Frank Laws shows another side to the Olympic city in London Bits at Orange Dot Gallery

Exhibition: Frank Laws – London Bits, Orange Dot, London, until August 24 2012

A former V&A Illustration Award finalist and the subject of regular commissions from Louis Vuitton’s Paris base, Frank Laws’ views of London could be the spooky antithesis of the squeaky-clean Olympic city currently lit by a crush of lenses.

Working in acrylic, the Central Saint Martins graduate takes inspiration from film noir and crime fiction – both of which he admits a fascination with – to create voyeuristic views of shadowy alleys and tightly packed blocks amid estates.

“I worked as a labourer for a year,” he reflects.

“It really made me appreciate architecture and domestic buildings. Also I like to place the viewer of the works in the position of the observer of those buildings and homes, almost as if they’re spying.”

Le Cool, his new set of stories from vantage points, undoubtedly puts the city in a grimier light than most of the images we’ve become accustomed to seeing this year. But transient reappraisals aside, it also seems like a truer and cooler street view.

• Orange Dot Gallery, Tavistock Place, London. Open Tuesday-Friday 11am-5pm.

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