Art

Gucci, Fiorucci, Stüssy and Marc Jacobs’ Heaven all helped dub 2020 the year of the mushroom. But here’s why the roots of mycelium mania run a little deeper, well into the new year and, no doubt, the rest of the decade.

With frustration comes fearlessness, if the young, emerging British artists of today are anything to go by. Responding to the politics, protest and pandemic of the past year, THE FACE introduces you to 13 bold and brilliant painters, photographers, filmmakers and sculpturists making British art special.

Photographer Jermaine Francis took to the streets of London to capture a summer of change, disruption and protest.

From drinking on streets and fumbling around in playgrounds, to blasting water from a penis-shaped pistol, photographer Wu Liewei aims to debunk Western stereotypes of his home country.

The Swedish designer “makes wearable butts and stuff”, working with pliable 3-D materials to create fashion you’ve never seen before.

Answer: they all feature in Allan Gardner and Jack Kennedy’s twisted exhibition, He Will Always Be My Son. Exploring fame and social morality, the punk duo’s mixed-media work merges our pop culture obsessions with stark reality.