The Sound of South London

From time to time, we witness an exhibition that is packed with good vibes. I’m talking about an ambience or attitude that feels exciting, lively, and inviting in a way that’s difficult to pinpoint, and takes more than imagery to convey. And this is the case with Cato’s major solo debut, which is currently running its final days at Saatchi Yates in London.

I first came across Tim Grant, aka Cato, through an IG story by my friend Doug Gillent sometime in 2022. Balancing cut-out collage roughness w the refined rendition, this work stuck with me, and I was lucky to curate it in a show the following year. As a maker and a creative mind who expresses himself through music, animation, and painting, Cato blends photographic-quality images with a sketch, drawing, or collage aesthetic using a makeshift, hands-on, DIY approach. The resulting paintings have a vintage, authentic feel, with an almost theatrical storytelling dynamic.

I didn’t have the luck to see the exhibition in person, but the whole layout feels like a celebration of life and creativity. Depicting scenes w people from South London’s Black community enjoying each other’s company, playing music, or pursuing hobbies, the exhibition is quietly bursting w invigorating life energy. Using the airbrush over painted faces, Cato achieves a contemporary version of chiaroscuro. The protagonists’ faces and hands, in particular, undergo a Kerry James Marshall-like stylization, almost graphicization. Besides that, the visuals are built by reducing elements to simple, occasionally abstract shapes, using bright colors, and assembling those together in a playful, puppet-like manner. Walking down the path established by Picasso and Braque with Synthetic Cubism (and taken further by Romare Bearden), this approach allows for a layered blend of reality (actual materials, fabrics, surfaces, textures), along w painted elements and abstracted forms. Equally, the lively atmosphere conveyed in the works feels in perfect harmony w the curious, jazz-like process through which they are made. —Saša Bogojev