27 May – 12 June 2021 

PALFREY is delighted to present OBLIVION, a new exhibition by Rosie McGinn.

Hanging off the edge, the apex, the top of the stairs, the precipice, the diving board, the monkey bars. The wind blowing in your hair. Your soul is seized and shaken till it tingles. Everyone’s losing their heads as you look around, trying to hold onto yours, by the ears, by the hair, by the seat belt. Humanity suspended.

Featuring eight stuffed sculptures (depicting McGinn’s close family and friends) each caught in a moment of thrilling fear, suspended on the tip of a rollercoaster track, mute screams frozen on lips. Industrial fans blast the tiny figurines animating their hair and limbs. Alongside the installation, snapshots of the rollercoaster riders are revisited and re-intensified in watercolours and drawings.

OBLIVION is a state of the sublime unknown. This new body of work from McGinn continues her fixation with observing the human tendency to chase heightened moments and the psychological drives underlying euphoria and despair. How recent events have altered our attitudes to these emotional extremes is a question that the work implies but also complicates.

Opening Thursday 27 May, 3 – 6 pm 

Rosie McGinn graduated from Wimbledon College of Art in 2018. Recent solo shows have included: SNOB, Recent Activity, Birmingham, 2019; GET IN THERE [with OOF Magazine], Tate Exchange, London, 2019; The Boléro, Art Lacuna, London, 2019; 3 for 1, Picnic Gallery, London, 2018.