BEST SERVED STONE COLD presents two early-career artists who both explore different aspects of contemporary consumer culture through the shared visual language of ‘pop' imagery. United by their street-wise graphics and tongue-in-cheek appropriated slogans, Lucy Foakes and Josh Rose offer a wry alternative to still life painting and decorative ceramics.

Inspired by ancient Egyptian canopic jars, which held the lungs, liver, stomach and intestines of the Pharaohs, Lucy Foakes makes ceramic and mixed media sculptures that could be described as commemorative celebrity urns, each dedicated to a modern-day deceased celebrity ‘icon', such as Amy Winehouse and Kurt Cobain. Described in the artist's words as ‘a memory to celebrities', these pieces are visually reminiscent of the work of Turner Prize winning ceramicist Grayson Perry. Also exhibited in this exhibition are the playfully entitled ‘Can-opics' series of ceramic tin cans; a metaphorical fizzy drink range created for thirsty Pharaohs in the afterlife. Designed to be included in the tombs of ancient Egypt, which were equipped with all afterlife necessities, including food, drink and a toilet, these ‘Can-opic' drinks come in many ‘flavours', including lungs, liver, stomach and intestines.

Through his painting and typographic prints, Josh Rose explores everyday objects and the relationship of these objects to those who may need or use them:

My body of work relates to an imagined community, one that has amalgamated observations from travel and my own society. 'Part worn tyres' is a celebration of a functional object that is as a result of a dysfunctional economy, I have looked at the cycle of a throw away culture that has revived the need for DIY and re-use. I have explored the idea of making the invisible, visible by reimagining the context and paying attention to detail.

Josh Rose