East London’s Guts Gallery is known for being at the forefront of budding talent, and their latest exhibition Buffer proves just this. Comprised solely from work of recent graduates from universities across the UK, the aim of the showcase is to provide space for creative dialogue to flourish among the next generation. Aptly titled, Buffer exemplifies the exhibition’s ethos as a bridging point between creating for yourself and for the masses, placing importance on diversity and equity. Alongside the exhibition, Guts Gallery are hosting a series of workshops and tutorials, equipping artists with autonomy and knowledge but most importantly the confidence to realise their ambitions. Dealing with the business side of art can be a minefield for a young creative, and the gallery aspires to extend their expertise to universities, offering ‘buffer’ courses teaching undergraduates essential skills to build a successful career.

A total of eight artists complete the gallery’s line-up: Joseph Mobolaji Aina, Mattia Guarnera-MacCarthy, Caroline Jackson, Sophie Lourdes Knight, Emily Kraus, Emma Stone-Johnson, Shaqúelle Whyte and Georg Wilson. Each one offering up a unique vision, below four of the artists give us an insight into their creative practice.

Georg Wilson

“These works were made in early summer and autumn, using a similar palette but trying to convey a sense of dusk or fading light – the works are about frustrated interactions between all creatures and nature – from my own experiences and from an ecological perspective, with a lot of influences coming from folklore rooted in England.”

Shaqúelle Whyte

“The exploration of figuration and paint is key to my practice. My paintings mirror some of the same junctures as the writer Haruki Murakami. Mobilising ‘character’ in my paintings to display narrative while paint slips through space allows for things that are unsaid – that are felt rather than seen – to emanate from the surface of the canvas.”

Mattia Guarnera-MacCarthy

“The painting is titled Wingman as a reference to F1 driver Rubens Barrichello’s nickname and the role he played whilst driving with Ferrari during 2000-2003. Famously taking a back seat to the better-known Michael Schumacher, he controversially went as far as to concede the lead to allow his teammate to win the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix, a sight unseen in F1 racing.”

Emma Stone-Johnson

(A poetic retelling of the painting) “There the puddles reflect shivered city lights, a pelican crossing, a gull, the chipping graffiti, the tired walls, the electric labels above kebab shops, the vastness and evanescence of a blushed washy sky, of the peeling lemon yellow lines beneath my feet in the gloaming.”

Buffer runs at Guts Gallery until 8th December, more info here.