Foka Wolf – Why Are We Stuck in Hospital?

7 – 19 March 2023

Ikon Gallery, The Exchange, Jack Arts billboards, Birmingham

An impossible maze, with no beginning or end, forms the basis of a new gallery installation and inner-city billboard campaign by Birmingham artist Foka Wolf.

Produced by Ikon, Why Are We Stuck in Hospital?, illustrates the invisibility of people with learning disabilities and/or autistic people in long-stay hospitals.  

Known for his ‘subvertisements’, which parody corporate and political posters, Foka Wolf’s interventions make us question our city’s infrastructure and whether it is meeting the needs of our community.

Comprising graphic design and declarative captions, Foka Wolf’s new posters respond to Why Are We Stuck in Hospital? – a project conducted by the School of Social Policy at the University of Birmingham in partnership with rights-based organisation Changing Our Lives.

As we have come to expect from Foka Wolf, this new artwork is straight to the point. It challenges us to think for ourselves and act on behalf of our community. It’s also graphic, colourful and highly theatrical, shining a light on the creativity of the thousands of people incarcerated in hospital settings. – Linzi Stauvers, Acting Artistic Director, Education, Ikon