007 with First Class Honours. He has exhibited at Studio 1.1, La Viande Gallery, the Ada Street Gallery. His major work ‘Dafur’ was exhibited in the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, 2008. Collections include the Zabludovicz Collection, Mr and Mrs Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen and the University of the Arts.

Christopher Shilling studied at Chelsea School of Art and graduated from Central St Martins in 2007 with First Class Honours. He is currently living in Paris and studying at the Ecole Nationale Superieure Des Beaux-Arts. He has exhibited at the Royal Academy, La Viande Gallery. His work is held in international private collections.