Emerging artists as we speak are making their begin in a very unsure world. In an period of world unrest and downturn, the act of armouring oneself, emotionally and virtually, has by no means felt extra obligatory. As an artist and images lecturer at LCF, it’s one thing Cole Flynn Quirke is aware of properly. Borrowing its title from a Guided By Voices music, his new exhibition Quality of Armour (opening at Waste Space in east London tomorrow) invitations 12 rising photographers to supply their interpretations of the theme. “My intention for this show was to curate work that represents the armour we use to protect ourselves on a more personal and profound level,” he tells AnOther. “Possibly an object, a person, or place that, even for a brief moment, keeps our existential demons at bay.”
Capturing individuals and locations in grainy, poignantly composed frames, Quirke is an RCA graduate who acquired his begin as Nick and Susie Cave’s in-house photographer. He’s since launched two books revealed by Jane and Jeremy Books which discover concepts of solitude and the “sundown on the devil-may-care” days of youth, in addition to creating evocative black and white photos for Belgian label Ann Demeulemeester.
The first seeds for his new exhibition, Quality of Armour, had been sown again in 2019 following his debut solo exhibition on the Truman Brewery. “It was about memorialising the people in your life who act as a proverbial oak tree, the most consistent and loved,” he says. “In recent years, I have become friends with a lot of artists who I feel share the same ethos and thought it would be exciting to do a small exhibition of works in progress.”
Quirke is aware of every of the artists personally, lending the curation a selected word of intimacy. Each has taken the theme of armour in their very own path; some startlingly extreme and others extra gesturally emotive. Kaan Alexander Olcay captures a woman smiling by means of an eyeless latex masks; Jack Van Giap seems to be to the spectral consolation of the night time sky in a triptych; and Yasuhiko Iida images family members and locations that supply him safety, from the lapping waves of the ocean in Japan to the fields of Hyde Park in springtime. “The only rule for the show was that everything had to be handprinted,” says Quirke. “This was because of the level of intimacy and care it takes when you’re in a darkroom.”
Quirke’s personal photos are additionally within the present – a collection of hard-to-place black and white pictures of our bodies and landscapes, together with an arm with contemporary bitemarks imprinted into the pores and skin and mottled cloud formation at dawn. “My artwork has always been depicting life in one way or another, and a big part of that is exploring ourselves,” he says. “I grew up skating, and as I got older, I became aware of a lot of insecurity and vulnerability in some mates of mine, hidden behind a cool guy exterior. [I think it was a] sort of armour to protect their mental health. Ultimately, I think showing one’s vulnerability is really brave, so I wanted to explore that.”
Quirke hopes this sense extends to the gallery house itself, too. “I’d like it to be a laidback experience – it’s a cool little space, so it doesn’t demand silence or awkwardness like a big clinical gallery,” he says. “I’d like people to feel some sort of comfort after visiting, and hopefully leave feeling a little warmer and inspired.”
Quality of Armour is on present at Waste Space in London from 9 – 13 August 2025. Exhibited artists embody Georgia Sydney Jones, Evan Purdy, Jack Van Giap, Kaan Olcay, Cole Flynn Quirke, Molly Emma, Harvey Flynn Quirke, Natalia Theodoulidis, Yasuhiko Iida, Siam Coy, Lucas Edwards and Chiara Gabellini.
