‘The Art of Survival’ now open at Red Eight Gallery, London
Running from October 27th - November 25th William’s debut solo show, The Last Stand is the most comprehensive collection of his work on display to date and open to the public for the rest of this month.
The Art of Survival
Created over the past three years this is the largest collection of my work ever on display and includes some of my most popular prints so far: ‘Rumble in the Jungle’, ‘Michael’ and ‘African Icons’ as well as a dozen never before seen images.
Throughout the show we will be donating 33% of print sales to David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation and, following a hugely successful opening night when over 300 people were welcomed through the gallery doors, we look well on course to hit my target of £100,000 raised for conservation in 2 years (dating back to the first U.K. lockdown).
Private View
With a great crowd in and a number of copies of my debut book The Last Stand heading off to new homes, we can’t thank all those that joined us enough for their support.
As I said to everyone on the night:
“One thing the last few years has taught me though, and one I think I feel the most passionately about, is we are getting our messaging about the climate crisis and need to preserve the natural world wrong.
“Too often I hear the expression “we have destroyed this”, or “we have burned down that”. Perhaps this language is intended to spark change through guilt or shame us all in to changing our habits.
“I fear when we talk like this though it has the opposite effect of that intended. If we are told the ship is sinking and we were the ones that put the hole in it, it’s very unlikely we’ll jump aboard and try to mend the hole. Guilt is not an emotion to be harnessed.
“Instead, I believe, we have a responsibility to demonstrate to people how incredible the natural world is. I’m a firm believer that we are all born with an intrinsic love for nature, perhaps we just need the occasional reminder from time to time.
“That is what I strive for my work to be. That reminder that those animals, those sentient beings we share this finite space with are worth protecting at all costs, for harnessing that intrinsic love is far more powerful than forcing change through guilt.”
Exhibition Details
With the show now open and running until November 25th, please do head down to Red Eight Gallery (open 10am - 6pm Monday to Friday) to see the works on display. Should you wish to book a private viewing use the email icon on the top left of the page.
