ALL IS NOT LOST
A group exhibition curated by Emily Druiff

Zoe Brown, Rebecca Glover, Rachael House, Manu Luksch, Olivia Jane Ransley, Martina Schmücker, Rosalie Schweiker, Jessica Voorsanger, K. Yoland. Curated by Emily Druiff

An exhibition of artworks by emerging and established female artists presenting a philosophy of optimism and resilience.

Leaning towards an anarchic aesthetic of protest and DIY culture, ALL IS NOT LOST represents the potential of art to inspire change, with each artist revealing an individual approach to this in the form of confrontation or observation.

Rachael House’s free standing protest banner To Be Normal Is Not A Healthy Aspiration, is a direct call to action. This imposing presence features deceased icons Ari Up and Poly Styrene, the banner is an object but also an invitation: to consider, and to participate in, an alternative.

Martina Schmücker’s Visual Mechanics three dimensional installation examines the perception we have of older women and their influence in contemporary society. The installation of reconstructed screens presents an irregular performance of a restricted view of a woman reclining on a narrow plinth, manipulated by the screens that surround her.

Zoe Brown’s use of celluloid employed for “its sentimental potential” depicts women gorging on houses made of sugar and cake in a moment of indulgence. Her film House Of Cake references a bygone Victorian era where the privacy of the house was the women’s domain.

Forty letters are sent to random celebrities in Christmas Card Project, part of the Mail Art Series by Jessica Voorsanger and are displayed in an installation alongside the responses from David Blaine and others in a witty exploration of the concept of celebrity.

We Have Secrets showcases K. Yoland’s installation of suspended fantastical superhero-come-warrior masks, which form a hollow three-dimensional pyramid guarding a video with flickering images. The pyramid structure of ‘heads’, and the quick bombardment of flashing images within, explore and question the nature of power and interaction in our society.

Manu Luksch’s short film explores the role that public space plays in children’s development. Blue-Sky Blueprint depicts a radical re-visioning of public space resulting from an unusual collaboration between architectural modellers and Southwark children who acted as the primary researchers and designers for the project.

Olivia Jane Ransley’s drawings find strength in the celebration of small, everyday moments. The Quotidian Entries is an ongoing project of humorous observations and the artist’s continual social anxieties. The illustrations will be emailed to the gallery throughout the show and will be displayed pinned onto the wall as well as in a ‘zine’ from the front desk.

The Penis Show curated by Rosalie Schweiker, is an exhibition within the exhibition. It includes work by Joanna Waterhouse, Matthew Sleeth, Colourful Colophone, Gillian Wylde, Hannah Clayden, Arthur Hazlewood and other good artists.

Intruding into the gallery from unexpected places is Rebecca Glover’s The Inhabitant a site-specific installation, of alien-like, semi-organic forms that questions notions of security in relation to our environment, interacting directly with the architecture of the gallery and transforming the potential of the space.