The Chapman Brothers in Hastings

This morning I drove to Hastings, listening to a woman taking about death. It was quite fitting, as I was on my way to see the Chapman Brothers' exhibition before it closes on Wednesday.

Jake and Dinos Chapman seem to have a knack of upsetting people. Their Facebook page includes the following comments:

• "You guys are disgusting! Your work is coming from minds darkest places, you are doing anything to get fame. Shame on you both!" - Arash

• "Prison is the only place you should be in! Shame you!" - Otta

Inspired by Bosch, Goya and the Holocaust, works like this excite strong feelings, from admiration to outrage:

I must be a bad person, as I admired the apocalyptic scenes of Nazi soldiers, skeletons and crucified Ronald McDonalds . I felt that the Chapmans' art had a clear moral purpose, compared to the lazy, sixth form humour of a work like Martin Creed's prize-winning 'The lights going on and off'.

Their art also made me laugh:

 Asked to explain the reason for the Ronald McDonalds, the Chapmans provided this explanation:

"We take McDonald’s as being a marker of the transformation from industrialisation to the end of the world. McDonald’s once represented the idealism of fast food and the space rest era. Now it’s consistent with the dilation of the ozone and a litigious clown who’s lost his sense of humour."

(Source - www.deliberation.info)

I'd always perceived the Chapmans as one-trick shock jockeys, gaining notoriety by deliberately picking the most contentious subjects. Visiting the exhibition made me revise my half-baked ideas, realising how much thought and hard graft had gone into their work.

In contrast to the horror and depravity of the Chapman Brothers' art, the De La Warr Pavillion in Bexhill is having an exhibition of art from the Ladybird books, beginning on January 24th. As a lifelong fan of Ladybird, I can't wait.