Bruce Asbestos' Monster Fun
Bruce Asbestos' Monster Fun
Lakeside Arts, University of Nottingham
1 August to 8 September 2024
Free entry
This summer, artist Bruce Asbestos will transform Lakeside Arts with his ever-growing cohort of
inflatable monsters. Colourful and playful, these giant sculptures attempt to redefine and update
Pop Art for the 2020s.
Bruce Asbestos' work draws from a rich history of painting, sculpture, popular culture, folklore, and
fairy tales. His interdisciplinary practice frequently mixes everyday objects with high art, fashion, and
responds to global pop culture, combining performance, painting, clothing, social media, and video
games.
This summer the artist brings together his inflatable monster friends in his largest exhibition to date.
The Hooboos, Asbestos' newest creations, are joined by friendly monsters in all shapes and sizes
including giant Mega Bunny, Octopus and Egg Cat. Visitors can immerse themselves in the exhibition
soundtrack which guides them through Asbestos’s whimsical world. The exhibition extends out of
the gallery where visitors can follow a trail of Hooboos around Highfields Park.
Witty, seductive, and extravagant, Asbestos’ work feels both unique yet strangely familiar. His
playful use of popular culture, commerce, and high art places his brand firmly within the realm of
participation, play, and pop art. In particular, the work aims to make sense of national and regional
identity in a world where we are increasingly exposed to a shared global pop culture, prompting
audiences to reflect on their own cultural experiences.
Bruce Asbestos, artist, said:
"My work is increasingly focused on ideas around play and participation and creating ways for
visitors to interact with contemporary art. It would be wonderful if the exhibition was someone's
very first experience of a gallery. I hope that visitors feel very welcome and included, the exhibition is
for them.”
Neil Walker, Head of Visual Arts Programming, Lakeside Arts, said: “Bruce Asbestos is an
established figure on the Nottingham art scene, therefore we are delighted to show his
biggest solo exhibition yet to Nottingham audiences. We hope this show designed for
children and families in the summer holiday season will make his art even more accessible,
introducing pop culture to our everyday lives.”
About the artist
"Through his shrewd use of social media, personal re-hashing of global pop culture and use of new
digital technologies, he has established an unmistakable visual identity and unique brand (complete
with logos) to almost become a living artwork." - Art Review
Bruce Asbestos earned a degree in Fine Art from Nottingham Trent University, winning a scholarship
at Musashino University in Tokyo, and went on to attend the Hive business school. He obtained a
Masters' Degree at Nottingham Trent, during which he was awarded a scholarship at RMIT
University in Melbourne, Australia.
Exhibitions and projects include Mega Bunny & Friends (SPILL Festival), Bootleg Shreg & Friends
(Humber Street Gallery), Eye of Newt 2.0 (QUAD, Derby), New British Informal (Browns East,
London), Burple Purple (Recent Activity, Birmingham), Ok! Cherub! (Bluecoat, Liverpool), S/S 2021
(Power, National Justice Museum), S/S 2020 (Bonington Gallery), Bruce Asbestos X Juliana Sissons
(Primary), A/W Collection (Kunstraum, London), A/W 2018 (Nottingham Contemporary), an Arts
Council International Fund project to NYC and Philadelphia, and Bruce Asbestos A-B Testing
(Concrete, Hayward Gallery, London). Asbestos was also commissioned by EM15 for 'Sunscreen' at
the Venice Biennale and participated in the Ivan Poe / Reactor project for the Plymouth Art
Weekender. In 2013/4, he was nominated for the £300,000 Paul Hamlyn Breakthrough Fund. Bruce
Asbestos'; artworks have been accessioned into the Government Art Collection and the collection of
the National Justice Museum.
Recent and current projects include Hooboos at Aviva Studios, home of Factory International (June
2024), and an exhibition of Asbestos’ fashion catwalks at The Gallery, De Montfort University (until
29 August). The Hooboos will tour to Rosehill Theatre, Whitehaven, Cumbria (August 24-31) and Ah
Haa School for the Arts Telluride, Colorado (19-21 July)
In 2024 Bruce Asbestos became CEO of his own company Bruce Asbestos Ltd.
www.bruceasbestos.com
@bruceasbestos
For further information on Bruce Asbestos: Monster Fun, please contact Lakeside Arts’
Marketing and Communications Manager Mária Konyelicska-Visky
maria.konyelicska@nottingham.ac.uk
For further information about Bruce Asbestos contact
Sarah Ragsdale 07817 194 750 sarah@sarahragsdalepr.co.uk