No ones scathes like Darren Cullen scathes. He and his art scathe with a sense of humour and skewers injustice. Remember the Pocket Money loan shop for kids? That was Darren – or the Be The Meat ‘zine about joining the Armed Forces? That was him too. The Daily Mail, suffice to say, do not like him at all. And that makes us like him more. He’s got a new exhibition about to start so we thought we’d say hi.
Hey Darren, how’s it going? Been up to much?
I’m ankle deep in hell. I’ve been working on a painting of hell for a few months, but in this version all the business people have taken the place over and have started industrialising the torture process and running it for profit. If I stay awake for the next 48 hours it should be finished in time for the show.
What’s the theme of your new exhibition?
I’m not sure it has one, although it’s all inspired by a general feeling of incredulous despair. So that’s a sort of theme? There’s a lot of stuff about nuclear war and regular war, and class war. All my favourite wars.
Will there be an armed golf buggy?
Yes, I’ve built a 1/12 scale model of Donald Trump’s mobile command HQ. A heavily armoured golf buggy called Golf Cart One. There’s also a few other models, including Thomas the Tank, and an interactive display about Shell’s emissions reduction technology.
When and where’s it going to be?
At WAR Gallery, in south east London. Opening night is the 9th November from 7pm, then the show runs pretty much every day until the 5th December.
Is this world going down the toilet?
Absolutely. But it always has been, which is almost reassuring. Human beings have been the greatest and most interesting catastrophe the planet has ever seen. It almost makes me proud to be a part of it.
Who would you rather annoy, the Daily Mail or Fox News?
Well I’d rather destroy them. But since I’ve already had some hatred from the Daily Mail this year, getting on Fox News would be pretty interesting since then you’re essentially broadcasting directly into the President’s brain.
Darren Cullen’s new exhibition is at War Gallery and runs until 5th December
Interview: Josh Jones
Photo: Tom Medwell
