Old photographs ooze with menace when poised subjects are unknown to us. With Chris Neate’s amalgamation of personal myths, histories and places we realise there are better worlds that may coexist with us, gently awaiting rescue. Through the summoning of the spindly pneumas surrounding the photographic subjects, Neate dresses scenes captured long ago and produces counter-narratives for the present. The viewer experiences an altogether different kind of discomfort and questions how to address the narratives what is always beside us. It’s as though Neate has been given the task of pacifying souls. He joyously claims ‘this one arrived yesterday!’ like the foam of a welcomed guest he’s embellished with a beautiful mask, fern, playful tentacles or whichever appropriate accessory for other invisible worlds and times. Through refurbishing found photographs, Chris cradles and embellishes the essence of a person, inviting us to realise everything looks better when space is made up of other stories. A true marker to the unparalleled kindness, generosity and honesty of the artist himself, a friend to all that lurks in and out of shadows. Because nothing is too wonderful to be true.