The show has been postponed for a week until Wednesday 8th april due to the riots in London...

'A Little Death'
Exhibition by Hannah Bays
1st April - 14th April 2009
no.6 Burlington Arcade, London, W1
PPQ are pleased to announce 'A Little Death' - the debut solo show of artist and illustrator Hannah Bays. Amongst the works selected are Hannah's iconic covers for Pete Doherty's Babyshambles and Carl Barat's Dirty Pretty Things alongside more personal and recent paintings and collage.

Unlike much contemporary illustration Hannah's images eschew narrative in favour of impact. In line with the Symbolist poets that heavily influenced her she seeks 'to evoke rather than describe'. A keen sense of mortality pervades much of the work, be it in the form of visual decay invoking the passing of time, limbless torsos or outmoded forms of female representation.
More blood-stained than rose-tinted, much of Hannah's work captures a particularly English nostalgia while at the same time challenging these ideals/sentiments with dark undertones.
Forever inspired by the music and mythology of rock and roll, and identifying with the existential absurdity of the Beats and Dada, Hannah reappropriates imagery from the past to create something new, allowing the chance encounter of unusual elements in a punk tradition. Her images evoke themes of alienation, chaos, decadence, sex and death, often laced with a dark and irreverent sense of humour.

Hannah has previously exhibited in group shows at The Sartorial gallery, with art collective LE GUN, and alongside Peter Blake and Gerald Scarfe as part of the Gibson Guitartown project.

NOTES TO EDITORS: Hannah Bays is a London based artist/illustrator. Born in 1982, she studied Graphic Design at the London College of Communication. Inspired by the music and mythology of rock and roll, it was while at the college that she received her first commissions from the bands Babyshambles and Dirty Pretty Things, alongside the director of 'Quadrophenia' Franc Roddam.

Since then Hannah's work has continued to switch between and combine painting, drawing and collage, and is strongly influenced by the hand-made aesthetics of punk, dada and Victoriana, with a contemporary twist. Alongside her personal projects she has worked for the likes of PPQ, Frost French, Rough Trade and Gibson and most recently on branding a series of well known Camden watering holes.
For more information and to buy prints from the exhibition please
contact Hannah Bays - hannahbays@gmail.com / 07961 526 067 /
www.hannahbays.com