There's some awesome plant growth depicted in these paintings, and it's more than just a gardening problem. At worst it's a biological apocalypse - though much subtler than The Day of the Triffids - and at best, an estrangement from nature. A quality of strange, malevolent decay and overwhelming lostness pervades the paintings; Henri Rousseau's nice jungles it is not. There's also, possibly, something vaguely sexual going on, but let's not get into that. The artist, Andy Harper, is young and obviously hardworking - the paintings are large, detailed and accomplished - and this looks like being a good show. 
Neal Brown
FIRST POSTED JUNE 15, 2007
Andy Harper: The Ballad of Mistah Bones, June 18 - July 20, Frost & Reed Contemporary, 2-4 King Street, London SW1Y 6QP. Tel: 020 7839 4645
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