Blackpool art exhibition is an Instagram rhyme puzzle for visitors

James Loy's exhibition at the Solaris Centre is a series of hashtag links to the actual images he has created

James Loy, 65, is showing a range of photographs taken on the Fylde coast and from a recent trip to the USA.

And James, a former aerospace engineer who has had a life-long interest in art, has brought it right up to date by having the images displayed on social media site Instagram, each with a hashtag rather than on the walls of the gallery.

James said the idea behind “Inspirations by @skycloudrhyme” was to make people think and to link art to the modern internet-driven world.

He said: “This is mainly a text-based art exhibition where I have combined my thought related rhymes to my recent photographs from around Blackpool and Los Angeles.

“People can look at the rhymes and go on Instagram to see the images and see how they are linked.

“People take pictures and put them on Instagram and that’s the end of it, it goes no further.

“So I thought this would prompt the viewer to take things a little further. Each is linked to a thought or rhyme.

James Loy in Los Angeles with a work by US graffiti artist Wrdsmth. A shaft of sunlight seems to be in his hand. He called the image #71 I travelled 5,239 miles to see my muse. For my efforts my hand caught a sun ray for yous.

“I was inspired by some of the graffiti art I saw when I was in Los Angeles.

“They have this artist called Wrdsmth whose work I followed out there. It is like they adorn everything with graffiti or art. So there are photographs from the USA and pictures from Blackpool and the Promenade.

“All images are for sale through Solaris Centre and I have explained it all to the staff there who can help people at the exhibition.”

James has had several exhibitions at the Solaris Centre on New South Promenade as well as at the open exhibitions at the Grundy Gallery.