After too many sunny days to count, it seems the rain has returned to London, so this morning I regretfully swapped a summer dress for leggings and flannel and trudged forward, once more, unto the gloom. Thankfully, the rest of my day was not to be so dreary as I finally made my way to S|2, Sotheby’s intimate St. George Street gallery, for their current exhibition, ‘Henry Hudson: The Rise and Fall of Young Sen.’
Having not done my proper research prior, I didn’t initially realise that this was a narrative series, so the first work I cast eyes on was in fact the second of the story. I stared in awe, whilst simultaneously gaping in horror at the sight before my eyes — heavily textured guts and curling intestines spilling out of a female body being dissected at King’s Cross medical school. The graphic nature of the piece is really astounding, and the detail Hudson achieves with the plasticine medium is ultra impressive.
I soon found my way back to the beginning of the series, and painting by painting, accompanied our protagonist, Young Sen, on his life’s journey, from his humble beginnings in a Chinese factory town, to fulfilling his parents’ dream of attending medical school in London, his decision to follow his own dream instead and become an artist, a love affair, a marriage, his first NYC gallery opening, drugs, parties, rehab and finally back to China to make a political difference through his art.
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