Luke Ewdard Hall
300,000 Kisses

Opening: Thursday 2 November 2023, 6-8 pm
Exhibition Dates: 2 – 19 November 2023
Artist talk: Friday 3 November 2023, 6.00 pm between Luke Edward Hall, Sean Hewitt and Gemma Rolls-Bentley

Address:Frieze, No. 9 Cork Street, Gallery 3, 9 Cork Street, London, W1S 3LL
Opening times: Tuesday to Saturday 10am-6pm, free entry

The Breeder is pleased to present 300,000 Kisses, Luke Edward Hall’s solo exhibition at Frieze No.9 Cork Street, London. The show is centered around a series of works on queer love in the ancient world, that are part of 300,000 Kisses, a book by Sean Hewitt and Luke Edward Hall, published by Penguin.

In the book, Hewitt and Hall present a collection of 40 stories, previously suppressed or overlooked, a series of queer tales to complete the canon narrative on love, desire and affection. Luke Edward Hall’s series of drawings vividly complement the words of poet Sean Hewitt, to build a safe yet extroverted space for those stories to be narrated and illustrated through a contemporary lens.

The exhibition includes Hall’s original drawings for the publication providing a mystical introduction to the artist’s poetic universe. In his world, classical iconography meets the immediacy of the everyday in vibrant drawings and paintings with a bold yet lyrical motion. Oscillating between mythic narratives and a deeply personal interior space, Hall’s works balance a dreamlike, romantic aesthetic with an exploration of the subject’s psychological terrain as well as broader concerns like the vulnerability and pervasive eroticism of the male body, in an attempt to challenge the dominant heteronormative representations and to unite masculine and feminine elements in harmonious compositions. This series further develops Hall’s fascinating exploration of eccentric romance and intimacy diachronically, while maintaining his references to Jean Cocteau, John Craxton and the Bloomsbury Group.

Luke Edward Hall works on a broad range of interests, blurring the boundary between art and design. From interior design and fashion projects to murals and illustration work for books, restaurants and hotels. He has collaborated with a variety of companies and institutions including Burberry, Lanvin, Christie’s, Royal Academy of Arts, Ginori 1735, Svenskt Tenn and Habitat. In 2020 Luke’s first large interior design and art direction project opened in Paris at Hôtel Les Deux Gares: a thirty- eight bedroom hotel and bistro in the city’s 10th arrondissement. In March 2019 Luke joined the Financial Times as a weekly columnist in FT Weekend, answering readers’ questions on aesthetics, interior design and stylish living. In February 2022 Hall launched Chateau Orlando, his own brand for homeware and clothing. In January 2021 The Breeder hosted Hall’s first solo exhibition with the gallery in Athens, titled “Figs and Honey and Sailing” and his second solo with The Breeder in Athens took place in September 2022 titled “The Hunter Hunts in a Pink Mist”.

Installation views by Mirko Boffelli