Torso V is the cropped figure of Luke Burton's reoccurring trope Ambivalent Man.

Luke's work often explores the nature and role of art as decoration and how this sits at odds with contemporary art. Gold chains and medallions hang amongst the excessively hairy chest drawing parallels with this thorny subject. 

Describing his emphasis on the caricature-like line, Luke says, "Drawing is the starting point and at the heart of work – the particular kind of embodied line - half-expressive, half-graphic – is something I’ve been developing for a few years now."

Luke's references span Richard Tuttle, Lee Krasner, Philip Guston, Rose Wylie, Ancient Roman Fresco painting, Greek Attic pottery painting and American filmmakers such as Nathaniel Dorsky and Larry Gottheim.

The Torso series has been shown alongside ornamental painted screens where everything is not as it seems. And if the face belonging to the Torso V was revealed we would discover the uneasy expression of the Ambivalent Man.

Accolades

Luke Burton has an MA Sculpture from the Royal College of Art, a BA in Painting from Chelsea College of Art and Design.

Upcoming solo exhibitions includes Bosse & Baum, London; Picnic Gallery, London; Shelf show, no.4, Edinburgh; A-dash, Athens. Selected previous exhibitions include Becoming Sweet New Styles, Bosse and Baum; Granpalazzo, Ariccia; Le Monde Est Rond, Espace d'arts Saint Valentin, Lausanne; Crude Developments in Fountain Studies. 

Recent residencies include A-dash, Athens, Girton College Artist in Residence, Cambridge University, Cambridge, Espace D'arts Saint Valentin, Leysin, Switzerland and Yarat Centre, Baku.