INKY FINGERS PRESENTS

We have invited 30 print artists to reflect upon an iconic, much loved and equally reviled piece of classic late 2000's art design and print. The infamous Live, Laugh, Love.

This insipid three word slogan is attributed to the poet Bessie Anderson Stanley's 1904 poem "Success". Her poem was submitted to a Brown Book Magazine competition inviting writers to answer the question:
What is success?
It was interestingly submitted as an essay rather than a poem and subsequently won the first prize of £250.

Later on the poem was misattributed to Ralph Waldo Emmerson (typical of our male dominated society), but fortunately we all know its her now.

We've got the original poem here for your pleasure. It shows it's age somewhat in its framing of a wonderful sentiment but still has a beautiful core subject and tone.

He achieved success who has lived well, laughed often, and loved much;
Who has enjoyed the trust of pure women, the respect of intelligent men and the love of little children;
Who has filled his niche and accomplished his task;
Who has never lacked appreciation of Earth's beauty or failed to express it;
Who has left the world better than he found it,
Whether an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued soul;
Who has never lacked appreciation of Earth's beauty or failed to express it;*
Who has always looked for the best in others and given them the best he had;
Whose life was an inspiration;
Whose memory a benediction.

—  Success
by Bessie Anderson Smith (1904)

Our show is an invitation for contemporary printers, designers and artists to reflect, reappropriate and repurpose the Live, Laugh, Love cliché into something beautiful, ironic, new and/or interesting. It's more than likely impossible to escape the trashiness of what this phrase has become but by the same token its hard to escape the beautiful heartfelt sentiment in its intention. Theres an uncomfortable balance between the two sides of it and we think theres some good art to be made in that place.

The show opens on the 12th of October 2024 at the Inky Fingers Gallery in Hackney Wick.

We run our shows a little differently here at Inky Fingers. Instead of taking 50-60% commission, like most galleries, our artists pay a fixed price to display their work for the duration of the event, and then take 100% of the sale. We are both artists ourselves and participate in all our shows. While we recognise the importance and good work of traditional galleries, we decided to carve out our own approach to how we run shows up in here:
A gallery run by artists for artists.

We will have a limited pre-sale period before the show for our subscribers so sign up by entering you address in the box below.