LONDON.- When the London Festival of Architecture kicks off on 1 June, artist Richard Woods will be trashing a house. Throughout the 30 days of the festival, visitors to Hoxton Square will be met with the latest occupant of the roving art space (and skip) SKIP Gallery: Richard Wood’s ‘Upgrade’ – a luridly colourful, large-scale model home, casually abandoned in a roadside skip.

‘Upgrade’ has its roots in Woods’ contribution to the 2017 Folkestone Triennial, when his ‘Holiday Home’ project saw the construction of six brightly hued bungalows appearing around the coastal town – a playful but penetrating commentary on the tensions between second-home ownership and national housing shortages.

Reinvented for a new urban context, Woods’ work gains new meaning by being displayed in the heart of Hoxton – an area which has undergone a rapid and radical process of gentrification in the last two decades – either a benefit or a blight to the neighbourhood, depending on whom you ask.

‘As a student at the Slade School, I spent many hours walking the areas north of King’s Cross. I would look for skips containing plywood that I could drag back to Gower Street Studios and make into sculpture. Many of these skips contained kitchens or three-piece suites. By proposing that a whole house could be cast aside and put into a skip I am highlighting and exaggerating this process of gentrification.' – Richard Woods

The visually striking sculpture doesn’t seek to make an argument on either side of the debate, but to invite SKIP visitors to engage with the cycle of change within the city, and to consider the gradual transitions that occur to its fabric over time – socially, architecturally and economically. As part of London Festival of Architecture, which this year explores the theme of ‘identity', ‘Upgrade’ shines a spotlight on the ever-changing character of London’s neighbourhoods.

Richard Woods is the latest in a growing line of high-profile artists exhibiting with SKIP Gallery, which began with David Shrigley in June 2017, and has since seen contributions from Gavin Turk, Ben Eine and Milan football club AS Velasca. Founded in 2016 by artists Catherine Borowski and Lee Baker, the curators of 'Upgrade', SKIP Gallery has grown from being a whimsical one-off to an evolving international artistic collaboration, and an example of how the impact and meaning of an artwork can be influenced by its setting. The skip becomes an integral part of the work.

In conjunction with the exhibition, SKIP Gallery is releasing a limited edition of 50 silkscreen prints signed by Woods, priced at £150 and available to purchase from Private Press.

‘Upgrade' will also be accompanied by a discussion event on Tuesday 21 June. Held in association with quarterly interdisciplinary placemaking forum Place Labs, the talk will feature SKIP Gallery’s Catherine Borowski ,Lee Baker and Richard Woods exploring the social, cultural, physical and economic dimensions of placemaking.