Feature: ILOY DRISDALE: PEOPLES #1: S/ASH GALLERY

Markers, oil pastels and symbols are the elements of Iloy Drisdale’s canvases, on show during the first PEOPLES event (a sort of open art salon in a barbershop, with Ivan Winter and Don Stone, running throughout the summer months – Ed). Talking to him I discover that the preferred language of this artist are precisely the graphic symbols and essential images. Sometimes words are not enough and you express yourself using symbols or through visual art.

In Illoy’s works some symbols recall the Egyptian writing on papyrus. Linear symbols that give the feeling of order and beauty. People cross the space and stop to watch the artist while he works and talk to him, exchanging ideas and thoughts. It’s nice to see people in this space again having a drink, looking at the works and chatting. A small moment of culture and art that makes you feel good.

At the same time, it is also interesting to see the barber shop that supports Iloy’s exhibition busy at work with customers who come to get their beard or hair cut. Seeing this combination is already a moment of art and life together. Maybe this first, in a series of events that inaugurate the reopening of both the S/ash Gallery and Ivan’s barber shop, is an important step in a new phase for the people who visit WORM.