Curated by Shy Bairns

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Fanspeak features artists whose work appropriates

fan-like production, emulating the content, objects

and homages produced by fans of movies, music,

sports, celebrities, and TV shows. Working with

sculpture, painting and video, the artists interrogate

pop and sub-cultural references in order to disrupt

our relationship with them. The exhibition brings

together an exciting group of artists working with

relevant and timely subject matter.

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Fan Speak (noun): slang or jargon present in

fandom, particularly the acronyms, in-jokes

and obscure terms used among readers and

writers of science fiction fanzines.

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In the worlds of Fandom, the message boards of obscure websites overflow with heightened emotions on subjects that have little value to the uninitiated. Fandom sees its creators dissecting their obsessions, becoming over-attached as they over-analyse them, ultimately mixing adoration with critique. The nature of this dedicated study enables fans to deconstruct the thing they love and rebuild it. They learn more about it, comparing it to their reality, and then rewriting it, inserting themselves into a fan-fiction hybrid. The artists in this exhibition explore this phenomenon with sensitivity, intelligence and humour. Including Lydia Blakeley’s paintings of aspirational luxury which move from the banal to the uncanny, Kurdwin Ayub’s uncomfortable homemade homages to actors and singers, Maya Ben David’s sexualized Pokémorphs, and Graham Dolphin’s sculptural remakes of public memorials made by fans of dead icons.