Un Fête dans le Papier

Overview

Angel and Ash. The two streets the Papermill sits on polarise like the twin themes of its latest show — Un Fête dans le Papier ('A Feast on Paper') — which dines at the intersection of poverty and excess. The exhibition takes inspiration from francophones like Basquiat and Marie Antoinette. Though Antoinette probably never said "Let them eat cake", she did spend her time off in a fake French village at Versailles, complete with peasants imported from the countryside. Un Fête dans le Papier aims to do the opposite — to build a fake banqueting hall in the image of Versailles for ordinary people to play at Royalty.

Joining the combined creative visions of Alexandra Clapham and Red Rattler co-founder Penelope Benton, Un Fête transforms the expansive depth of the Papermill into its banqueting hall made from cardboard and paper. Clapham and Benton promise to stage a magnificent feast which they invite the general public — starving or otherwise — to look upon with maleficent envy. Afterwards, they promise, the mob will tear into the paper palace. If you can't make it for the decadent launch Tuesday night, the exhibition will be running until Saturday for you to sift through the wreckage.