LONDON.- In the context of this year’s historic US election, ongoing questions over Brexit, and the global pandemic that affects us all, the question of identity, on both an individual and societal level, feels more pertinent than ever before as nationalism proliferates throughout the world and communities clash with each other. US NOW explores how artists appropriate national and political figures, imagery and iconography in their work in order to address this subject.

Flags are an enduring art historical motif, the strong iconography of the American flag was famously exploited by pop artist Jasper Johns, who recognised the ubiquitous presence of the ‘Stars and Stripes’ in everyday life. The flag motif is explored throughout this exhibition in a diverse range of media, from oil on canvas, digital screens to actual banknotes.

The exhibition sees the launch of an incredible body of new artworks by British digital artist Dominic Harris, who returns to his celebrated butterfly motif in the new series World Stage and Metamorphosis. The surprising juxtaposition of the bold, iconic design of the flags with the delicate, organic beauty of the butterfly represents the many facets and nuances of national identity today. This is heightened by the material transformation of the butterflies themselves, from full colour, to monochrome, to leaf-like precious metals. Featuring 141 different species of butterfly, both in large scale grid formations and as solo screen, these works present a unique collaboration between technology and the natural world.

US NOW includes works by contemporary artist Mitch Griffiths, whose use of flag iconography evokes the political and historical allegory of traditional European painting, though Griffiths’ flags are permeated by the humanity of those who bear them. These carefully staged works reflect contemporary issues yet are timeless in themselves.

Infamous works by Andy Warhol are also on display as part of the exhibition, including his iconic portraits of Chairman Mao, Queen Elizabeth II and the Dollar Sign. Fascinated with the proliferation of political imagery, Andy Warhol’s portraits of Mao are undeniably among the most influential and enduring of all his images. His timeless and boldly coloured portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, based on an official photograph marking her Silver Jubilee in 1977, is now an iconic image of the reigning monarch in its own right. When seen in 2020, Warhol’s portrait is poignantly symbolic of the Queen’s continuing presence in twentieth and twenty-first-century culture.

Founded in 1982 and based in London Mayfair, Halcyon Gallery specialises in modern and contemporary art, working closely with emerging and established international artists, championing painters and sculptors who display exceptional talent, technical skill and intrinsic creativity.

Dominic Harris
British artist, Dominic Harris uses technology to construct highly personal interpretations of the natural phenomena which surround us. For US NOW, Halcyon Gallery presents his remarkable digital pieces World Stage, 2020, Metamorphosis, 2020 and Solos, 2020.




World Stage, uses digital representations of global species of butterflies to animate the powerful iconography of worldwide flags. In a year when national, political and social identity has been brought to the forefront of our minds, we are ever more aware of the rich symbolism of the flag – what it means to display it and what it means to disrupt it.

The iconography of each flag alludes to a specific geographic area or population identity, whilst the large digital piece has the ability to erupt in a swarm of colour and movement evoking freedom of thought and expression. Ultimately, the butterflies return to their intended, iconic design, representing the unity and collectivity that Harris also represents here.

The transition to monochrome and metallic butterflies unifies the national flags in a poignant way. Taking this material transformation to another level, the presence of the viewer’s own reflection across the surface of the metallic butterflies signifies our individual responses to the flag’s iconography.

Metamorphosis exemplifies the process of transformation that sits at the heart of Dominic Harris’ work, forging a new symbiosis between the natural and human worlds. No longer a creature we are forbidden to touch, the work allows users to interact with the butterflies to fully experience their beauty. Each butterfly is painstakingly created with layers of digital paint, hand-painted on a tablet with manual brushstrokes, building up colour and texture to achieve the iridescence and transparency that brings them to life.

Metamorphosis is also an exploration of colour, both our scientific understanding of its primary and secondary states, and the emotive force of colour in art and nature. : Indeed, the ‘metamorphosis’ takes place in the transformation of the viewers’ emotional state, as the rich colours of Harris’ butterflies shift and evolve across the screen.

Andy Warhol
Artist and filmmaker Andy Warhol was an initiator and one of the foremost exponents of Pop Art; he is best known for his multiple-image silkscreens of consumer goods and celebrities. As part of US NOW, the Halcyon Gallery presents some of his most symbolic works including a series of Mao portraits from 1972, Hammer and Sickle, Cowboys and Indians, The Myths as well as his infamous portrait of Queen Elizabeth II and the Dollar Sign.

For the Mao series, Warhol was fascinated by the proliferation of Chairman Mao’s official image as propaganda across China and executed his portraits of the leader when tensions between the United States of America and the People’s Republic of China were subsiding. The Mao series came about following a proposal from the art dealer Bruno Bischofberger, who suggested that Warhol do a series of portraits depicting an important figure of the twentieth century.

Mitch Griffiths
Contemporary British artist Mitch Griffiths produces modern portraits that address issues of identity and inclusion, obsolescence and conflict. Painting in oils and echoing the tableaux of the Old Masters, Mitch Griffiths’ works look photo-realistic, though what he aims to achieve is to take the viewer into his reality, creating works of presence that inhabit their own space and context. He creates richly detailed works, which examine notions of empire, guilt, celebrity and first-world entitlement.

In Finest Hour, the familiar image of the twenty-first-century British soldier pulls the painting into a starkly contemporary context, fueled with social and political commentary. The words ‘Dulce et decorum est’ are tattooed across the soldier’s chest, taken from the deeply poignant poem by First World War poet and soldier Wilfred Owen.