Marcin Dudek in Frieze

'Frieze New Writers Select the Best Shows to See in the UK and Ireland' by Katie Abbott

31 July 2023 From Cinga Samson’s ghostly figures to Sam Hutchinson’s reckoning with millennium aesthetics.

 

This Critic’s Guide has been written by the eight participants who took part in this year's Frieze New Writers programme – a free-to-attend intensive three-day course for aspiring art writers led by the frieze editorial team in London.

 

Marcin Dudek

Edel Assanti, London

31 May - 1 September 2023

 

Marcin Dudek: NEOPLAN, installation view, Edel Assanti, London, 2023. Photo: Marcin Dudek. Copyright the artist. Courtesy the artist and Edel Assanti.

 

NEOPLAN opens with a haunting sight: the decimated remains of a football fans’ bus (Neoplan, 2023). Its windows are smashed, seats mangled. Marcin Dudek has replaced the roof with a colourful tapestry of stitched-together sportswear. It’s difficult to look away: a chilling reminder of violence’s morbid allure. Surrounding the bus, fragments of collage and video – found footage, ticket stubs and stadium photos – hint at the collective identity of football supporters. A mesmerizing constellation of memories emerges through the detritus, capturing more than just fan culture. NEOPLAN invites us to grapple with our shared histories and to reflect upon how the groups we inhabit hold the power to shape, and even deeply scar, our lives forever.

31 July 2023
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