Rules for rebels, a solo exhibition that features new interior paintings by Norman O’Flynn, will be on show at the worldart.co.za gallery in Cape Town from 4-26 November 2022.

During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, interior decoration in paintings were only presented as background, with the main focus being people, usually engaged in a particular activity. This changed in 16th century when Flemish and Dutch artists started painting interiors without showing people in the room.

Norman O’Flynn’s interior paintings return the focus on people, but without showing them. Their chairs are empty but paintings, sculptures and books suggest their presence. It provide clues about their personalities and what their world is like. We get the impression that the world is an upside down place where few things make sense, that people value popular culture and consume their media in short and compact bytes. His mood interiors are presented as tranquil and safe spaces where his invisible subjects are comfortable and protected from the outside world. Sheltered but not disconnected. By not painting walls and ceilings, he emphasises the flow of ideas and information and their connection with the world beyond these rooms. The way of the world in the 21st century.

O’Flynn is known for his use of a pop art style and iconography. “I’m just observing the glitch,” he always says. “Where do we find our moral guidance today? In the pursuit of knowledge? Religion? Super heroes? Or from within ourselves?”

The title of the exhibition, Rules for rebels, is a metaphor that refers to the fact that many things in this world just don’t make sense.