“Even knowing that something beautiful may kill us is not necessarily enough to stop us wanting it,” writes Philippa Snow in an essay that accompanies the group exhibition Saccharine Symbols, currently on view at London’s Rose Easton gallery. Featuring three up-and-coming artists – Marisa Kriangwiwat Holmes, Shamiran Istifan, and Tasneem Sarkez –, this art show explores the uncanny attraction towards the dangerous, from razorblades concealed in apple candies to almond-scented poison like cyanide.
Juxtaposing contrasting ideas or concepts like ‘sweet’ and ‘poisonous’, Saccharine Symbols features the work of three young artists whose bodies of work explore politicised themes like digital depression, the consequences of immigration policy, or social dynamics regarding class, gender and religion. To add to the message, the Rose Easton gallery has tainted its floor in pale pink/lavender.
