Review on Destroy All Monsters Exhibition at Horse Hospital Gallery
By Furqan Ali Shah
Visiting the Horse Hospital in London was a new experience for me. The gallery is quite hidden, there is little to advertise it, but entering this unconventional, non-white cube space was exciting.
The exhibition Destroy All Monsters explored the work of the band of the same name. Formed in 1973 it included University of Michigan art students, Mike Kelley, Jim Shaw, Niagara, and Cary Loren. It began as an anti-rock band and their music experimented with noise. They would use things like electronic back scratchers, sheet metal, and vacuum cleaners to affect noise. Their inspiration came from various subgenres of Roxy Music, and Trance; bands and musicians such as The Stooges, Albert Ayler, Sun Ra, The Velvet Underground, Jethro Tull, and Alice Cooper. Destroy All Monsters also performed gigs at various places.
They produced a lot of visual material and this was shown within the exhibition, much of it for the first time. Collages, flyers, photographs, posters, zines, paintings, drawings, flags, and videos filled the space. The band created all these collaboratively and individually by using DIY techniques. The type of color was striking; acid, bold imagery was layered. Photocopying was used extensively and high contrast was mixed with elements that were more obscured. I was reminded of the Japanese cartoon Ultra-man by a painting the band made of a monster destroying the city; it transported me to my youth. The work the band created was reminiscent of the hippie era. It’s interesting to see people today are still living off-the-table scraps of the sixties.
The exhibition seemed to push a political message. Most of their artwork reminded me of the 60s’ counter-culture, social and civil rights, and the questioning of the materialist systems in which they were raised. The layout of the exhibition space had low-key lighting to create a chiaroscuro effect and the psychedelic background music had distortion, echo, and vacuum cleaners sound effects to create an ambient mood in the gallery space.
Since the days of Destroy All Monsters, Jim Shaw and Mike Kelley in particular have had renowned and influential careers as artists, with their work being exhibited worldwide. This exhibition at the Horse Hospital, which essentially exposed the archive of their visual output as a band, was an exciting moment of experiencing a lesser-known collaboration.
