Charles Atlas: Hail the New Puritan

Charles Atlas: Hail the New Puritan is on view at the Contemporary Art Gallert of Vancouver through February 28, 2026.

This "anti-documentary" follows Scottish dancer and choreographer Michael Clark in a highly stylized day-in-the-life as he and his company prepare for a performance. Shot in the thriving queer, punk and post-punk countercultures of 1980s East London — with appearances from figures such as Leigh Bowery and Mark E. Smith of The Fall — Hail the New Puritan toes the tenuous boundary between fantasy and reality, capturing a dazzling culture of self-fashioning and world-making, and the potent energies of a rapidly shifting social landscape.

To learn more about the exhibition, please visit the Contemporary Art Gallert of Vancouver website.