Charles Jeffrey LOVERBOY A/W 23 'Engine Room'

Charles Jeffrey LOVERBOY A/W 23 ‘Engine Room’ 15th January 2023 at Ride Milano, Via Valenzia, Milan. WELCOME TO THE ENGINE ROOM. CHARLES JEFFREY's fantastical satire enters a new chapter. THE ENGINE ROOM is a murky underworld filled with toxic fumes, haphazard machinery and labyrinthine walkways. It is purgatory. Scooped up from the wasteland below, Workers are responsible for feeding the furnaces, thus keeping the heavenly floating city of Ajüka from falling out of the sky. If they work hard enough, some are granted citizenship and the chance of a fresh start. But the Engine Room, is also a trap. Many spend a lifetime toiling there, trying and failing to escape, losing their minds in the process. The Engine Room draws a great deal of inspiration from the visual and literary worlds of Scottish artist and playwright John Byrne (b. 1940). The multi-hyphenate master is responsible for his own surreal universe of stories and images, many of which highlight the nuances of working class experience and the power of creativity. The Engine Room is notably inspired by Byrne's 1987 play, The Slab Boys Trilogy. Charles Jeffrey and his team have woven Byrne's world into that of Ajü ka. References to Byrne's own distinctive personal style can be found in the predominance of fairisle, tweeds and artful accents. The homage is completed through the inclusion of arresting painted scenes, which find their way onto numerous pieces thanks to the support of Byrne's archive. Creative Directo