Ballard-inspired exhibition opens at two Cardiff artist-run spaces

Nation.Cymru staff

Seventeen artists respond to the work of J.G. Ballard in *Dream Systems*, an exhibition opening in Cardiff on 13 November across two artist-run galleries, Oriel Canfas in Canton and BayArt on Bute Street.

Most of the work is painting and drawing, and it uses the novelist’s fiction as a way of looking at the present. The themes include collapsing systems, technological isolation, abandoned spaces, the ghosts of modernist architecture, cars and traffic, environmental crisis and the mix of beauty with sex, violence and death that runs through Ballard’s books.

Bianca MacCall’s *Summer Holiday* shows a St George’s flag tattoo framed by a Polynesian-style motif, a comment on British nationalism and its contradictions. The show links it to Ballard’s 2006 novel *Kingdom Come*, which depicts English nationalism filling a spiritual gap left by late capitalism.

Fay Ballard, the author’s daughter, is showing drawings from a series she made in 2015 after clearing the family home. Her father died in 2009. Walking through the empty rooms brought back memories of her childhood and teenage years, and the drawings became a way of understanding the past.

Andy Harper’s dense, overgrown, alien landscapes recall *The Drowned World*, Ballard’s novel of a London submerged beneath tropical water and overrun by fast-growing vegetation.

The exhibition will also borrow from Ballard’s habit of staging subversive market-research exercises. Similar activities will form part of its publicity and the visitor experience.

David Cronenberg’s film adaptation of *Crash* will be screened at Chapter Arts Centre on 21 November, introduced by the curators. A radio show of Ballard-themed music, mixed by Morgana C, will be broadcast throughout the run.

The show is curated by two of the exhibiting artists, Jo Berry and James Moore. The other artists are Jon Alibone, Tom Banks, Marc Beattie, Christopher Campbell, Geraint Evans, Lewis Graham, Tess Gray, Dan Hays, Lucia Jones, Jillian Murphy, Aidan Myers and Casper White.

Exhibition details *
Friday 13 November to Saturday 5 December 2026
Opening event: Friday 13 November, 5pm to 7pm at Oriel Canfas (44a Glamorgan Street, CF5 1QS) and 6pm to 9pm at BayArt (54B/C Bute Street, CF10 5AF)

Opening times: Wednesdays and Saturdays, 12pm to 5pm, or by appointment

More information is available here