Jonathan Baldock's 'Held' at Arnolfini, Bristol: art that invites and threatens

Jonathan Baldock's exhibition 'Held' at Bristol's Arnolfini presents a collection of tapestries and ceramics that evokes an eerie, uncomfortable world of folkloric psychedelia and pagan aesthetics. The show revolves around the tension between being held and being trapped, between care and violence.

Upon entering, visitors are greeted by two lifesize felt figures adorned with leaves and greenery. Pink holes at crotch level hint at additional functions. On the walls, ceramic flowers have grown noses and ears; a tongue protrudes from the centre of a grey poppy, as if trying to lick passersby. Hands reach desperately out of ceramic pots on the floor, suggesting trapped bodies or an attempt to pull viewers in.

The second room is dominated by a pungent odour of fur, wood, and damp moss, accompanied by a deep bass rumble of snapping twigs and breathing. A giant bear sits on a platform in the centre, inviting visitors to climb up and cuddle it. However, the experience feels uncomfortable and unsafe, leaving the question: will it hold you or tear you apart?

Baldock's work explores his personal connection to English identity – genetically and ancestrally part of it but culturally and sexually alienated. References to his mother, her garden, and her support appear throughout, alongside nods to bodies, English history, and Japanese culture. Tapestries feature geometric patterns, bodies, teeth, trees of life, Celtic knots, English roses, ancient inscriptions, and green men. The ambient soundtrack enhances the sensation of being in a dark forest, about to be pounced on by a mythical beast.

Critics have compared the exhibition to 'The Wicker Man' transplanted to semi-rural Kent in the early 2000s – a more terrifying and unsettling vision of ancient rites filtered through 1960s hippie love and millennial malaise.