Nick Goss conjures Eel Pie Island's bohemian past at Josh Lilley Gallery

Anglo-Dutch painter Nick Goss presents 'Eel Pie Hotel,' a new exhibition at Josh Lilley Gallery in London, running until May 23. The show features eleven paintings inspired by Eel Pie Island, a marshy nine-acre site on the Thames in Twickenham with a storied bohemian history: the Eel Pie Hotel hosted The Rolling Stones, The Who, and Pink Floyd in the 1960s before burning down in 1972. Goss, who visited the island via artist Juliette Losq, uses the location as a springboard for works that blend fact and fiction, drawing on sources from Pompeii to the Chelsea Hotel. The paintings incorporate silkscreen, distemper, and homemade pigments including fuchsite, a pale green mineral that glitters. Key works include 'Room 126,' an amalgam of hotel corridors; 'Cortège,' inspired by James Ensor and a trip to Ostend; and 'Viking Jupiter,' depicting a cruise ship on the Thames. Goss discusses his process of starting with charcoal stencils, layering distemper, and using silkscreen for friction. The exhibition is accompanied by an essay by Emily le Barge. Eel Pie Island, though private, opens its studios in early July and early December; its history is documented at the Eel Pie Island Museum in Richmond.