Alex Hyde's Second Novel, "Exhibition, Is an Elegiac Love Letter to the YBA Era, Set Against London's 90S Art Scene"

Alex Hyde's second novel, "Exhibition, is an elegiac love letter to the YBA era, set against London's 90s art scene. The story follows Rabble Stone, a working-class photography student who becomes entangled with a moneyed artistic set, including an unnamed, now-deceased artist to whom the novel is addressed. Their creative collaboration blurs identities, as Rabble's intimate portraits are incorporated into the artist's drawings.

Hyde's descriptions evoke Tracey Emin, and the work's trajectory from art-world curiosity to global commodity. While themes of self-authorship and co-option are handled competently, they feel overfamiliar, and the prose sometimes lapses into imprecision. However, Hyde excels rhythmically and writes tenderly about bodily exhaustion and addiction, as seen in the character Duncan. The novel also engages with the challenges of ekphrastic writing."