The world of artist Graham Little is surreal, eerie, seductive

In Graham Little's uncanny world – currently on view at the FLAG Art Foundation in New York – reality is almost imperceptibly distorted and figures tending tea tables or posing for portraits are almost familiar. For his impeccably designed spaces in which magnificently dressed people reside confidently, the Scottish artist draws on the rich worlds that populated late 20th-century advertising and 1960s fashion photography.

“It was always important for me to listen to the imaginary desires and feelings of the models and stylists of the source material,” says Little about the interweaving of cultural references throughout his work. “I would rather help them build these worlds and expressions than my own. Sublimating my fears and my worries about how everyone copes and copes in life.”

Graham Little at the FLAG Art Foundation, New York

Little's gouache and colored pencil works on paper are small in size, inviting the viewer to come closer as if peering through the keyhole, placing us in the role of an intruder. The figures in the works also think this – caught in a stiff pose, they avoid our gaze.

The exhibition at the FLAG Art Foundation brings together 16 works created between 2000 and 2023 in LIttle's first retrospective in the United States. “The earlier works were direct and therapeutic in that they allowed me to step away from masculinity for a moment,” says Little. “After a while, I gave some of my own subjectivity and reason permission to shape the image.” The eras of fashion photography that inspired me were a time of greater connection to our own minds and community; before the invention of the hand-held vacuum cleaner for the soul, a time before we sold our thinking space. I don't think we need to buy so many shiny surfaces, and it's still possible to use a texting phone or take a slower walk with no purpose; Help fund a public library.

This slower-paced philosophy is expressed in the melancholic works, which transform historical fashion photography into muted melodies and represent a complex rethinking of femininity and domesticity. “I’m still trying to come to terms with a misunderstanding of femininity,” Little says. “I'm not sure.”

Graham Little is at the FLAG Art Foundation, New York until May 4, 2024