JIM MEDWAY
Wall drawings and other works

10 November - 3 December 2004

Unit 2 Gallery is pleased to present a new series of wall drawings by the Manchester based artist Jim Medway.

In recent years, Medway has established himself as a chronicler of streetwise urban youth. From Goths and slackers to scallies and skate kids, Medway's distinctive and witty ink and pencil drawings portray the aspirations, growing pains and sometime menace of today's youth.

Observing the importance attributed by his subjects to designer labels and contemporary culture, Medway's anthropomorphised feline characters seek solace and a sense of self as much through group mentality as they do in wearing the right fashion.

Inspired by his observations of life and rituals as lived on the streets of Manchester and Salford, Medway's sharp portrayals of the dress codes, blasé attitudes and the sometimes excruciating coolness and hardness of youngsters grappling with growing-up also offer a broader reading of adolescence; one that invariably links peer pressure and consumer culture, hope and despair, opportunity and frustration. In this way, Medway provides a useful pictorial chronicle of our times, where the sanctity of 'the street' as the site of authentic and rebellious expression is deeply troubled.

Unit 2 Gallery, London Metropolitan University, Central House, 59-63 Whitechapel High Street, London E1 7PF
Tel 020 7320 1948/1970   Fax 020 7320 1928   info@unit2.co.uk