Militant 'punk' artist Quilla Constance brings a new large-scale exhibition to The Higgins in Bedford

Artist Quilla Constance (also known as QC) will showcase eight new large-scale oil paintings and a costume-installation at The Higgins Bedford for her solo exhibition Teasing Out Contingencies.

The exhibition opens on June 17 and will run until January 7, 2024.

As British society becomes increasingly polarised, this exhibition seeks to cross social borders, confront stereotyping, and challenge gender, racial and class inequalities.

QC said: “Teasing Out Contingencies seeks to create exciting new narratives to explore: what is British society now and where are we going?”

The project began with a series of Open Studio performance workshops at Tate Modern in 2019. Gallery visitors were invited to dress up in QC’s punk-carnivalesque costumes, work with a variety of objects, and respond to eclectic music. Over 1,000 people took part in the workshops and QC photographed the participants in action. QC used this imagery to directly inform and inspire the compositions of her oil paintings.

Stylistically QC’s paintings for this project employ a range of artistic techniques such as realism, surrealism and abstraction, and situate members of the public within opulent interiors from Buckingham Palace. Scenes from QC’s paintings depict people holding diverse objects – everything from a pineapple to a brass candlestick, through to a box of Mr Kipling cakes!

QC added: “I intend for these scenarios to challenge and clash with the surroundings, creating unusual, humorous, and empowering imagery as a form of social activism”.

Students from Bedford college are featured posing with objects and interacting with other workshop participants from London and overseas in one of QC’s paintings titled: Carnival Throne.

QC’s costume installation titled: The Grenadiers will also be on display at The Higgins. It will showcase costumes worn by workshop participants at Tate Modern, transforming these outfits into a piece of sculpture!

QC’s artworks for this exhibition also reference her maverick performance workshop with presenter-comedians Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan, for the BAFTA nominated TV series Rob & Romesh Vs on SKY Max. The show first aired during Covid-19 lockdown and made Teasing Out Contingencies accessible during the pandemic when Tate Modern was closed.

Mayor Tom Wootton, said: “It’s fantastic to see this exciting new exhibition coming to Bedford Borough. It’s very important to me that Bedford Borough Council is able to make cultural experiences such as this accessible to as many people as possible and I encourage everyone to come along and explore this artwork.”

Ami Aubrey, programme producer at Bedford Creative Arts (BCA), added: “We first worked with QC on the ‘Processions’ project, which marked the centenary of women receiving the vote by creating a beautiful banner and parading it through London alongside women from all over the UK. This new project sees QC return to her home of Bedford and continues to champion and question issues of representation and gender in new and exciting ways".

Teasing Out Contingencies is supported by Arts Council England, Tate Modern, Bedford Creative Arts, The Higgins Bedford and Bedford Borough Council.

You can find out more about the exhibition online here.