12 - 26 October 2026

Mason Storm - Bored Guards 

Bored Guards is a new series of paintings devoted to the unsung heroes of the art world: the gallery guards who spend their working lives sitting beside masterpieces while the rest of us hand over our money for the privilege of looking at them.

The idea began after years of visiting galleries and exhibitions and wondering about the people in the chairs. What must it be like to have this job?

Imagine being paid to spend eight hours a day with Picasso, Rothko, Warhol and Hockney.

Meanwhile, outside, someone has paid £18.50, travelled for two hours, queued for forty minutes and bought a tote bag just to spend six minutes looking at a painting before being gently herded towards the exit.

And there, in the corner:

Gary. Asleep.

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Mason Storm - Shiny Happy People, Allegedly (2026)
Oil on Canvas
102 x 102 cm
Original
Signed

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Mason Storm - Outside the Lines (2026)
Oil on Canvas
102 x 102 cm
Original
Signed

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Mason Storm - Acing the Rat Race (2026)
Oil on Canvas
122 x 122 cm
Original
Signed

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Mason Storm - Rough Day at the Office (2026) 
Oil on Canvas
77 x 102 cm
Original
Signed

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Mason Storm - If Anyone can, Andy can (2026)
Oil on Canvas
77 x 102 cm
Original
Signed

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Mason Storm - Who's Laughing Now (2026)
Oil on Canvas
77 x 102 cm
Original
Signed

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bored guards

There are few jobs more enviable than being a gallery warden. 

You sit in a beautiful building.
You are surrounded by priceless works of art. 
You don’t have to pay £25 to get in. 
You don’t have to queue. 
You don’t have to read the wall text. 

And, most importantly, you appear to be allowed to have a little nap.

Commissions

Mason Storm - Bored Guards 

The hand embellished prints are something special, each one will include an image people choose making it so much more personal. I mean it’s a lot more work for me and I’m distraught at the prospect of doing them, however I’m going to say it’s my way of giving back and connecting with my buyers, I really hope they fall for it! 

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sleeping the job

The series asks an awkward question about the hierarchy of looking.

The public comes to look at the art.

The wardens are paid to look at the public.

I paint the wardens not looking at anything.

And now the public is being invited to pay to look at paintings of people who are asleep while other paintings hang around them being completely ignored.

It is, in its own small way, a perfect circle.

There is something beautifully democratic about it too.

The billionaire collector, the curator, the critic, the art student, the tourist and the person who wandered in because it was raining all have to stand up and contemplate the work.

The warden gets a chair.

The warden gets a uniform.

The warden gets heating.

The warden gets lunch.

The warden gets to see the same £80 million painting every Tuesday.

And, occasionally, the warden gets to shut his eyes.

The paintings are therefore both affectionate portraits and a gentle act of revenge on the entire gallery-going experience.

A celebration of cultural access, institutional fatigue and the ancient human tradition of getting away with having a nap at work.

Please do not disturb.

He may be guarding something important.

Or he may be dreaming about his tea break.

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