July 2022 - July 10, 2022
Ancient Mew
Private View: Saturday 9th July 12-6pm
Also open Sunday 10th July 12-5pm
Conditions, Unit 48, Whitgift Centre, Croydon CR0 1UQ (next to Turf Projects)
Artists:
Camille Yvert @camilleyvert
Elliot Hewgill @raggoelliot
Estefanía B Flores @estefantastic
Evangelia Dimitrakopoulou @d_mtrk
Georgina Hill @georginalhill
Hawazin Al-Otaibi @hawazin.o
Joe Moss @joemoss1
Jonathan Lloyd West @jonathanlloydwest
Kara Chin @karachin
Katia Kesic @katia_kesic
Mark Leckey @mark.leckey
Natalia Janula @nataliajanula
Oisín O’Brien @oisin.obrien
Sophie Knight @sophielourdesknight
Theo Ellison @theo_ellison
Tiffany Wellington @tifwellington
Nostalgia, in all its wistful, rose-tinted longing, centres around Lacanian notions of desire - of something just out of reach, both tangible and intangible. Once seen as a potentially fatal psychological disorder in the 19th century, it is still viewed with suspicion as a seductive rumination. Yet it’s everywhere at this moment, saturating our visual culture. Within that framework, Ancient Mew looks at contemporary nostalgia and explores how it operates alongside cultural changes.
The soul of an old electronics store is key to the exhibition, supporting the presentation of these disparate works as evidence of the long memory of the internet. In tracing trajectories of nostalgia, from idealised visions of rural life and gothic romanticism, through to post-internet aesthetics; we see how meme culture co-opts imagery from the past into new forms.
Across sculpture, painting, digital print and video, the works in this show link up to map the process of gathering and recycling, the mechanics of fashion, the cultural capital of obscure taste, and the comforting melancholy of faded memories.
Curated by Theo Ellison & Joe Moss
Thanks to @conditionsstudioprogramme & @mnoeltod
