Fan Fair

About

And so we rush off the train into the teeming throng… and stroll into the ever-changing world of the playful crowd. In these distinct realms of pleasure, we will see our past and present culture in new ways (and) find our deepest and most superficial longings before us. Gary S. Cross & John K. Walton, The Playful Crowd Fan Fair rolls out a group of artists whose work deals with the spectacle of seaside sensations. Based not at the seaside but in the heart of Hackney, Fan Fair is however more theatrical re-enactment than social documentary. Fan Fare invites you to roll up to an imaginary enclave of cheap spills and thrills. A lolly stick big dipper jostles for space alongside impossibly delicate ceramic skittles, a freak show deep-sea diver and suggestively smutty souvenir hankies, while in the corner Madam Sosostris steps out from Eliot's Wasteland to read your tarot cards. This exhibition follows on from last summer's O Dreamland, Transition's off-site examination of that curious British allure of all things seasidey, Fan Fair returns the favour by bringing a whiff of the seaside to the city. Artists: Dominic Allan, Doug Jones, Cathy Lomax, Matt Rowe, Tabitha Moses.