artists: Howard Arkley, Uta Barth, Mark Bennett, James Casebere, Mat Collishaw, Carolyn Eskdale, Melanie Friend, Mona Hatoum, Permindar Kaur, Matthias Müller, Nina Saunders, Doris Salcedo, Kathy Temin, Meyer Vaisman, Carrie Mae Weems, Rachel Whiteread

A major international exhibition organised by Birmingham’s prestigious Ikon Gallery draws together sixteen artists from across the world to explore the domestic in contemporary art, through photography, sculpture, painting, video and installation.

Featuring five new commissions alongside existing works, Claustrophobia peels back the wallpaper of our home lives, whether through the rebellious drama of Nina Saunder’s Forever, with its swing crashing through into a grown up world, the Enchanted Wardrobe of Mat Collishaw, overflowing with connotations of Narnia and fairytales, or the calm beauty of Rachel Whitread’s Torso and Untitled Airbed III.

Includes an essay by exhibition curator Claire Doherty and short texts – both newly commissioned and existing – on each artist, varying from fiction, complementary texts chosen by the artists and text specific to the works.

Published on the occasion of the exhibition, ‘Claustrophobia’ at Ikon Gallery, Birmingham (6 June – 2 August 1998).