Leslie Rice, Blaming me is blaming God (a picture of Joseph Merrick), 2022, acrylic on velvet, 99.8 x 74.5 cm
A critically acclaimed painter and established tattoo artist, Leslie Rice is known for his use of dramatic imagery drawn from the grand tradition of history painting. Blending high art and pop, Rice combines Mannerist tableaux, including mythological and biblical references, with the vultures, lions, skulls and buxom women seen tattooed on the bodies of his clients and friends.