Spying on Zombies: Vacant Lots at WW Gallery

Suzie Hamilton, 9 paintings displayed in a group, 2012, oil on canvas.

The dreaded weekly shop. Much like a zombie I walk the aisles of Asda, picking up the same packets, cans, bottles and frozen foods every week while other, slightly irritated zombies, do the same around me. We never make eye contact.

Hamilton's paintings add a tinge of sad loneliness to the story of the supermarket trip, there is a dark dripping wet feel to the them, an inevitability of the trip and of our own deterioration. Meanwhile Germzde's sketchily painted plastic lids showing artificially illuminated aisles almost look glitzy. But we know the truth, these aisles stretch on forever in an overly bright horror film of repetition.

None of this is without humour, a reminder  of the absurdity of our habits and the necessity of routine to stay alive exploited by the sprawling unreality of the supermarket.

Inguna Gremzde, Life in  Plastic World, 2012, oil on plastic lids. 

I like the story behind Hamilton's film. Split into four images, it feels like CCTV capturing our monotonous semi conscious laps. Documented on film via Hamilton's excellent use of spy glasses.

Suzie Hamilton, Shopper, 2012, looped video.

Corinna Spencer


Vacant Lots
Suzie Hamilton & Inguna Gremzde
WW Gallery, London EC1
10 October - 10 November 2012