AN exhibition of the work of two artists with greatly contrasting styles and backgrounds, The Life Instinct comes to Studio Maru, Dursley this month.

A gritty British urban photographer and an American painter inspired by pop culture, their work finds common ground in the exploration of the visceral energy of life, survival, passion and instinct.

James Krisyk is based in Stroud and is showcasing a collection of black and white ‘street’ photography that also features in his latest book ‘When Spider Kisses Fly’. Krisyk’s work has a rawness and immediacy that instantly seizes the viewer. His work conveys the depth of the human condition with an overwhelmingly deft touch.

Ric Stultz is from Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA. A painter and illustrator, his bright colours and pop culture imagery are ‘built from a childhood steeped in cartoons’. But where cartoons anthropomorphize animals with human traits, Stultz’s creations stare out at the viewer with the cold indifference of the wild, putting the viewer in touch with their own deeper animal nature.

‘The Life Instinct’ exhibition runs from September 14 to October 10 at Studio Maru, 56 Silver Street, Dursley, GL11 4ND. Entry is free. For more info please contact Jack Hancock on 07480 300837, email info@studiomaru.uk, or visit our website : www.studiomaru.uk