EXHIBITION LAUNCH: FIGHTING WALLS + A REBEL SCENE + ADP // NEW ART EXCHANGE

Last Friday evening, I had the pleasure of attending the exhibition launch for ‘Fighting Walls + A Rebel Scene + ADP’ at the New Art Exchange. I had never heard of the gallery before but realised through Google Maps that it was about five minutes from my house.

The entry was free and I was absolutely blown away by the exhibition. I had no idea what to expect and the entire experience completely blew my mind. Upon arrival, I approached a huge disused shipping container surrounded by crowds of people. The container had been covered in graffiti and had teeny peepholes going the whole way around it. I decided to have a good look in all of them to form my own opinion before I read the brochure.

Just to the left of the green bellend you’ll see a minion whose eye is a peephole.

The shipping container is called the Aftermath Dislocation Principle (ADP) and was created by Jimmy Cauty. It actually also made an appearance at Banky’s Dismaland, which is really interesting. It made it’s way to Notts because of the history of rioting here. For me, this really was an amazing piece of dystopian art. The scene is set in Bedford and features several different screenshots of police versus rioters. The entire world is frozen, apart from what appears to be hundreds of flashing police lights.

Photo taken from James Cauty’s [website https://jamescauty.com/work/the-aftermath-dislocation-principle/%5D 

After taking this all in, I continued inside to see what NAE had put together. The gallery was an exhibition on rebellion and featured some pieces done by local artists as well as photographs of political graffiti art in Iran and Egypt. I learned so much in such a short space of time and the ‘fighting walls’ images gave so much to think about.

I’m no art critic, I just enjoyed the entire experience so much that I wanted to share it. I highly, highly recommend going to see it for yourself. I know that the ADP is continuing it’s tour until Christmas Day where it finished in Bedford so if not in Notts, it’ll be possible to catch it elsewhere.

Stay tuned for more autumnal activities & eats!

-Alex