Alexandra Metcalf Examines Speed and Strain in 'E=mcScared' at dépendance

dépendance in Brussels presents 'E=mcScared,' Alexandra Metcalf's first solo exhibition at the gallery, running from an unspecified date. The show explores speed not as progress but as a pervasive pressure that distorts time and attention, drawing parallels between the 19th-century railway age and contemporary digital life. Metcalf references 'railway madness,' a historical term for the dizziness and agitation caused by early train travel, to highlight how bodies struggle to keep pace with acceleration. Paintings depict passengers in train compartments set against ebru marbling, contrasting fluid ornament with rigid transit. A fainting woman appears multiplied and fragmented, suggesting a system error rather than distress. A spinning operating light scatters motifs of stars, trees, and brain-like forms, creating a restless, disorienting atmosphere. The exhibition addresses invisible labor—care, maintenance, domestic work—that resists industrial efficiency, leading to friction and collapse. Metcalf (born 1992, UK) lives in Berlin and studied at Chelsea College of Art and Design and Rhode Island School of Design. Her work has been shown at Sadie Coles, Kunsthalle Zürich, FRAC Corsica, and other venues.