The Alien Show
Loving the alien.
Overview
Among the many things David Bowie taught the world, the idea of loving the alien was perhaps the most important. It wasn't just the name of one of his 1985 singles. Whether he was singing about 'Life on Mars', taking to the stage as the otherworldly Ziggy Stardust or playing an extra-terrestrial being in The Man Who Fell to Earth, Bowie knew that being different was something to embrace.
It's this concept of otherness coupled with the typical pop culture renderings of space aliens that motivates THE ALIEN SHOW, FAKE Estate's latest one-night-only art affair. Charlie Donaldson, Loki Groves, Spencer Harvey and Sally Molloy both take inspiration from major uses of the intergalactic visitor motif within contemporary visual culture, and unpack its many meanings.
Whether you're a Bowie fan, a sci-fi aficionado or have just had a passing interaction with either — and who hasn't? — then you'll know what they're talking about. We've all seen aliens depicted as cruel, terrifying, androgynous, amorphous, unwanted and antagonised; however this exhibition delves a little deeper in a fashion that's equal parts humorous and serious in tone.