The Shock of the Now — Hector Campbell

The Shock of the Now Issue 74
Featured Exhibition Text
Baggage Claim
Group Exhibition
Staffordshire St
22nd Feabruary 2023

This week's Featured Exhibition is the brilliant ‘Baggage Claim’, a group exhibition at Staffordshire St in Peckham and the brainchild of curatorial supergroup Georgia Stephenson & Rosalind Wilson. With forty-six artists included, there truly is something for everyone to enjoy, and the exhibition is a testament to a thriving sculpture scene often overlooked in our current painting dominated climate.

The Shock of the Now Issue 72
Featured Exhibition Text
Anna Woodward - ‘A Cloned Realm’ Solo Exhibitio & Louis Morlæ - ‘All Watched Over By Emissaries of Loving Grace’ Solo Exhibition
Galeria Duarte Sequeira
8th Feabruary 2023

This week's Featured Exhibition is a Portuguese two-parter, covering Anna Woodward and Louis Morlæ’s concurrent solo exhibitions at Galeria Duarte Sequeira. I had the pleasure of travelling to Braga for the opening weekend, enjoying the gallery’s stunning surroundings including a sculpture park housing works by Vanessa da Silva, Julian Opie & Richard Long. Having been aware of the amount of hard work going into each, Anna and Louis' exhibitions didn’t disappoint, with both raising the bar of their respective practices and pairing surprisingly well to offer individual impressions of the utopian/dystopian divide.

The Shock of the Now Issue 70
Featured Exhibition Text
Jonathan Baldock
‘we are flowers of one garden’ Solo Exhibition
Stephen Freidman Gallery
25th January 2023

This week's Featured Exhibition is Jonathan Baldock’s latest solo exhibition ‘we are flowers of one garden’ at Stephen Freidman, a marvellous, moving, multi-sensory hommage to his mother that rewards prolonged in-person viewing.

The Shock of the Now Issue 66
Featured Exhibition Text
Elliot Fox
‘PYSCHO GEOLOGY’ Solo Exhibition
Anderson Contemporary
7th December 2022

This week’s Featured Text is Elliot Fox’s latest solo exhibition ‘PSYCHO GEOLOGY’ at Anderson Contemporary. I’ve been lucky enough to work closely with Elliot since curating his 2020 solo exhibition ‘Idol Hands’, and it’s been an absolute pleasure to watch his practice develop and witness this latest body of work take shape over the past year or so. The exhibition, curated by the sensational Georgia Stephenson, is a tour de force and rewards prolonged, in-person viewing. You can also pick up a copy of the accompanying publication, produced by the inimitable Foolscap Editions, which includes a wonderfully whimsical essay by Georgia featuring Kevin McCloud and an anthropomorphic St Ives.

The Shock of the Now Issue 62
Featured Exhibition Text
Bex Massey
‘The truth is out there’ Solo Exhibition
Roman Road
9th November 2022

This week’s Featured Text is Bex Massey’s brilliant solo exhibition ‘The truth is out there’ at Roman Road’s new Notting Hill gallery space. A guaranteed nostalgia trip for any ‘90s kid, the exhibition is dense with stimulating subject matter and rammed full of references, yet each painting still manages to achieve more than the sum of its parts. Educating and entertaining in equal measure, the exhibition is accompanied by a refreshing responsive essay from writer and cultural commentator Louis Wise.