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David Hoyle is back at the iconic RVT with Illustration, a new series of shows that promises a ‘portrait painted in blood and lip gloss of you and them and how to overcome.’ 

By Cliff Joannou

 


For those new to Hoyle’s World, here’s what you need to know: establishment, government, authority, gender roles, homophobia, war and almost every other form of societal constriction are his enemy. They fall under his verbal surgeon’s knife as he dissects the oppressive world we live in, pulling apart the politicians and capitalist war-mongers that seek to box us in and trap us into our narrowly defined, socially acceptable roles.

“Good evening ladies, gentlemen and those clever enough to have transcended gender,” he opens. Tonight he tells us he’s channeling Lynda Bellingham. “She is actually with us and she’ll be making more of an appearance as the show goes on.”

He asks the audience if there are any art students present. Of course there are. One speaks up, she’s from Goldsmiths.

“When you’re colouring-in, do you ever go over the lines?” asks David, with a concerned look.

“Sometimes,” she says.

“You’ve got to learn to forgive yourself,” David replies. “That’s what Linda is telling me.”

To a student of Art Theory David smiles gleefully. “So you study Art Theory then talk to other people about Art Theory. What do they then do?” He has a point. What use is the continual, unending discussion of art if one doesn’t make a reciprocal contribution?

Hoyle’s philosophizing continues when he declares that rules and regulations are lovely on paper but in practise they don’t work. “This is a celebration of counter culture, not what the media tells us what we should think.”

We meet tattooed Johnny on whose body the audience has been writing messages on. He later becomes the naked subject of David’s closing painting session. During the interval infamous porn actor Ashley Ryder is naked in the men’s toilets and we are asked to make prints of our genitals on his body. Many oblige. When he comes out on a dog lead during the second half, he’s a rainbow palate of cocks and balls.

Reincarnation, war, spirituality, the masculine and feminine, and spiritual communism are all topics of discussion. Hoyle’s thoughts flow seamlessly blending one subject into the next with anarchic flair, peppering each brutal point with ingenious humour. Once again, this is David Hoyle at his epic best.

 

• The Royal Vauxhall Tavern, 372 Kennington Lane, Vauxhall, SE11 5HY. Doors 7pm, Show 8.30pm. Every Thursday during November. 

 

Photos by Holly Revell

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