“a salient and humbling collection of lovingly curated works, underscoring the democracy of artistic labels so often brandished and dictated by the privileged tastemakers”

– Underpinned Magazine

The narrative presented in this exhibition is largely one of identities, of communities, of belonging and sense of place. Pieces like Dan Guthrie’s Three Young Men on a Bench (film) and Untitled (sculpture) explore incredibly personal stories through clothes and household objects, whilst also ruminating on the pressures of societal rules within the performance of black masculinity in a rural setting. His work contrasts the domestic with a narrative of discomfort, subverting ideas of home and belonging for the viewer. Karen Ftouni’s 18 series (photography) explores the euphoria of an outsider finding a new community within the extremely personal context of the individual. Maria Strong’s Faces Series (mixed media) presents simultaneously bold yet ambiguous and shifting identities. Where these artists have felt that their identities have been erased or excluded from some spaces, they turn to art to recreate and investigate the very concept of identities and communities in arresting ways. Increasingly it feels like the spaces we are able to occupy, both real and figurative, are being limited or made uninhabitable against our will. This exhibition is, for me, one small step towards taking autonomy, towards saying, “no, you do deserve to be here”. I hope, when you see these artists’ work, you agree.