The Somerset House CUTE exhibition features a Hannah Diamond room
In a new commission for Somerset House, multidisciplinary artist Hannah Diamond has presented an immersive visual and sonic music installation, inspired by a girl's sleepover.
The commission features a curated collection of videos from the likes of SOPHIE, Charli XCX, A.G. Cook, GFOTY, Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, felicita and more, as well as from Diamond herself, where she brings her own affirmative vision of hyper pink girlhood to showcase the best of the super cute electronic dance music.
"Multi-disciplinary artist Hannah Diamond invites you to experience the intimate world of a girls' sleepover in a bedroom saturated with layers of ultra-cute femininity," reads an information board in the installation. "A voice-over of 'manic girl thoughts' reflects on what it is to be a girl in today's digitally mediated world. Hannah Diamond leans into maximal girlishness, rejecting its derogatory connotations to reclaim its affirmative, transformational potential. Part of the influential PC Music collective, pioneers of a super-shiny electronic hyper-pop sound, Diamond has curated a video playlist featuring many of her label mates, friends, and collaborators."
Presented in partnership with Sanrio, the exhibition will also celebrate the 50th anniversary of one of cute’s most iconic and ubiquitous figures, Hello Kitty, featuring a dedicated plushie space, immersive disco and display of Hello Kitty products throughout the decades, including rare and unique items.
Sugar-Coated Pill looks at how cuteness is often used to soften the unpalatable. From far-right extremists to Big Pharma, cuteness has been co-opted in propaganda machines to disguise and control its messaging. As well as images of far-right propaganda and cuddly toys produced by pharmaceutical companies to market their products, on display will be artefacts from activist groups such as the Russian art collective Pussy Riot, who subvert cuteness to protest against Putin’s regime, as well as cuddly plushies of weapons of mass destruction from video games such as Portal.
CUTE is curated by Claire Catterall, Senior Curator at Somerset House, and runs from 25 January to 14 April. General admission tickets are priced at £18.50 (concessions, child and family tickets also available), half-price tickets for 25s and under are available on select Tuesdays. For more information, visit somersethouse.org.
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