Penny Woolcock is an artist with global appeal, and yet a highly local connection. She spent a significant part of her early career living in Oxford, where in addition to art she was involved in revolutionary politics, and her first short film, for Channel 4, was made with equipment borrowed from Film Oxford. She has since gained critical acclaim as a director and visual artist for her ground-breaking work, and is now returning to these Oxford roots with her first major solo exhibition, Fantastic Cities.
Alongside a collection of previous works, the exhibition focuses on three new films. When I First Saw a Gun explores personal gun use from a diverse range of people. The Same Road is a Different Road explores a shocking level of inequality within a concentrated area of London, portraying Woolcock's journey through upmarket Islington, in contrast with a young man's experiences of gang warfare in the same area. Fantastic Cities itself interrogates the mythical narratives surrounding Los Angeles and Oxford: both places where the cultural portrayal, of Hollywood and the Dreaming Spires respectively, hides what for many is a reality of deprivation.
Expect to have your preconceptions challenged by this powerful exhibition, which uncovers a darker side to places which, on paper, seem highly privileged.
The organisers advise that this exhibition may not be suitable for children as it contains strong language and references to violence and criminality, which visitors may find upsetting.
