By Brontë Schiltz
From 20 July to 3 August, The Carlton Club in Whalley Range, Manchester is home to Ravenous, a new exhibition by collage artist Rachel Riggs.
The work brings together the history of the rave movement and the female experience, from Rave, which complies leaflets and posters advertising underground raves, to Do You Want a Dream Figure?, which uses children’s dolls to explore the pressure on women to look beautiful while also fulfilling the social expectations of reproduction and motherhood.
Other pieces focus on different issues – the Placemat Series inserts miniature plastic animals into landscapes full of small models of supermarket products, evoking the impact of consumer culture on wildlife. The fact that the animals themselves would likely have ended up in landfill had they not been used for the piece adds a particularly poignant edge.
During the launch, attended primarily by residents of the predominantly working class area, Riggs auctioned one piece, Suffragette, to raise money for Manchester Women’s Aid. The piece sold for £80, contributed by two households who will share the piece between them.
Riggs and Karen Shannon, CEO of Manchester Histories, told Street News more about the exhibition’s focuses and aims.
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