Graham Dolphin’s practice spans drawing, object-making, film, sound, text and curation. At its core lies an ongoing investigation into identity as a constructed idea, examined through the lens of popular culture. The figure of the fan recurs throughout his work as a symbol of new forms of spirituality emerging within a secular age.

Working with the signifiers of popular music and cultural ephemera, Dolphin reconfigures familiar materials through acts of meticulous, handmade labour. In doing so, he elevates them from the realm of popular or ‘low’ culture into that of ‘high’ culture, exposing the economies of cultural value and the capitalist systems that underpin them.

The exhibition title ‘Teenage Angst Has Paid Off Well’ is taken from Nirvana’s ‘Serve the Servants’, a band that has long been central to Dolphin’s thinking. Having witnessed their rise to fame, Kurt Cobain’s death and the band’s evolution into a global brand, Dolphin sees Nirvana as a compelling case study in the entanglement of culture and capitalism.

Connecting past and present, the exhibition pairs Dolphin’s new photographs with selected earlier works and collaborative pieces made with Durham Sixth Form Centre students. Thousands of Nirvana T-shirt resale images from Vinted, a filmed student portrait series and a one-night performance by student band YAWNDOG at the opening, all showcase Dolphin’s multidisciplinary approach.