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Uncultivated Gods is a new exhibition by Kevin Kane, bringing together painting, sculpture, installation and live performance to examine contemporary forms of worship. The exhibition considers the belief systems, desires and structures of power that shape modern life, often operating unnoticed or unquestioned.
Rather than focusing on traditional religion, the works explore devotion as it appears today, embedded in celebrity, politics, money and social rituals, asking what has been allowed to flourish without notice, and what might - or should - instead deserve our attention.
The exhibition presents a series of paintings, sculpture, installation and performance that approach worship not as a fixed belief, but as a psychological and social condition. Figures, objects and materials function as stand-ins for modern gods: power, visibility, identity, aspiration and control. Kane will present an altar at which to pay homage to the world of celebrity, power and where the natural world can be transgressed. At the back of the altar, as is traditional, will be a painting of a familiar deity, selfie-ready. Towering over this painting, a 3 metre-high inflatable sculpture will be presented, and viewers will be invited to give offerings to ensure the gods remain contented.
Paintings will include scenes of heaven imagined from a queer viewpoint, alongside landscapes inspired by an episode of the 1969 TV series Civilisation, entitled The Worship of Nature. An animatronic beating heart encased in a ceramic shell raises whether we truly need love to be happy.
The exhibition opens with a live performance at the preview event on 19th February 2026. Ten ballet dancers, accompanied by live vocals and a specially composed sound work, will present a piece designed to explore the idols that we worship, and the important deities we neglect.
The work has been choreographed by Dan Baines, who recently starred in the ballet adaption of Quadrophenia at Sadler’s Wells and, more recently, in Broadway NYC. Sound has been arranged by Massimo Paramour (Torture Garden, Roast) with vocals provided by Rhian Guerrero.
The performance will conclude with a DJ set, transforming the preview into a collective ritualistic ceremony.
About the Artist
Kevin Kane is an artist working across painting, sculpture, print, installation and moving image, with a practice centred on contemporary portraiture and human relationships. His work explores identity, desire and social structures through a queer lens, often examining the tension between emotional experience and analytical systems of thought.
Kane is currently completing a BA in Contemporary Portraiture at Art Academy London. His work has been exhibited with the National Portrait Gallery, Royal Academy of Arts, Royal Society of Portrait Painters, the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers, the Scottish Portrait Awards and the Woolwich Contemporary Print Exhibition. He is a co-founder of Cardion Arts alongside Gemma Rolls-Bentley.
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