Parafin, one of the newest additions to the buzzing Mayfair gallery scene in London, has opened its first group show.

The exhibition, entitled “Blow Up,” is a tribute to the eponymous cult film that Michelangelo Antonioni directed in 1966.

The film narrates a disturbing murder story that takes place in the Swinging 60s London, with an unforgettable cameo appearance by a young Jane Birkin, in the nude.

But the protagonist of the film is a fashion photographer—thought to have been inspired by 60s legend David Bailey—and at the heart of the story lies a profound meditation on the implications of image making, the power of photographic images, and the blurring boundaries between reality and fiction.

Hannah Brown, Maryon Park (2015).
Photo: via Parafin.

Taking Antonioni’s film as a premise, as well the interest of many painters in using existing images as source material, “Blow Up” explores the strong connections between contemporary painting and photography through the works of a group of eight international artists, from different countries and generations, working across the two mediums.

The artists featured in the exhibition are Hannah Brown, Mark Fairnington, Hynek Martinec, Justin Mortimer, Issa Salliander, Jonathan Wateridge, Uwe Wittwer, and Clare Woods.

Parafin, a commercial gallery launched by the former directors of Haunch of Venison Ben Tufnell and Matt Watkins in collaboration with Nicholas Rhodes, a director at Albion Gallery, opened its doors in September 2014 with an exhibition of the young Czech artist Hynek Martinec.

Jonathan Wateridge, Vent (2015).
Photo: via Parafin.