Hales is excited to announce the unveiling of Gray Wielebinski's commission for Selfridges Art Block Commission 2023, entitled Exhibition (2023), on view through 1 October 2023. The 2023 Art Block Commission is programmed by not-for-profit art organisation Bold Tendencies.
The Art Block is Selfridges’ permanent destination for contemporary art that is participatory and unexpected. A marble and steel monolith proudly situated just inside Selfridges Duke Street entrance; the platform hosts an annual visual art commission.
Exhibition spotlights the public restroom as a monument, sanctuary and secret. Evoking the Victorian Gothic style of architecture, the piece references feminist campaigns that equalised access to public sanitation facilities in the 20th century and led to Selfridges being the first department store to open women’s public toilets. It also nods to the connotation of these spaces as cruising sites and today’s conflicting visions of the purpose of public bathrooms, which often collide in transphobic “bathroom panics.” The two vitrines feature walkways divided by applique vanity screens that invite viewers to enter inside the window displays and reflect on the paradox of being alone in public.
Gray Wielebinski
Exhibtion
Selfridges Art Block Commission 2023
Duke Street Entrance
400 Oxford St
London
W1A 1AB
Through 1 October 2023
