“In Tom’s unashamedly brash photomontage we see the world’s modern landmarks compressed together – the Eiffel Tower, Statue of Liberty, Millennium Dome and the Burj Al Arab – alongside less recognizable architecture in a kaleidoscopic explosion of energy and color. It’s vibrant, and in-your-face, with layer upon layer of detail to examine, bursting from a central line of symmetry. In his accompanying statement he describes his inspiration as the ‘shocking rapidity of urban development’, of hyper-globalization and the mega-cities that result. His futuristic vision is not a dystopia however – nature thrives alongside our man-made creations – and nor is it a utopia – the density of construction creating an overwhelming unease. Instead it’s something more subtle – an exaggerated projection of a world where technology offers both liberation and menace. That perhaps makes it feel more real, despite the cartoonish aesthetic. It’s a wonderful creation.”

– Life Framer ‘World Travellers’ 2020

“Paris, Autumn 2007, the week promises to be rich - you cannot take four steps without finding contemporary art, particularly photography. In my search for young talent I found myself at Slick, the last room being the most daring. At the stand for The Cynthia Corbett Gallery, like Alice in Wonderland I felt caught up in the futuristic photographs of Tom Leighton. Attracted by the same elements that give you vertigo, these photomontages are an invitation to an alternate universe in which the architectural landmarks are familiar. It was a “coup de coeur” moment!

No doubt, Tom Leighton has proved he is truly an artist of the 21st century. His method initially uses digital tools to shamelessly modify, distort and colour his photomontages. But in the background is an influence from comics and videogames, allowing Tom to mix advertising with architectural monuments. Everything is accumulated and magnified by a mirror effect, making his town planning huge and limitless. He makes a mockery of architects who have spent their entire careers trying to outbid the height of towers scattered across the globe. Tom has built megacities by playing with scales and proportions, which leaves people attracted to them at first but some concerned by the impossible elements of the details. For example, there is usually a patch of dark and cloudy sky that gives the allusion that these buildings are omnipotent constructions. The flashy buildings of Tom’s cities accentuates the (bad taste) of overdeveloped countries and their need to shine. The result is a credible urban landscape where humans are reduced to the status of ants.

Visionary or charlatan? By 2030, there will be 5 billion people in the urban landscape ... I’ll let you judge.”

— Frédérique Babin
Picture Editor, Le Monde 2 Magazine, Paris, France

“In 2008, the French New National Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilizations (MuCEM) acquired from the Cynthia Corbett Gallery two photographs by Tom Leighton, Fair 2 and The Piazza. MuCEM, opens in Marseilles in 2013, and the focus of the Collection is on daily and contemporary issues of European and Mediterranean societies.

The discovery of this young artist and the acquisition of some of his works was a great opportunity for the museum: MuCEM has been focusing for several years on the issues relating to cities, collecting expressions reflecting urban sensibility. Tom Leighton’s work fits perfectly in the curatorial approach of the collection. Through visual symbolism and reconstruction, Leighton at various levels, swallows the substance of London, Berlin, Edinburgh, Barcelona, New York or Tokyo to create the perfect city, a kind of Utopia.

But far from presenting only fanciful views and dehumanised places, Tom Leighton manages to offer to the viewer a range of emotions and feelings. It is not only the city - its architecture and its structure - it is also and maybe above all, what inhabits it. The images of Tom Leighton provide feelings of celebration, impressions of peace and devotion, as well as a heightened sense of drama.

Of course, the aesthetics inherent in Tom Leighton's work can't be put aside. The way he plays with light, colours, angles and perspectives, the way he builds his compositions with precision and delicacy all contribute to the originality of the artist. But most importantly, certainly from the point of view adopted by MuCEM, is that in representing cities, Leighton brings us back to what it is like to be human.”

— Emilie Girard

Conservator, MuCEM Collections Manager