"For years, privately, I have drawn a certain kind of man. I find them beautiful. It’s a strange indictment on the nature of gender and identity politics that it seems radical to find beauty in a fellow human.

As a result of these perceptions, as a gay man, my culture is often restricted in its representation. Although our identities are literally defined by desire, so much of our representation ignores it - often to protect perceived objections that might negatively impact our need for political and social advancement. I wanted to make work that is honest in its celebration of masculine beauty, and that adds sensitivity and sensuality to the representation of my culture.

In the words of photographer Catherine Opie '…the only way to make things not invisible is to actually represent them’. So I have.

While these works are about a reclamation of contemporary freedoms, I was also thinking about carving a place for the male form within art history. The context for a lot of this work speaks a familiar historical visual language - the parlour, the greenhouse, flowers, tables. I wanted to place these men into a timeless context, to emphasise the eternal nature of beauty and desire. I needed to show that this isn’t a new idea of beauty, only one that is freer to claim its truth now.

I hope the show asks you to think about what you find beautiful. Beauty isn’t political, and to allow it to become so is to deny ourselves the purest form of authentic expression. For each of us our eyes speak a language that only our heart understands. Look, think, feel. It’s only beauty."