Trapped in a Cel

Mucciaccia Gallery is delighted to present “Trapped in a Cel”,  the first London solo exhibition by Priest, gathering a selection of brand new, playful and satiric paintings.  
Disguised in nostalgic cartoons, iconic toys, video games, we can see the pseudonym “Priest” coming out of these parallel worlds. The colorful and dynamic shapes of this nickname captivate and transport the audience to distort childhood memories in a naive and uncanny way. Triggered by the use of color and humor, Priest finds the magic recipe in pop culture and cartoons to catch the audience’s attention. 
In “Trapped in a Cel”, Priest once again drives us into a new journey inside the multilayer ecosystem orchestrated by television. This popular artifact has influenced societal opinions since its inception, profoundly impacting mass communication and fueling advertising and propaganda at a thrilling level. The invention and integration of this household appliance into everyone’s lives transformed and reshaped the democratization of knowledge, information, and culture. Companies like Disney and Warner Bros. engaged younger audiences through the creation of iconic cartoons that have accompanied over 80 generations of children worldwide. Mickey Mouse, Tom & Jerry, and Bugs Bunny, to name a few legendary characters, are densely spread along with their looney and fictional worlds.  
The exhibition presents Priest’s souvenirs from his exploration of these fictional settings, where he captures how these iconic characters have taken more from our society than we have taken from them. In this selection of paintings, he elevates the animation of animals to a new level by humanizing them, creating a shocking yet humorous composition that dispels the innocence associated with these legendary cartoons. In a playful exchange between these two worlds, Priest seizes the opportunity to immerse us in a dark and satirical critique of capitalism and corporate culture. 
Navigating this artistic project resembles the almost old feeling of flicking through TV channels, but with a pre-announced end: being trapped in a cell. Completely caught in an endless loop of cartoonish images, highlighting the antagonistic and agonistic relationship between reality and fiction. The cartoonish landscapes, the trace of  “PRIEST”and the craziness soaked by the main characters, flirt with the idea of the absurd in both parallel worlds.