Summer Drunk Tank

Featuring: Christian Keinstar, Clinton Phillips, Geoffrey Heath, Jason Lingard, Kevin Capon, John Hurrell, Matt Molloy, Simon Glaister, Slava Mogutin

City Art Rooms will end the year with the group show, Summer Drunk Tank, an exploration of one of colour's most interesting effects on humans. The gallery walls will be awash in Baker-Miller Pink - also known as 'drunk tank pink.' The hue resembles a deep Pepto-Bismol, and has been found to lower heart rate, pulse, and respiration levels.

Jail cells painted drunk tank pink have been used as a calming effect on detainees. Dr. Alexander Schauss, director of the American Institute for Biosocial Research in Tacoma Washington, was the first to report the suppression of angry, antagonistic, and anxiety ridden behaviour among prisoners: “Even if a person tries to be angry or aggressive in the presence of pink, he can't. The heart muscles can’t race fast enough. It’s a tranquilizing colour that saps your energy.” In spite of these powerful effects, however, evidence shows that tranquility may only be short-term. Once the body returns to a state of equilibrium, a prisoner may regress to an even more agitated state.

Playing on the idea of the drunk tank – a temporary holding cell for rowdy and difficult offenders, various male artists will exhibit new and existing works that present confrontational attitudes and motifs. The art will be locked up in City Art Rooms’ own summer slammer. In addition to our roster of New Zealand artists, we are excited to feature early works by rising German star Christian Keinstar and a series of black and white photographs by popular Russian, New York-based artist Slava Mogutin.