The Good, The Bad, The God And Her Lover is the name of a new show from Rocco And His Brothers coming up at London’s Stolen Space this coming April, Something to do subterranean network as a vital battleground.
“Subway trains, masks, and textile works come together to examine surveillance, resistance, and the pressures of living within systems of unchecked power….”
Now if we have it right, and if I have been paying attention, this will be the first major Rocco And His Brothers show since that time when BSMT Space was still actually in a basement and still rather friendly ground. Our coverage of the opening behind the train yard wire that night at BSMT Space back somewhere towards the end of 2016 still remains one of the most visited pages on this website and I imagine probably one of the few still exisiting records of it ever happening over in Dalston ten years ago. There are so many art events, shows, artists and slices of the London Art Scene documented on these fractured pages that aren’t documented anywhere else, one day someone might eventually find the time to say thanks, we’re not going to hold our collective breath on that one though, we haven’t been welcome at BSMT Space for years now, however much coverage, support and publicity you give some galleries, bands, record labels, painters, artists, it is never enough for them, shame really, I liked that space when it was down those steps. Enough of that, the london Art Scene has never been that friendly.
Enough, Rocco And His Brothers are back in town, here comes the Stolen Space press release, they used the word iconic, we didn’t (at least they didn’t say the art was vibrant)
“StolenSpace Gallery is pleased to present ‘The Good, the Bad, the God and Her Lover’ by Rocco and His Brothers, a Berlin-based artist collective that has been an integral part of Berlin’s graffiti scene since the turn of the millennium. With a degree of anonymity, the collective creates socio-political art actions, large scale installations and satirical works in the public space and urban infrastructure. Addressing injustices that occur right before our eyes yet remain unnoticed by mainstream society, the collective often operates “hidden in plain sight.” By fusing subculture with system-critical commentary and potent symbolism, they capture the current zeitgeist through an ironic lens.
In ‘The Good, the Bad, the God and Her Lover’ the collective seek to interrogate the panoptic state and the mechanisms that sustain unchecked systems of power. Drawing on ideas of surveillance, control, and visibility, the exhibition explores how authority is constructed, exercised and maintained within contemporary society. Through a playful yet critical use of materials, the artists address the arbitrary nature of dogma and doctrine, and how unchecked power relies on symbolism and imagery to command respect without explanation. The collective connect subculture with traditional craftsmanship; Just as ancient Greek and Roman mosaics captured everyday messages and wisdom for eternity, the artists confront the ephemeral nature of today’s internet culture with the permanence of traditional craftsmanship. Everyday symbols are translated into lasting materials – memes rendered in marble and riot shields re-created in stained glass.
The exhibition also includes the textile-based series ‘See it, Say it, Sorted’, where the familiarpublic safety slogan is reimagined as a mechanism of control that defines acceptable behaviour and criminalises those who exist outside its gaze. Following the theme of the underground as a canvas, painting subway trains is elevated to the supreme discipline of subversive art utilising public space. Within this dance, an alter ego is born. By translating this lived reality into a series of ‘Alter Ego’ mask artworks, the artists position the mask not merely as a tool for evasion, but as the physical manifestation of the alter ego itself. The totality of the panoptic state, it’s unchecked power and methods of repression, is confronted by Rocco and His Brothers, who aim to reclaim the subterranean network as a vital battleground against unchecked scrutiny.
‘The Good, the Bad, the God and Her Lover’ opens with an evening reception on April 9th 2026, 6-8pm. The exhibition then runs until 10th May
Stolen Space is at 17 Osborn Street, Whitechapel, London, E1 6TD. The gallery is open Thursday and Friday: 11 – 5pm and Saturday and Sunday : 12 – 4pm or by apoointment. www.stolenspace.com
Back in 2016
THE ORGAN 