Ruby Cruel, 250 Morning Lane, London (2026)

13/02/2026

OPENING TONIGHT >>> THE THINGNESS OF STUFF featuring this sound work by Suren Seneviratne, electronic musician and artist. His ‘Missing Music’ project uses a collection of secondhand laptops and meticulously documented obsolete software, VST plugins and sound tools to create electronic music that bridges the past and present. A newly released cassette of this music release by Margate Electronics will be available to listen to in the exhibition.

The exhibition looks at the nature of obsession and gathering via personal collections and archives - and connections which form through these between seemingly unconnected ‘things.

Join us for the opening TONIGHT, January 13th 6-9pm. Ruby Cruel, 250 Morning Lane, London,
E9 6RQ. All welcome. No reservation needed.

Artists: Kate Carr, Noel Clueit, Luke Drozd, Alan Dunn, Graham Dunning, Joanne Lee, Mark Pawson, Suren Seneviratne, Maia Urstad.

Exhibition hours: Sat 14th, Sun 15th, Sat 21st & SUN 22nd, Feb, 2-6pm.

11/02/2026

OPENING THIS FRIDAY >>> THE THINGNESS OF STUFF featuring this work in our window by artist Graham Dunning who is exhibiting a selection of discarded post-it notes picked up from the streets over the years that paint a picture of the mundane, funny and abstract nature of daily life.

The exhibition looks at the nature of obsession and gathering via personal collections and archives – and connections which form through these between seemingly unconnected ‘things’.

Join us for the opening this Friday January 13th 6-9pm. Ruby Cruel, 250 Morning Lane, London, E9 6RQ. All welcome. No reservation needed.

06/02/2026

NEW RUBY RESIDENT >>> Multidisciplinary artist Luke Drozd has touched down from Norway and we’re excited to have him here. Luke has many lights hidden under his bushel but for us he has been working on a curated exhibition on artists as collectors.

Join us next Friday for the opening of ‘The Thingness of Stuff’. The exhibition looks at the nature of obsession and gathering via personal collections and archives – and connections which form through these between seemingly unconnected ‘things’.

Friday January 13th, 6-9pm. Ruby Cruel, 250 Morning Lane, London, E9 6RQ. Come see the show and drink a beverage with us! All welcome. No reservation needed.

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Luke Drozd is an artist and cultural producer originally from the UK now based in Bergen, with a multi-disciplinary practice including sound, film, performance, text and print using processes of collage, collecting and collaborative improvisation. His work is interested in the forgotten, the lost and the overlooked, the background noise and the story rarely told. From a starting point of collecting and archiving, he builds works that re-contextualises these findings into something new. Themes of psychogeography, local history and non-linear storytelling are central to this practice.

He has exhibited and performed in galleries, DIY spaces, festivals and museums internationally and is a member of studio collective Den Uferdige Institusjonen. Recent work has included a site-specific audio installation at Bergenhus festning commissioned by Hordaland kunstsenter (2022) and solo shows at Trykkeriet, Bergen Kjøtt and Østre (2022-2025) and Galleri Ask (Åsgårdstrand, NO, 2025), as well as studio residencies at USF Verftet (NO), Bergen Senter for Electronisk Kunst (NO), Kiosken (NO), Mustarinda (FI) and Leveld (NO).

03/02/2026

STICKER DROP >>> The newest Ruby Cruel sticker kindly designed for us by artist Charlie Godet Thomas is here. **Glows in the dark!** Available in the Ruby Cruel gallery shop or send us a DM to buy yours.

05/12/2025

OPEN CRUEL TAKEAWAY TAKEOVER>>> I began my journey of photographing Chinese takeaways in May 2024, after peering through the steamy window of a Chinese takeaway on a cold rainy night. This gave me a huge pang of nostalgia which I couldn’t ignore. I have since reflected on my dual cultural identity through my art.

I’m loving this journey and will continue on my quest of photographing as many Chinese takeaways in London as I can.

Wouldn’t it be great if I photographed a total of 888 Chinese takeaways?! For people who are not familiar with the significance of the number 8 in Chinese culture, the number 8 (八, bā) is considered very lucky because it sounds similar to the word fā (發), which means wealth or prosperity, which I wish you all plenty of!

It’s been an absolute pleasure sharing my art with you on Ruby Cruel’s socials, and I hope you’ll continue following me on my adventures!

04/12/2025

OPEN CRUEL TAKEAWAY TAKEOVER>>> Ever wondered what Chinese takeaway kids would have for dinner? Apart from the occasional left overs, our family meals would be much simpler than the Chinese takeaway dishes that we served to customers.

Staple dishes at home would consist of boiled rice with a splash of soy sauce, steamed pak choi or broccoli, and a source of protein, which could be anything from steamed fish to a salted duck egg. Even though I grew up in and around Chinese takeaways, I still salivate at the aroma of Chinese food and the sound of the food being fried in woks.

After going on a long walk photographing takeaways on a cold winter’s night, I love nothing more than chips and curry sauce from a Chinese takeaway!

03/12/2025

OPEN CRUEL TAKEAWAY TAKEOVER>>> I love the aesthetic of traditional Chinese takeaways. The colours my family chose for their takeaway signs were mostly yellow and red as these are vivid colours and look bright when illuminated, but also because red and yellow are considered as lucky colours in Chinese culture. Red is associated with happiness, good fortune and success and yellow is considered as the most prestigious colour and is often used to decorate royal palaces, places of worship.

Although there were some design features and decorations that were typical to most Chinese takeaways, my family were not keen on creating too much of a Chinese ambience in their takeaways for fear of racism or prejudice. They wanted their takeaway to be relatively easy to maintain but also fit in with the surrounding local shops.

02/12/2025

OPEN CRUEL TAKEAWAY TAKEOVER>>> You will see from my photos that I have adopted the uniformity of typology through my photographic style. This is because I want my series of photographs of Chinese takeaways to be a permanent record of their existence, and in essence, frozen in time.

As Chinese takeaways are slowly vanishing from our streets, I would like my typology to be available for future generations to analyse and discuss. I also chose to photograph Chinese takeaways in a typological style to challenge the ignorant remarks that were often directed at me when I was growing up: “You Chinese all look the same”. This was during a time when diversity was less celebrated. Remarks like these, made it much more difficult for me to assimilate into a British identity without feeling marked by my heritage. Now, through my art, I am reflecting on this experience of being made to feel ‘different’ by showing that although the visual perception of Chinese takeaways can all appear to be the same, when you look closely, you will see that they are all in fact, unique.

01/12/2025

OPEN CRUEL TAKEAWAY TAKEOVER>>>I photograph Chinese takeaways in the evenings as this is the time that they visually come alive. The warm glow of the illuminated signs and the light spilling out of the large windows revealing another different world beyond the street, these characteristics are so inviting. Also, most people visit Chinese takeaways in the evening, so I wanted to capture this aspect of comforting familiarity.

My journey as taken me to various parts of London and I have walked many miles to photograph as many Chinese takeaways as I can.

30/11/2025

OPEN CRUEL TAKEAWAY TAKEOVER>>> My art is about preserving an important part of British Chinese cultural heritage and reconciling my dual cultural identity.

The Chinese takeaways that my family owned while I was growing up in the 1980’s had a very similar aesthetic to the takeaways that I am photographing today. Each takeaway had a broad window frontage, decorated in a display of photos of the dishes that customers could order. The most prominent feature was the illuminated takeaway sign, which shone like a bright beacon during the long winter nights.

Ruby Cruel

13/02/2026

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