‘I’M IN LOVE WITH THE MODERN WORLD’ is a love letter to neon. Curated by Monika Bobinska for Soho Housing Association, the exhibition features work by seven contemporary artists, including:

Tereza Horacek
Paul Hosking
Simon Keenleyside
Peter Lamb
Nick Malyon
D J Roberts
Jacob Wolff

The collection of neon and neon-related pieces reflect the sense of freedom, exhilaration, romance and poetry inherent in the medium. ‘I’M IN LOVE WITH THE MODERN WORLD’ is a large-scale neon which originally floated on the roofline of Cleveland Park Avenue, London E17 (2014-2020). A commission for Waltham Forest council by D J Roberts, the text celebrates the ordinary, everyday world around us.

” … Well, listen
Well, the modern world is not so bad
Not like the students say
In fact I’d be in heaven
If you’d share the modern world with me”

It takes its title from the song by Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers, described by The Guardian journalist Laura Barton as “one of the most magical songs in existence. It is a paean to the modern world, to the urban landscape”. This glorious neon will be returning to Walthamstow to its new home above Soho Theatre Walthamstow in 2025.

Other works in the show include An Enormous Yes by D J Roberts, a tribute to jazz and modernity as expressed in Philip Larkin’s poem ‘For Sidney Bechet’, a number of works by Jacob Wolff referencing the legendary 1920s Rome nightclub created by Italian Futurist Giacomo Balla, and site-specific pieces which find a striking home in the various rooms of our Grade II listed Georgian terrace gallery.

Great Pulteney Street gallery is part of Soho Housing Association, a 50-year-old charity on a mission to ensure ordinary, working people can continue to live and work in central London today. The Association has a rich history of ensuring the creative workers of Soho have an affordable place to live in the West End and has always celebrated Soho’s identity as a magnet for artists and creatives.

The gallery is holding an open viewing for ‘I’M IN LOVE WITH THE MODERN WORLD’ on Wednesday 4th December from 3-6pm and the exhibition is open until late January. Gallery opening times are Saturdays 12-6pm and any time by appointment – please check our Instagram @gpsgallerysoho for holiday closing times and do get in touch via [email protected].