LONDON, ENGLAND.- Brisbane artist Anthony Lister is one to watch, having sold out his past five shows his UK debut at Spectrum London is set to be a success, on view from November 10 to December 2. As an artist with an urban influence, Lister has been hard at work on suburban streets. In 2000, Brisbane council engaged artists to decorate the electrical switchboxes in the city. Lister stepped up to the challenge by painting his way across the city, individually colouring each switchbox with flowers, whimsical clowns, street scenes and yachts. Using art to paint the slightly darker under-realms of society, Lister descends beyond the reflective surfaces of consumer responsibility and connects to the everyday struggles of Australia’s underprivileged citizens.

Past explorations captured subjects close to the hearts of Australian citizens and include the hardships of poverty, drug addiction, homelessness and the welfare system. By drawing upon the lessons he learned in these iconic ventures, Lister once again points out the distinction between self-expression and corporate business strategy.

The current cultural landscape is defined by the free exchange of information, which warmly embraces the transition to adulthood. Coincidentally, childhood unravels at the casual exposure to shameful acts of pervasion and discrimination under the guise of reality –T.V. affairs, sexy teen dramas and playful animated realities. Lister sees the development from misguided role models who proliferates suburbs and cities to have the strongest chance of incidentally becoming the reality on which young consumers might mistakenly base their identity and life’s ambition upon. Through a particular selection of sculpted, cartoon imagery and surreal nudes Lister has worked to highlight the growing divide between the diluted influence of parenting in dire competition with the proliferation of media tailor-made by power- hungry conglomerates baying for control of younger and younger markets.

Royden Prior, Gallery Manager of Spectrum, commented: “We are proud to bring Anthony Lister’s work to London. His use of popular imagery is a prominent example of exposing the marginal aspects of everyday life into the forefront of our collective social consciousness.”