‘Abattoir’ is the New York-based interdisciplinary artist Aria Dean’s first exhibition in the UK. The presentation includes two artworks related to the artist’s investigation of the foundational relationship between death and modernity on conceptual and material levels.

Rendered using the 3D computer graphics, the film traverses the interior of an empty slaughterhouse, weaving through corridors and chambers, an imaginary patchwork of 19th, 20th and 21st century architectures – echoed through the gallery space with exhibition interventions.

Large scale high-gloss letters signpost the doorways and walls, playing materially with the wipe clean nature of materials found within an abattoir. Interpretation is printed in white ink on black split-batten mounted panels, giving a slight sheen to the lettering and forming a solid presence within the gallery.

The secondary gallery contains Vitrine*, an installation of four large vitrines and an accompanying wall text by the artist. The vitrines are empty save for a single word marked on their red velvet lining with a branding iron. The brand, a tag of ownership usually burned into living flesh, emphasises the palpable lack of a body. As with the film installation, the implication of violence is through the structural elements at hand.

As an artist and writer, Dean is invested in a theoretical critique of representational systems, analysing how aesthetic theory, image networks and visibility map onto questions of race and power. An extensive gallery guide accompanies the show, delving deeper into the thematic narrative and conceptual origins of the artwork.