This year’s Margate Pride Art Map is bigger and stronger than ever. As Margate Pride celebrates its 10th anniversary, the town has literally transformed into a multi-venue queer art show, with almost fifty locations taking part—from galleries and cafés to shop windows. And with so many incredible spaces involved, I somehow ended up showing work in two different venues this year.

The first opens this Thursday, 6th August, with A Sense of Order, where some of my work will be on display on the Art Wall at Low Life. There’ll be a Private View (don’t be confused—it’s not actually private, everyone’s welcome!) from 7:00pm to 9:00pm, where you can meet the artists from this group show, buy original works and prints, and kick off the Pride celebrations.

I’m so grateful to Sophie (AKA The Loyal Male) for including me in this show, and to Low Life for taking part in the Art Trail.

But the cherry on top comes the following week. From 13th August, at the new Salon Gallery space, in the basement of the Margate Arts Club, we will host  ‘Three-way’ (that’s the title of the exhibition, by the way…) a show featuring some of my new work alongside artists Nadia Eloise and David Tovar.  Although we won’t be performing any NSFW acts on site, we will be showing specially created themed works made exclusively for this exhibition.

A few months ago, while chatting amongst friends and exploring how our work could come together, we realised we were all drawn to the theme of intimacy. Each of us explores it in different ways through imagery of bodies, sexuality, and the uncovering of our own identities, while pushing against the boundaries and limitations that society places upon people.

As we played, shared ideas, and talked about how our work—although different in style and medium—could come together, we cheekily imagined it as a “threesome”: three distinct perspectives brought together by a shared curiosity and sense of play. We wanted to look beyond the immediate associations people often have with that word—fantasy, stereotype, pornography—and explore something deeper.

The idea of a threesome can reveal questions about desire, intimacy, vulnerability, validation, power, connection, and self-discovery. It opens up emotional connections and psychological landscapes that exist beneath what is often censored or labelled as dirty.

We hope the work we’ve created for this exhibition invites people to connect with their own ideas of intimacy in ways that go beyond carnal desire. Perhaps it can become a safe space where visitors feel able to explore personal desires, fantasies, kinks, fetishes, and emotions without judgement. We want to celebrate our bodies and the idea of pleasure while leaving space for everyone to draw their own conclusions about what they are seeing—and feeling.

Putting this exhibition together has been an exciting journey. At times it’s also been stressful, trying to find the time to create new work while juggling our jobs and everyday lives. One of the highlights was a really fun and fascinating photoshoot, where we created most of the reference images for the pieces you’ll see in the exhibition. Sharing our bodies and our intimacy, connecting with respect, amongst friends, without shame or judgement—all in the name of art.

So, if you’re in Margate, or fancy a weekend away or even just a day trip—especially with the gorgeous weather we’ve been having (what better excuse for a trip to the coast?)—I’d love for you to come and visit us at the new home of Salon Gallery. Come and share your own thoughts on intimacy and sexuality. Come and see the show, and let’s have a threesome, a foursome, or even a whole orgy of thoughts and ideas inspired by the beautiful work we’ve created for you.

Many thanks to Salon Gallery, Margate Arts Club, Margate Pride, and of course Nadia and David, for embarking on this wonderfully crazy project with me.

Lowlife is located at: 139 Northdown Rd, Cliftonville, Margate CT9 2QY

Salon is located at: 276 Northdown Rd, Cliftonville, Margate CT9 2PT