Kafka vs Laura Ashley

Themes of mishap, endurance and anxiety recur in Jakob Roepke's surrealist collages. The artist comes from Germany and has, since 1996, created over 700 small works on cardboard, each of which is identically sized. There are an impressive 150 such works in this show. It's a stiff-collared, retro male world - circa 1920s by the look of things - characterised by all sorts of unlovely competitive behaviour, and a vaguely homoerotic mood. The background colours, though, are decoratively pretty, and usual gender stereotyping would suggest they signify an otherwise completely absent femininity. Whatever; the work looks very Kafka meets Laura Ashley, and is well worth a visit.

Neal Brown