This catalogue accompanies Ikon’s exhibition of new work by established New York-based artist Polly Apfelbaum (b. 1955).

Polly’s use of various fabrics – stained and dyed – and more recently glazed ceramics, is beguiling and refreshing in its offerings of simple pleasures.

In this way, she subtly assumes a political, and feminist, position, challenging pomposity, notions of entitlement and hierarchies in cultural practice – against high fine art – to suggest an egalitarianism in society across the board.

Published on the occasion of the exhibition, Polly Apfelbaum: Waiting for the UFOs (a space set between a landscape and a bunch of flowers) at Ikon Gallery, Birmingham (19 September – 18 November 2018).