Studio Seven

Studio Seven is a new, exciting and intriguing art gallery owned and run by James Davis, an artist himself whose areas of expertise lie in both graphic design and pop art. Although the studio itself is only a small space there is certainly enough art work within to keep you occupied, challenged and provoked of though for a good deal of time.
At the time of my visit there were a number of pop art pieces, more notably a painting of Heath Ledger’s Joker, immortalised in stark bold blocks, posed in an eternal passive aggressive smiling glare. As well as this a beautifully bold cyanotype Audrey Hepburn image was on show, amongst other famous icons.
As well as pop art pieces there were some sculptures and more mixed media pieces, including a bizarre-​yet-​cute frame set with some cut out crafted ducks arranged inside. I think one of my favourite pieces was the image of a shop/​building front, painted in these vibrant and aggressive reds, with the vintage victorian style clock face at the heart of the image — I’m no expert but I’d hazard a guess at calling it postimpressionist.
As my boyfriend and I were gawping at all the different paintings the owner came in, it was oddly empty prior to this, and asked us how we were. We chatted briefly and discovered that he was quite a diverse artist himself and had only recently opened the gallery. He was really approachable, down to earth and genuinely making a go of surviving creatively. For that alone I couldn’t be more impressed since there are plenty of us out there who yearn to live from our talents, but seldom take the risk and try to make it work.
If you are in Otley, scratch that, wherever you are — make the effort to stop by Studio Seven. There you will find challenging pieces of art from a variety of movements all worth pride of place in your home.