Dreaming of England? Corbin Shaw's 'Little Dark Age' Opens in London
In a post-industrial landscape, where local communities are no longer bound by traditions and rituals, have us Brits forgotten what it means to connect? Living in a cesspit of TikTok algorithms and next-day deliveries, artist Corbin Shaw materialises the relics of our times for his new exhibition in London, as part of an on-going interrogation of national identity and iconography.
We're culture cannibals, consuming our way towards our own demise. The workhorse is now the delivery van, as Shaw's exhibition Little Dark Age puts it. In a throwaway society full of junk, the artist gets the human touch back involved as an antidote. Employing embroidery, wax rubbing, ceramic and brass casts, there is a sense of pagan ritual to the ceramic spaniel dog and effigys emblazoned with Carlsberg, Stella Artois and Guinness logos. Tapestries transforms the digital language of pixels, depicting shopping centres, a sun drenched cul-de-sac and a motorway underpass; Mark Leckey's Dream English Kid springs to mind, the flyover being a popular after-hours haunt in England.
Crafting the South Yorkshire-born artist's own relics of the future to encourage visitors to consider the iconography of their own national identity and existence, Little Dark Age, which is Shaw's fourth solo show, offers up these objects for consumption beyond class lines.
Visit Little Dark Age at Incubator Gallery
Open Wednesday to Sunday from 16 - 26 May 2024
2 Chiltern St, London W1U 7PR
