Some people might be offended by explosive orifices, leaking body fluids, and perspicuous defecation, but the assault of images in Norwegian illustrator Vanessa Baird’s solo show, I Can Get Back Down to the End of the Town and be Back in Time for Tea is so consistent in its commitment to grotesque imagery that, at a certain point, the viewer has no choice but to abandon their prudent penchants and embrace the acute realness of the content. It’s nothing we haven’t all seen behind closed doors, only now depicted through the bodies of ‘nice’ storybook girls, whose adolescent bare pubis and buttocks emerge unashamedly from ruffled pastel dresses. The pictures challenge the peculiar assumption that domesticity is sweet, simple, or safe. Imagine Alice in Wonderland meets Brothers Grimm. Baird’s folksy aesthetic references a wide array of Scandinavian folklore and literature, which she spins into narrative interpretations and harnesses the practice of storytelling through a powerfully provocative and gruesome lens.

In the larger space, the works wallpaper the room like a mad storyboard. The fullness of the room is echoed in the fullness of each drawing, each of which tells a story and comprises multiple components, sometimes supported by ambiguous captions. The sunken sockets and sumptuous flesh feel like the girls have secrets beyond their years. Energetic lines combine prosaic patterns of commonplace objects that are masterfully executed in watercolour. In the smaller back room, a curated selection of framed watercolours are neatly hung, but don’t feel nearly as impactful as the clustered together collection in the primary space. After all, more is more.

Baird, 2015 winner of the Lorck Schive Kunstpreis, has been exhibited in the British Museums Prints and Drawings Collection, The National Museum of Norway, the 2019 Kochi Biennale, and most recently the Drawing Room London.

I Can Get Back Down to the End of the Town and be Back in Time for Tea is on view through 26 November at No. 9 Cork Street.

9 Cork Street

London, W1S 3LL

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