Natalie Frank, Kathy Grayson, Selma Hafizovic, and Jocelyn Hobbie

V & A is pleased to present Like It A Little ­ a group show including work by Natalie Frank, Kathy Grayson, Selma Hafizovic and Jocelyn Hobbie. This is the first of in a series of yearly exhibitions at V&A that will survey contemporary painters each working in a similar style.

The Title Like It A Little is meant to reveal an attraction to something with hesitation. Here, the phrase suggests the thin critical context in which to consider figurative work, yet affirms the tenacity and timelessness of figuration at a moment when different perceptions of painting co-exist. The phrase also suggests that what is being seen is unexpected or stimulating. Similarly, as a group, the work in this show is intended to titillate or surprise the viewer: perhaps the most fundamental genre of painting, figuration elicits a visceral response. And, like figuration itself, the work in Like It A Little reveals the purpose of painting and of painting figures ­ to be turned on ­ intellectually or otherwise