Read a full interview with the show's curator (and creator of the incredible Fiesta Transformer sculpture), Hetain Patel, in this week's Londonist: Croydon Edit newsletter, which publishes on the morning of Thursday 18 July.
"It's like the Summer Exhibition but better" myself and Londonist art critic Tabish Khan concluded as we wandered around the press preview of Come As You Really Are.
The free exhibition — which runs at the pop-up 'Hobby Cave', located in the former Milan Bar on Croydon High Street from 18 July-20 October 2024 — is surely the most eclectic show to grace London for a while; an eye-opening juxtaposition of people's collections (plastic bags, cigarette packets, My Little Ponies), twinned with remarkable artistic endeavours (pom pom carpets, mosaics of celebrities, cosplay outfits).
Look out too for the Spider-Man outfits, created by Hetain Patel himself, as well as his Fiesta Transformer sculpture (which is exactly what it sounds like it is), and his new 'Somerset Road' piece, a Ford Escort wrapped in a hand-tufted patterned rug. This show is both life-affirming and a hell of a lot of fun.
Come As You Really Are is in Croydon till October, and 100% worth making the trip (even if you have to trek across London — maybe work it into a tram pub crawl). After that, it goes on tour across the UK.
Enjoy these photos, and check out our interview with curator Hetain Patel, in our Londonist: Croydon Edit newsletter, dropping on the morning of Thursday 18 July.
Come As You Really Are, Hobby Cave (Grants building), 18 July- 20 October 2024, Wednesday-Sunday, free
