Artists: Alma Berrow - Assume vivid Astro focus - Heitor dos Prazeres - Carsten Höller - Paul-Sebastian Japaz - Rene Matić - Cece Philips - Andy Warhol - Tom Wesselmann

LAMB presents Night Shift, an exhibition tracing the enduring relationship between art and the culture of nightlife, where liberation, reinvention, and moments of introspection unfold in the hours after dark. Spanning from the mid-twentieth century to the present, the exhibition brings together historic icons, including Andy Warhol and Tom Wesselmann, alongside contemporary voices such as avaf (assume vivid astro focus), Alma Berrow, Rene Matić, Paul-Sebastian Japaz, and Cece Philips.

The exhibition opens with the pulsating energy of Night Shift (2025), a vibrant large-scale painting by Eli Sudbrack (b. Rio de Janeiro, 1968) from the São Paulo-based collective avaf. Drawing from the visual language of discos, dance parties, and underground clubs, the work explodes with kaleidoscopic colour and movement that embodies the dancefloor. Rooted in queer visual cultures and shared forms of expression, avaf transforms painting into a celebratory platform for participation and connection. This collective energy finds historical resonance in Sem título [Untitled] (1962) by Heitor dos Prazeres (b. 1898, d. 1966, Rio de Janeiro), a pioneering samba composer who later turned to painting. Dos Prazeres translated the rhythms of Afro-Brazilian life, including samba, carnival, and the rituals of everyday festivity, into dynamic compositions which showcase celebration as a profound cultural ritual and a means of shaping identity.

In the following room, the exhibition explores themes of excess, decadence, and celebrity, as well as the spaces of nightlife where they take shape. Andy Warhol’s gelatin silver prints from Studio 54 immortalise the notorious nightclub as a place of style and spectacle, and document a world where the night offered possibilities for reinvention within the club walls. As Warhol captured the living glamour of nightlife, Alma Berrow translates its aftermath and remnants. Her ceramic installation Alls Swell (2023) transforms the late-night atmosphere into sculptural forms and objects that hold the residue of the night, suggesting how nightlife leaves behind physical traces of experience.

In its final room, Night Shift considers moments of intimacy and introspection, as Paul-Sebastian Japaz’s (b. 1992, New Jersey) and Cece Philips’ (b. 1996, London) luminous interior nightscapes reveal the quieter dimensions of nightfall. Japaz’s voyeuristic compositions capture glances through windows or doorways, or a quiet exchange in the dimmed light, as do Philips’ in her exploration of framing, visibility, and the act of being seen or unseen. Both works serve as a symbol that nightlife is as much about solitude and vulnerability as it is about moments of exuberance.

Through painting, photography, ceramics, and mixed-media installations, Night Shift explores the shifting rhythms of nocturnal life, examining it as both escapism and entertainment, as well as a vital site of cultural production. The exhibited artists trace the night’s full spectrum, from the glamour and euphoria of the dance floor to moments of quiet intimacy and reflection. Nightclubs, underground raves, street carnivals, and house parties become stages for artistic expression and exploratory lenses onto the many facets of the night.