The 2023 exhibition GREED brought work by more than 70 urban artists to a temporary venue in Weymouth.
Organised by a newly formed local collective, the four-day event used a 14-metre wall and surrounding spaces for painting, photography, film, sculpture, brandalism, performance and live art.
Social commentary after the “Banksy boom”
The exhibition was framed around the expansion of politically engaged street art associated with the visibility of Banksy.
Participating artists addressed subjects including the cost-of-living crisis, consumer capitalism and gender politics. The selection included Spelling Mistakes Cost Lives, Foka Wolf, Subvertiser, My Dog Sighs, Wefail, Frank Riot, Haus of Lucy, Hats Richardson and Guy Denning, alongside local artists Bod and Sock Oven and photographers Paul Russell and Si Jubb.
The project did not treat urban art as a decorative style. Organisers argued that it had developed as a public response to political and social pressure.
A grassroots attempt to widen local culture
Artist Bod helped establish the exhibition after finding limited space in Weymouth for work he considered challenging or experimental.
Rather than waiting for an existing gallery to change its programme, the collective assembled artists, musicians, poets and filmmakers in one temporary venue.
Talks, workshops and screenings extended the event beyond the objects on display.
GREED demonstrated how a short-lived exhibition can function as cultural infrastructure. Its purpose was not only to show completed work, but to reveal a local audience and network for forms of art that had previously circulated mainly through social media.