Andrew Heard's post-pop paintings are being exhibited in the UK for the first time in over 30 years at Amanda Wilkinson Gallery in London. The exhibition, titled "I Want to Be Good" after his 1992 painting, showcases the work of the Hertford-born artist who was a well-regarded figure in the 1980s and early 1990s, sharing a Shoreditch studio with David Robilliard and often seen as a protégé of Gilbert & George. Heard died of AIDS in 1993 at age 34, and his work—characterized by sly social commentary and retro English imagery—has since fallen out of the cultural conversation.
The exhibition matters because it seeks to correct the marginalization of Heard's work, which art historian Dominic Johnson attributes to "institutional laziness" and the fact that Heard doesn't fit neatly into the Young British Artists (YBA) movement. His paintings, which explore tensions in late 20th-century Britain, including queer identity during the HIV/AIDS epidemic, are absent from national collections and major exhibitions. The show offers a chance to rediscover a significant but overlooked artist whose final works, like the title painting left on his easel at death, provide poignant commentary on sexuality and suburban values.