Monstrous Carbuncle 

 Hypha Gallery 3 / No. 1 Poultry, London EC2R 8EN

PV: Thursday, 4th June 2026, 6-9pm

Open: 5th June – 12th July 2026

Monstrous Carbuncle takes its name from Prince Charles’s infamous 1984 condemnation of a proposed National Gallery extension—a phrase that quickly became a catch-all insult for modern and postmodern architecture in Britain. The term stuck, reflecting a wider discomfort with the bold aesthetics and ambitions of late 20th-century design. It’s an apt title for the exhibition we propose: One that reflects on how architecture carries the weight of past dreams, stylistic shifts, and public scrutiny—while also revealing the very real tensions of today’s urban life. Set within 1 Poultry—a striking example of postmodernism with ground floor now sitting empty—our exhibition confronts the complex relationship between architectural vision and vacancy, permanence and repurposing.

The work of four emerging artists—covering sculpture, installations, video, drawing, sound, and tactile media—looks at the built environment as this layered, messy stage where hopeful ideas meet real contradictions, all while gradually unraveling. The artists dig into cycles of building up and breaking down, and what it means when the idea of “home” starts to feel unstable. Their work plays with uncertainty and complexity, echoing the mix-and-match style of postmodern architecture. Gallery 3 offers the ideal setting: darker corners for immersive film and sound, expansive wall surfaces for installation, and— pending approval using—the use of blinded street-facing windows as an alternative display site, activated through removable materials such as window vinyl. These spatial possibilities align with the exhibition’s layered engagement with visibility, decay, and reinterpretation.

Crucially, we do not aim to passively exhibit. We will host four public workshops—each led by one of the participating artists— using the central open space of Gallery 3 as a place for conversation, collaboration, and making. In doing so, we activate the building’s current in-between state and transform it into a temporary space of shared imagination.