15 May – 21 September 2025
Free
Popcorn! is a new participatory exhibition by artist Jenny Pengilly inviting audiences of all ages to explore the sonic world through our voices, bodies, and props.
Popcorn! is inspired by Foley artists, sound designers who produce the sounds we hear in films, television programmes and video games that can’t be recorded live on set. They often use surprising objects and inventive methods such as bubble wrap in place of popcorn, shaking leather gloves to mimic flapping wings, and snapping celery to replicate the sound of breaking bones.
Featuring a playful DIY punk aesthetic characteristic of Pengilly’s practice, the multi-sensory exhibition invites audiences of all ages into an imaginative world that explores the magic of sound and sound effects.
Visitors can interact with a range of unusual props, image boards and soundtracks to create their own acoustic adventures. Alongside sound, visual prompts and moving image, the exhibition features a recording den ‘Static Studios’ where audiences can record Foley sounds to accompany an improvised film.
Pengilly’s practice is informed by her ongoing research into experimental music and children’s learning. The exhibition has been developed through a series of workshops at Whitechapel Gallery and Phoenix School in Tower Hamlets, which supports children and young people with autism. Music and drawings from Pengilly’s ongoing collaboration with her niece Robin also feature in the exhibition.
Much of Pengilly’s work is inspired by children’s subcultures and a desire to build opportunities and platforms for it. The exhibition acts as a celebration of children’s ingenuity and a bid to foster respect for its influence on the adult world. Entering this immersive environment prompts us to take notice and listen, and reminds us of the vital importance of coming together to play, question and create.
About Jenny Pengilly
Jenny Pengilly is a multidisciplinary artist working in learning and social engagement. Her work predominantly focuses on the medium of the ‘art workshop’ and the use of affective materials and making to facilitate play, experimentation, collaboration and mutual growth and exchange with children, young people, families and adults. Jenny is interested in the interactions, processes and objects that emerge from these engagements and exploring how they could be creatively expanded and shared.
Jenny holds an MA in Art and Design in Education from the Institute of Education and has worked with organisations such as Tate Kids, Bow Arts, Royal College of Art, Heart and Soul, Royal Academy of Art, Museum of the Home and South London Gallery, amongst other arts, learning and community organisations. Jenny is co-director of Joy For Stuff, a social art project and sound art duo, and is a co-founder of Electronic Audio Club, a peer-led community group exploring DIY electronic audio projects based at TACO! gallery.
Jenny also hosts a monthly radio show ‘Experimental Tunes and Children’ on RTM.fm exploring experimental music in relation to children’s learning, culture and experience.
About Participation at Whitechapel Gallery
Participatory exhibitions at Whitechapel Gallery highlight artists working with participation and social engagement as core foundations of their practice. These projects showcase highly skilled practitioners offering creative opportunities for audiences of all ages at a time when arts subjects continue to be side-lined in the curriculum.
Popcorn! builds on the success of the Children’s Commission 2009-2019, Escape the Slick 2023, Sculpting Conversations 2023, Edge Effects 2024, and Moving Grounds 2025. It further expands possibilities for how immersive, experiential and participatory practices can manifest in a gallery setting. Through an emphasis on intergenerational experiences and collaborative working, as well as offering a fun and social environment, the exhibition invites everyone to explore their own creativity.
Notes to Editors
Listing Information
Popcorn! 15 May 2025 – 21 September 2025
Gallery 7, Free
Visitor Information
General Gallery Admission: Free
Opening times: Tuesday – Sunday, 11am – 6pm; Thursdays, 11am – 9pm
Whitechapel Gallery, 77 – 82 Whitechapel High Street, London E1 7QX
T + 44 (0) 20 7522 7888 | E info@whitechapelgallery.org | W whitechapelgallery.org
Press Information
For more information, interviews and images, contact:
Hannah Vitos, Rees & Co | hannah@reesandco.com | +44 (0)20 3137 8776
Will Ferreira Dyke, Whitechapel Gallery | WillFerreiraDyke@whitechapelgallery.org
About Whitechapel Gallery
Whitechapel Gallery was founded in 1901 with the aim to bring great art to the people of East London. From the outset, the Gallery exemplified a bold programme of exhibitions and educational activities, driven by the desire to enrich the cultural offer for local communities and provide new opportunities for extraordinary artists from across the globe to showcase their works to UK audiences – often for the first time.
From ground-breaking solo shows from artists as diverse as Barbara Hepworth (1954), Jackson Pollock (1958), Helio Oiticica (1969), Gilbert & George (1971), Eva Hesse (1979), Frida Kahlo (1982), Sonia Boyce DBE RA (1988), Sophie Calle (2010), Zarina Bhimji (2012), Emily Jacir (2015), William Kentridge (2016), Theaster Gates (2021), Nicole Eisenman (2023), Zineb Sedira (2024), Gavin Jantjes (2024), Peter Kennard (2024), Lygia Clark (2024), Sonia Boyce (2024), Donald Rodney (2025) to thought-provoking group and thematic exhibitions that reflect key artistic and cultural concerns, the Gallery’s focus on bringing artists, ideas, and audiences together, remains as important today as it did over a century ago and has helped to cement the East End, as one of the world’s most exciting and diverse cultural quarters.
We are proud to be a Gallery that is locally embedded and globally connected. Its vision, under the current Directorship of Gilane Tawadros, is to ensure Whitechapel Gallery claims a distinctive and radical position in the social and cultural landscape, building on its pioneering history while translating and animating it for our time.
Supporter Information
Whitechapel Gallery’s Participation Programme is generously supported by:
Whitechapel Gallery Education Council Founding Members: Julie and Debashis Dey and Alex Sainsbury
Will Ferreira Dyke
Communications Assistant
E press@whitechapelgallery.org
T +44 (0)207 539 3315
For all other communications enquiries please contact:
E press@whitechapelgallery.org
T +44 (0)20 7522 7888
