Michael Dean

1 May-8 Jun 2025

Overview

In tandem with London Gallery Weekend, Herald St presents an exhibition of new works by Michael Dean (b. 1977, Newcastle Upon Tyne; lives and works in London). In Herald St’s Bethnal Green gallery, visitors will be immersed within Dean’s reinterpretation of the board game ‘Snakes and Ladders’, which originated in ancient India as ‘Moksha Patam’ before being introduced to the United Kingdom in the 19th century. Constructed from concrete, – a material the artist has previously named as a ‘democratic ceramic' – Dean’s newest sculptures will recall the geometric grid structure of such games as well as traditional chequered flooring, inviting viewers to become protagonists as they physically traverse the exhibition. Continuing Dean’s project of abstracting typography to create phenomenological experiences that explore the three-dimensional possibilities of language, the exhibition will reflect on subjects including class, social mobility and morality. The exhibition precedes the launch of Dean’s first major monograph later this year, published by Distanz.