30/08/2026
Highlights
1. Cop Car (Ford Capri), 2025 by Toby Messenger
Half scale. Mixed media, reclaimed wood, cardboard, packaging, paint and Perspex. It started out as a Ford Capri and, through the push and pull of materials, colour and construction, gradually morphed into a cop car. A shift from M25 Acid House subculture to institutional authority.
2. Go, 2025 by Perce Jerrom
Tactical backpacks 25L, 1L water canteens, water purification tablets, first aid kits, painkillers, foil blankets, matches, wind up radios, wind up torches, Anker power banks, Micro USB cable, 4 in 1 charger cables, dual port USB plugs, 5 in 1 fold out pocket knife cutlery sets, meal ration packs, protein bars, fruit & nut bags, tooth brushes, tooth paste, hand sanitiser bottles, wet wipes, pocket pack tissues, travel towel, storage hooks
‘Go’ presents two identical backpacks hung on the galleries wall, which contained a plethora of doubled supplies created in mind of Jerrom and his partner. The work was based upon research into ‘Go Bags’ (also known as a grab bags or bug-out bags), these emergency kits are prepared to be easy to locate, hand-carriable and to contain essential supplies catered to personal requirements. They are designed to help their owners stay mobile, weather any emergency or event, and remain self-sufficient for a limited period upon evacuating their home.
These items were initially a fringe interest designed and discussed by online prepping communities and conspiracy theorists on forums and social media. Survivalist inclined content creators would produce videos where they would detail the items stored in their kits. In recent years ‘Go Bags’ have drawn more widespread popularity amid fears of societal collapse, climate disaster, and global conflict. A sign of a greater interest in emergency preparedness has been the popular American grocery retailer Costco, who began selling a ‘Readywise Emergency Food Bucket’ which contained 80 food and drink servings. Governments and disaster relief charities worldwide are also increasingly outlining recommendations for compiling the necessary resources to build a survival kit.
The work was shown in a duo exhibition which developed out of discussions regarding liquids not only as a material, but also as a metaphor that shapes contemporary value systems. The connection between ‘Go Bags’ and liquids was that a key component of these kits is always water; either bottled or in the form of purification tablets. A central concern that ran through the exhibition was water scarcity, referenced by each artist in different ways. When formulating the work Jerrom was interested in notions of value, in reference to artworks as well as everyday items. How the sculptures held a literal monetary value from the items accumulated, but also how this value would dramatically increase in a survival context.
‘Go’ was exhibited as part of ‘Liquidity’, a duo exhibition featuring Perce Jerrom and Débora Delmar at piloto pardo in London, UK. The exhibition ran from 4th October – 1st November 2025.
3. Teenagers, 2023 by Natasha MacVoy
Teenagers have been shown as a pair in response to themes of doubling and twins that feature in U & I.
At Eastside Projects they were in the corner behind the viewer, who would turn towards the film and as their eyes adjusted to the dimmed lighting, would sense the two figures lurking behind them.
At Exeter Phoenix they were opposite the exit to U & I so the viewer was confronted by them in a brightly lit space. They still lurked in the corner behind the entrance to this gallery to give them the combined impression of being confrontational and vulnerable.
4. Who are these children?, 2007 - 2008, by Phil Whiting
Ignored, unseen and unloved children orphaned and abandoned through war will often take to the forests or the basements of derelict buildings to seek sanctuary. Many fall prey to criminal gangs.
