Isabel Rock: Things Fall Apart, The Centre Cannot Hold

Key Takeaways

• Exhibition runs Sep 2025–Mar 2026 at Hastings Contemporary
• Features hybrid creatures critiquing capitalism and climate crisis
• Originated from £10,000 Evelyn Williams Drawing Award 2023
• Uses drawing as resistance, inspired by artist’s prison experience
• Aims to inspire creativity and collective action

Summary

Artist and climate activist Isabel Rock opens her first major solo exhibition, "Things Fall Apart, The Centre Cannot Hold," at Hastings Contemporary from 27 September 2025 to 15 March 2026. The immersive installation transforms drawing into theatrical environments populated by mutant hybrids—giant slugs, feral rats, colossal pigs—inhabiting the ruins of human civilization. Drawing, developed during Rock’s month in HMP Bronzefield after a Just Stop Oil protest, serves as a tool of resistance and reflection throughout the show. The project emerged from the £10,000 Evelyn Williams Drawing Award 2023, highlighting innovative approaches to drawing.

Pulse Analysis

Artistic activism has found a new frontier in climate discourse, and Isabel Rock’s latest show exemplifies how low‑tech media can amplify urgent messages. By extending drawing beyond paper—into sculpture, installation, and narrative—Rock demonstrates that traditional techniques remain potent in an era dominated by digital overload. This approach resonates with audiences seeking tangible, human‑scaled interpretations of abstract threats such as rising temperatures and systemic inequality.

The Hastings Contemporary exhibition immerses visitors in a dystopian tableau where giant slugs, feral rats, and multi‑limbed crocodiles occupy decaying human infrastructure. Each scene, from a papier‑mâché rat behind a rusted sports car to a slug confined in a mock prison cell, operates as both theatrical set and ecological allegory. Rock’s personal experience drawing in HMP Bronzefield infuses the work with authenticity; the sketches made in confinement become symbols of resistance, illustrating how creativity can survive even the harshest conditions.

Beyond its visual spectacle, the show signals a broader shift in cultural institutions toward supporting activist art that confronts capitalism and climate collapse. Backed by the Evelyn Williams Drawing Award, the project validates experimental drawing as a vehicle for social commentary. Visitors leave not only entertained but also equipped with a renewed sense of agency, reminded that collective action and imagination are essential tools for shaping a more sustainable future.