Artist Barry Reigate was born in 1971.


The innocuous becomes the iniquitous in Barry Reigate’s large-scale painting Gonzo’s Parade (2005). Against a fairytale blue sky with pink-blushed clouds, a monstrous concoction of bulbous body parts forms into a hyper-sexualised, floating organ. Gargantuan breasts sprout rosy nipples, which in turn transmute into protruding phalluses. Lecherous hands creep out from the crevices, probing, pinching and stroking everything they come into contact with. Amongst them are the white gloved hands synonymous with Mickey Mouse, and a couple of dangling candy canes – the quintessence of childhood delight – which have morphed into sinister groping hooks. The innocent is ir...