Supermarket Flats (2026) is an exhibition by emerging artist Chelsea Tijerina, developed during her occupation of studio spaces inside a former Morrisons supermarket. The work responds to an increasingly dominant perception of housing as a commercial product, examining the tension between market-driven development and human, communal value.
The work is situated within a site undergoing transition: starting January 2026, the studios and surrounding High Street will be redeveloped into affordable housing. This imminent conversion mirrors broader shifts occurring across London, where arts spaces and long-standing communities are displaced by redevelopment agendas. Supermarket Flats reflects on this moment of precarity, using the supermarket — a site of mass consumption — as both context and metaphor. At the core of the presentation of work is an invitation to reconsider housing as a commodity. The work foregrounds local stories, addressing the difficulty of making voices heard beneath layers of commercialisation and decision-making that often remain unseen. Through allegory and material layering, the series explores the relationship between space and the commercial enterprise we place on it.
Promotional posters of a satirical retail chain with implausibly low prices cover each piece in which individuals are then invited to peel away. The act of performing “lacerations” is symbolic and denotes a desire to see beyond face value, discovering the context behind what we see. Behind the surface of each image lies layers of news articles and figurative paintings reflecting an ongoing struggle for community identity. This act of uncovering becomes central to the performative dimension, encouraging viewers to question what is obscured by polished commercial messaging.
