Kurt Beers is Director of Beers London art gallery and author of both 100 Sculptors of Tomorrow (2019) and 100 Painters of Tomorrow (2014). In his capacity as gallery Director since 2012, Beers has worked with emerging and established artists internationally, prioritizing an approach to contemporary art that is both progressive and thought-provoking. Through his work on both books with esteemed British art publishers, Thames & Hudson, Beers has worked to create an international network of artists with the goal of creating a legacy of books and an international fraternity of artists. Through continued collaboration with artists and organizations, Beers continues to spearhead one of the most regarded spaces operating under its first ten years in London. In 2015 and 2016, Beers London was listed in Blouin Media’s ‘500 Best Galleries Worldwide’ and in 2015 Director Kurt Beers was included in ArtLyst’s ‘Alternative Power 100’. Beers holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, and a Master’s Degree from City University in London, England. 

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Artists selected for the open call are - Aleksandar Todorovic, Anthony Ciarlo, David Heo, Ethan John Stuart, Gabriele Arruzzo, Jon Duff, Karolina Ptaszkowska, Mark Posey, Ralf Kokke, Sean Downey.

The imagined show is called Garbage Pail Kids after the trading cards popular in the 1980s that parodied the Cabbage Patch kids, featuring children with grotesque, comical abnormalities or in crass and compromising situations. The cards, which seem increasingly insensitive in today's politically correct atmosphere, take a no-holds-barred look at humanity, society, and bodily functions. Similarly, the imagined GPK exhibition takes on the irreverent, youthful, overwhelming and often chaotic or crude vibe presented by the 10 artists included. All the artists maintain a sense of 'excess', often emphasising humour and the non-sequitur in favour of a logical narrative. Some, like Anthony Ciarlo, suggest a coprophilia as a means to understand contemporary society; along with the likes of Jonathan Duff and Mark Posey, we begin to see both an aesthetic familiarity but a similar mise-en-scene. Aleksander Todorovic complicates this irreverence with a more politicized but still humorous approach; a refinement also favoured by Sean Downey in his nearly hyperreal paintings. Ethan Stuart and Ralf Kokke take a naive approach, an almost folkloric look inward at real and imagined scenarios. David Heo offers a break from painting with his paper collages featuring screaming animals, ancient vases, and teens locking-lips. Karolina Ptaszkowska presents a noteworthy deviation here, with wooden structures to hold paintings-as-sculptures; and Gabriele Arruzzo's playful, almost ominous takes on Victorian-esque etchings laced with ombres and glitter.