John Salt Hon. RBSA 1937 - 2021

About

This exhibition offers a rare opportunity to see the remarkable work of the Birmingham born and trained artist John Salt in the UK.

After settling in the USA in 1967, Salt became one of the pioneers of the Photorealist movement. Fascinated by American cars as prime symbols of consumer culture, his exquisitely detailed paintings created with brush, air brush, and stencils examine the flip side of the American Dream.

Old Cadillacs and Pontiacs, relics of the 1960s, are parked up deserted side streets on the edge of town while images of shabby trailer homes on the margins of the Interstate represent life at the bottom of the social ladder. Bathed in bright sunlight, they are poignant reminders of the transitory glamour of the culture of built-in obsolescence, but also reveal the artist's deep affection for the American urban and rural landscape.

In contrast, the show also includes examples of the artist's early works from his student days in Birmingham which afford a unique insight into his development as a painter.