Living among endless signs and half-baked meanings, it’s easy to forget how slippery reality has become. Banana in the Room plays with that exhaustion, using a familiar yellow fruit as a decoy for much heavier questions. Artist Szack leans on humour and recognisability, not for cheap laughs, but as a way to expose what we politely ignore. The reference is obvious. If an elephant suggests a looming problem nobody wants to name, this softer substitute points to issues dismissed because they feel harmless or even silly. That’s where the work sharpens. What looks playful begins to carry ideas around image, gender identity and the thin line between seeing and pretending not to. Laughter becomes a shield, an easy exit from discomfort. By treating the symbol as a joke, we avoid speaking plainly. Szack asks what happens when the joke stops landing and what we’re left refusing to face.
Until February 21. Free. 333Gallery, 11am-6pm
