ART

Euan roberts: life is good

Life is good, although that's currently hard to imagine. Still, Euan Roberts is proving this with his new exhibit called, you guessed it, Life is Good. Inspired by a track of the same title by Canadian rapper & singer Drake and American rapper Future, Life is Good aims to bring a ray of hope in this present moment. Roberts talks about the challenges of staying in the present and the materialism facing our society, that Life is Good is about recognising what you have at this moment.

Roberts is a painter and the new owner of Big Yin Gallery, residing in St Leonards, East Sussex. Driven by a need to see hope and creativity sparked in an otherwise pessimistic current state of the world, Roberts calls his gallery a place where people can challenge what an art gallery is and its function—using the whole space as the piece of art rather than art that goes on the wall.

Roberts started exploring his creativity at an early age, recalling memories of his childhood, drawing on the underside of the kitchen table. This didn't go down well with his mother but sparked an interest in creating pieces for those who would go looking for them. At Big Yin Gallery, Roberts plans on creating several ways to utilise the gallery space, one of which is a kids club, where creativity is encouraged, this is to counteract the climate where art and other such school activities have been pushed to the side in the wake of COVID-19.

Roberts says, "I always tell the kids that I'm not a teacher, you don't have to call me sir, you don't have to put your hand up, you can shout, you can do what you want, this is a space where you can make a mess and have fun."

Roberts stopped with his art for a while. He found that most people discouraged him from creating, as it was seen as a hobby and not something that would bring in money. It wasn't until he was 25 that Roberts would pick up the paintbrush again and explains that this was the moment his life began.

He recalls going to art exhibits and working for galleries, seeing giant paintings that could be sold within the day. Inspired by this, Roberts purchased three canvases later filled with new ideas and the creativity he had as a child. By 20 canvases, he lost count and considered himself a proper artist. Though having started in black and white, his paintings are now in full colour. Having never studied colour theory, Roberts describes his approach as instinctive, noting how the first thing that catches most people's eyes is colour, and then shape. A biological thing, as the eye is drawn to how colours match and contrast with one another.

Roberts describes his paintings as simple yet hopeful, “visual on-liners” as he calls them. Though they still remain as colourful as ever.

Beyond this, Euan describes his paintings as uplifting and proof that there are still symbols of hope even in his darkest of paintings. Being of Scottish and Bajan (Barbados) heritage, Roberts fully knows the lack of Black-owned art galleries within the UK "there are the same five black-owned art galleries mentioned every time, and I couldn't find any more. There are hardly any." 

With this, Roberts started a gallery of his own making. However, an impulsive idea turned out to be an enterprise much bigger than he could have imagined. Going from a basement to one's own art gallery in less than a year is quite an achievement. There are plans to share his success with others, including more exhibits and events., challenging the way people see art and art exhibits.

Roberts often debates the nature of capitalism and materialism, alluding to consumer culture and how people view what art is and what isn't. He finds that people often go through phases of wanting the newest and shiniest toy. After concluding that he has everything he could need, within a creative space of his own, hence the title, "Life is Good".

Through having his own space to create and express himself using art, the Big Yin Gallery was then born, created by sparks of creativity and not necessarily the financial means. This, however, seems to be a big part of his new paintings as he realised the, above mentioned, materialism of society, stating that it was under these new financial strains that Roberts realised what drives him forward. That is, having the newest clothes or fancy jewellery is not what gives his life spark. Instead, items like those merely distract us from what we have and how lucky we are to live in this moment.

Roberts says, "I am not aiming for something to go viral, but when you do see something that goes viral, it's normally something that's familiar and something unfamiliar happening together at the same time, which creates something really unique, and that's what I want to do."

Life Is Good is exhibiting at the Big Yin Gallery until October 20th 2021.

www.bigyingallery.com @bigyingallery

SCSQ Editors

All images © ImageCrate

Share this article

YOU MIGHT LIKE…