Cicek Gallery in London will be hosting , the first UK solo exhibition of Maltese artist and political cartoonist Sebastian Tanti Burlò. The timely show surveys the ever-declining decadence of Western societies, and levels an irreverent critique at the nationalistic sentiments sweeping the European continent. comprises a new collection of 14 oil paintings that includes a ribald cast of fictional caricatures – ranging from Major Mann to the artist’s signature “Sausage People” – set amid a series of stately and mundane surroundings.
As the political cartoonist for the , Burlò’s honed satirical commentary underpins the whole of . His cartoons have been published weekly in the since 2014. “My work is an artistic response to the jingoism that is seen proliferating across Europe today,” Burlò says.
“As the savage winds of the climate crisis crash around us, carrying the booms of war drums closer each day, we are once again caught dancing the antic hay. “This collection of paintings is a satirical take on our Western society, frivolously living through our troubled times.” The artist repurposes the public fixation on luxurious narratives of nobility and power, seen across popular culture from to .
He evokes the current state of Western democracy, a haggard society filled with a creeping sense of anti-establishment revolution. In his series , Burlò has created a triptych of theatrical and stately – if somewhat rundown – interiors, adorned with trophies of endangered animals. Unwittingly mirroring the plight of these hunted beasts, in the first of the series one finds Major Mann alone, dwarfed by his emptied home, his old portrait in full military dress the only painting left in his collection.
He is sitting reading a newspaper headlined ‘Last polar bear dies’ as his bare feet caress its worn white pelt. In contrast to , three rich canvases capture life in the heat of the Mediterranean. , and brim with trappings of luxury and are saturated with the yellows and greens that signify the region’s vitality.
However, the trio is cut with warnings that these islands of privilege cannot remain so for much longer. A vanitas skull lurks behind the smoking protagonist in Mezzomonte; the morning’s newspaper in Pisciotta is headlined ‘We’re fucked’; and a copy of by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa lies on a coffee table in Palermo. The sky is stained orange by returning summer fires.
Burlò took much inspiration for this series from ; a tale of the old order in decline with incontrovertible change in the air, encapsulated in the paradox “Everything must change so that everything can stay the same”. Despite the verdant surroundings of these scenes, the artist directs one’s attention beyond their carefree façades towards a deeper political miasma. Throughout the exhibition, Burlò’s “Sausage People” are seen going about their everyday life.
According to the artist, “they hold up a mirror to us. We recognise our blind overconsumption of resources..
.” It is a scathing visual remark on the comfortable laurels we sit upon. The various worlds collide in in which a richly dressed man gazes languidly at the viewer, unperturbed by the Molotov cocktail that has smashed through the restaurant window.
This signals a flashpoint moment within that sees the tense boundaries between the haves and the have-nots beginning to violently erode. The name references an absurd dance described in Christopher Marlowe’s , as well as Aldous Huxley’s novel of the same name that explores the decline of an aimless societal elite post-World War I. Cicek Gallery is an independent art gallery founded in 2021 by artist and entrepreneur Berfin Cicek.
The gallery champions emerging artists yet to be discovered by the world, with a specific focus on artists from underrepresented demographics. These include artists of different ethnic minorities, artists from LGBTQ+ communities and female artists. Working with a limited number of artists allows the gallery to build their exposure within the art market and enables collectors access to a carefully curated exhibition programme.
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