Witty new paintings by Jamie Hewlett that shine a light on modern culture

In his latest solo exhibition, The Suggestionists, renowned artist, designer and co-founder of Gorillaz, Jamie Hewlett shines a witty light on the conscious and unconscious, the 'everyday' and the fantastical.

Written By: Tora Baker

2 July 2019

A silhouetted figure with raised arm sits on a stool against a cream background, with "Honey La Douce" text and a red X overlaid, styled like a vintage film poster

The psychogeographic works – on display until 17 August at Lazinc in Sackville Street, London – are a playful and dreamlike subversive reaction to cultural iconography and visions.

Tarot, the first collection of works, is a homage to the world of Tarotica. Inspired by a book on the legendary Tarot de Marseille deck by Chilean-French art filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky, Hewlett has created 22 larger-than-life tarot cards.

Taking three years to complete, he painstakingly hand-painted each one in watercolour, gouache and India ink. He has transformed the originals into dreamy and absurd scenes. Disinterested characters in L’Amoureux (The Lovers) are engaged in a half-hearted romantic dilemma, while a monkey can be seen groping a man in Le Mat (The Fool).

Jamie Hewlett's hand-painted tarot card L'Empereur featuring a bearded emperor seated on an ornate throne holding a sceptre, with a monkey perched on the chair back and red poppies at the base

Jamie Hewlett's hand-painted tarot card Le Pape (The Pope) featuring a bearded pontiff in ornate red and gold robes seated on a turquoise throne, holding a staff

The second collection, Honey, sees Hewlett’s take on the sexual exploitation of the '60s and '70s movies.

Revolving around the fictional character of 'Honey', a series of light boxes evoke a seedy kind of adult cinema lobby. Hewlett draws deeply from the lexicon of B-movie language to create posters that are audacious, saucy and, at the same time, deeply authentic – right down to the affectionately rude credits.

Vintage-style film poster featuring four silhouetted figures against a bright red background, with white text reading "Honey Galore" and credits referencing a Black Lagoon production

The final and most ethereal collection is Pines, a series of stark and evocative black-and-white drawings that take the viewer into an enchanted woodland.

With fairytale darkness, pine trees fill the frame, playing with light and dark in a meticulous fashion to an almost photo-realistic degree. It brings together the wild and mystical essence that runs throughout the show.

Stark black and white ink drawing of gnarled tree trunks and branches with detailed foliage, rendered in intricate linework against a white background

Detailed black and white ink drawing of a conifer tree trunk with textured bark and delicate pine needles on surrounding branches, rendered with intricate linework

Now living and working in Paris, Jamie Hewlett first rose to prominence as a graphic art rebel and post-punk phenomenon with his comic Tank Girl, which gained a cult following and was made into a movie in 1995.

Work for magazines, advertising and television followed suit, as did, of course, co-founding Gorillaz alongside Damon Albarn in 1998. In 2007, the pair collaborated with Chen Shi-Zheng on the opera Monkey: Journey to the West, which premiered at the Manchester International Festival, UK and Lincoln Center, NYC.