Go to the Louvre and try to see the Mona Lisa and you will find a sea of mobile phones and ipads held up by a hoard of tourists who have walked past stunning – and ignored-masterpieces to reach it.  It is therefore not surprising that artists are beginning to reflect on this impact of technology on modern society. Derek Boshier ‘s “Otherwise Engaged” provides a witty commentary on this aspect of modern life where many people spend more time recording images of great sights and great art, sometimes with a selfie or two, than actually looking at what is in front of them.

Boshier is one of the lesser-known of British pop artists, a contemporary of Peter Blake, David Hockney and Allen Jones, who appeared alongside Blake and Pauline Boty in Ken Russell’s 1962 film “Pop goes the Easel” about the pioneering Young British Artists of the time.

David Bowie was a well-known collector of Boshier’s works and designed the album cover for “Ledger”. Bowie appears in three of the new paintings on show at Boshier’s solo exhibition at Gazelli Art House in Mayfair, the forms and lines a bright contrast to the grey British autumn outside, with other works continuing Boshier’s long-term exploration of duality – different cultures clashing together.  He deserves to be better known…..