Lily Hughes – The Cleaner

26/09/24 till 02/10/24

Lily Hughes presents The Cleaner – a portrait of one artist’s labour in Margate’s Airbnb industry. The experience of cleaning holiday lets is seen through the lens of her art practice, which would not have been possible without a second job. Drawings, linocuts, sculpture and a short film are collected here to produce a body of research that explores different types of work, and the politics of time, money and art.

Results of an online survey draw other artists’ voices into the display and reveal the universality of the themes explored. Respondents were asked about their day jobs in relation to their art practices, and how this bears on their health, wellbeing and finances.

An edition of ceramic cloths reflect upon ideas about utility and waste. These sculptures also serve to draw the elements of the display together into an installation which echos a cleaning closet. Taken as a whole, the installation seeks to shed light on the hidden relationship between art work and other work.

Private view: Saturday 28th September, from 6pm