Josephine Sjelhøj
One Direction fanfiction and fan art have inspired London artist Owen G Parry to create an art show at Bankside’s Jerwood Space art gallery.
Parry, who is a lecturer in Fine Art at Central Saint Martins, has spent months trying to understand online One Direction fans while he has created his art show. The artist explained that he was bored of “standard” artist creation. Instead, he felt inspired by the creative and dedicated One Direction fans. He told Telegraph, “I was feeling a little bit disinterested in what artists are doing, and what it means to be an artist. I wanted to think about what it means to be a fan.”
Although Parry claims not to be a One Direction fan himself, he has taken a big interest in the massive Larry following online. Larry, Louis Tomlinson and Harry Styles, is one of the most popular pairings among fans. Some fans believe that the two band mates and best friends are in a secret relationship, others simply think that they are just best mates. It has inspired fans to write romantic stories about Styles and Tomlinson. Stories, which have gained a massive following among non-1D fans, like Parry, as well.
Many of the fan fiction stories about Larry are, as the word implies, fiction. Fans write about the pairing in alternative universes where anything can happen. Parry thinks that young fans see it as “a safe place to test out your sexuality, a fantasy space”. He believes that the fan fiction express the kind of freedom that professional artists should envy. He thinks that the art world could learn something from “the passion and the love” shown by fans, especially their focus on imaginative relationships.
Owen G Parry’s Larry exhibition will appear as part of Common Property at Jerwood Space, Union Street, London, until February 21.
What do you think about fan fiction inspiring a real life art show? Leave a comment below or tweet us @CelebMix or @CelebMix1D
