Though his interests went against the grain of what was considered good taste when he was finding his voice as an artist, Dutch photographer Ruud van Empel has proven that he was right to follow his penchant for what he describes as “populist art, the imagery of ordinary people.” A selection of his lush, intricately constructed photomontages are currently on view at London’s Beetles + Huxley, his first significant solo exhibition in the UK. Through them, he demonstrates the beauty of bad taste, making manifest his claim: “I’m not interested in good taste. I can’t do anything with it.”
