‘Hidden Tracks; A decade of free parties’
Seana Gavin
GALLERY46 is proud to present Seana Gavin solo exhibition – stemming from the legacy of the sound systems that put on illegal raves in the UK and across Europe in the 1990s. It is a document of the people, creativity and alternative way of living of a very underground scene.
Opening
Wednesday 10TH APRIL 2024
6 – 9 PM
Exhibition
Tuesday – Sunday
12 – 6 PM
Open SUNDAY 28th April
12 – 5 PM
LAST DAY OF SHOW
With special thanks to
LABYRINTH PHOTOGRAPHIC printing
@labyrinthphotographicprinting
SPIRALLED by Seana Gavin
Published by IDEA
Dates
Exhibition Dates
11TH – 28TH APRIL
Daily
Tuesday – Sunday
12 – 5PM
Or by appointment
OPEN
SUNDAY 28TH APRIL
LAST DAY OF SHOW
12 – 5 PM
Check details on Instagram for any changes to opening times
Artists
Seana Gavin
Has had solo exhibitions at galeriepcp, Paris (2019), Celestine Eleven, London (2014) and the B Store on Savile Row, London (2011).
Her work has been included in group exhibitions at international art galleries and institutions including The Nobel Prize Museum, Somerset House, Fundacao de Serralves, The Walker Art Gallery, Wellcome Collection, New York’s The Hole and at ‘Sweet Harmony: Rave today’ at the Saatchi Gallery (2019).
Collaboration with brands include Farfetch, Miharayasuhiro , Kilometre Paris, Adidas, Bodyshop and La Prairie.
Her work has been included in publications Elephant Magazine, Financial Times HTSI, Twin, Wonderland, Dazed & Confused, Sleek, Vanity Fair France, and online at NY Times, i-D, The Face, 032c, Frieze and Anothermag.
Gavin’s photography monograph ‘Spiralled’ was published by IDEA books in 2020 – ‘Work of the Week’ by Art Review.
Her artwork features in the permanent collection of the Soho House Group on display at their clubs in London, Amsterdam, Miami and Chicago. A profile of her work has been included in ‘The Age of Collage 3’, published by Gestalten (2020). She is also the author of the forward to Mark Angelo Harrison’s document of Spiral Tribe, ‘A Darker Electricity’ published in 2023.
A graduate of Camberwell College of Art,
seanagavin.com
@seanagavin
Information
An exhibition stemming from the legacy of the sound systems that put on illegal raves in the UK and across Europe in the 1990s. It is a document of the people, creativity and alternative way of living of a very underground scene.
The free party movement emerged as a rebellion against the over commercialization of Acid House that had developed in the UK at the time. When Seana Gavin became part of this subculture as an underage teenager, it was the year after the iconic Castlemorton festival – a week long free unlicensed event which took place in the British countryside. Before the days of mobile phones, between 20,000 and 50,000 people came together by word of mouth. It was shut down by the police and later inspired the legislation that became ‘The Criminal Justice Act’.
Gavin was heavily involved in this scene for a decade from 1993-2003. She spent long periods of time travelling in friends’ mobile homes, in convoy with the sound systems, living in nomadic communities, attending raves and parties in France, Spain, Holland, Italy, Berlin, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary.
The exhibition includes Gavin’s personal documentation including flyers, ephemera, diary entries and a large body of photographs that capture the build-up and aftermath of the raves across Europe alongside the characters and friends who defined this scene. The show demonstrates its ethos of community and freedom.
“It was more than just a night out. I wasn’t a photographer or journalist I was part of this world and these people were my family. We were un materialistic and survived with minimal funds without limitations.” Seana Gavin