Former BBC presenter, author and artist Matthew Collings unveiled his latest illustrations in the Scottish town of Sanquhar. The exhibition came to the Merz art gallery after Collings’ London exhibition was cancelled following complaints from UK Lawyers for Israel.

The exhibition features 130 drawings depicting violence against Palestinians, including images of military and political leaders surrounded by blood and Israeli soldiers depicted alongside skulls. The collection was first shown at Joseph Wales Studios in Margate earlier this year.

Collings began his career at Artscribe, where he became editor from 1983 to 1987 and received a Turner Prize commendation for his work on the magazine. He went on to present the BBC’s The Late Show from 1989-1995, where he featured artists including Jeff Koons and Damien Hirst, offering artists their first positive exposure on British television.

Collings is also the author of Blimey! From Bohemia to Britpop, where he chronicled the rise of Britain’s young artists, published by 21 Publishing and described by Artforum magazine as “one of the best-selling contemporary art books ever”.

Artistic causes during wartime have been a consistent theme in documentaries produced by Collings with the BBC, and he narrated documentaries on the Nazi “Degenerate Art” (Entartete Kunst) exhibition, exploring the history of art movements under extremist regimes throughout the 20th century.

His other topics included looted art from the war by Germany and Russia, explorations on the theme of Situationism and Spain’s post-Franco art scene.

Now retired and a full-time artist, Collings has found himself facing scrutiny for his art depicting the war in Gaza.

Collings’ second exhibition of Drawings Against Genocide was cancelled after UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) submitted complaints and, according to Collings, threatened legal action against the owner of the Delta House Gallery in Wandsworth, London.

During an interview, Collings explained his thoughts on the actions of UKLFI, describing the organisation as “a notorious outfit” and accusing it of having the power to “close things down just by bullying”.

UKLFI has recently drawn scrutiny within the public sector. The organisation has a dual structure, consisting of a charitable trust and a private lobbying company.

UKLFI’s influence within the British government has subsequently been described by critics as “lawfare”, with the organisation involved in legal challenges and lobbying relating to UK policy towards Israel.

In the context of Gaza, these have included challenges to Keir Starmer’s suspension of 30 arms export licences in September 2024, as well as its involvement in a controversial dispute concerning references to Palestine at the British Museum.

UKLFI’s website describes its campaign concerning more than £800,000 of We Care Foundation funds currently held by the Official Custodian

Speaking of his own artwork and similar artistic movements that have grown in response to the war in Gaza, Collings drew comparisons between the censorship of art by Western governments and the actions of Hitler’s Nazi party and its “Degenerate Art” exhibition. The 1937 exhibition was used by the Nazi regime to condemn art it considered unacceptable.

Collings also reflected on the irony of being accused of producing “Nazi art” and repeating “Nazi tropes of hatred for Jews”. Referring to the Nazis’ Degenerate Art exhibition, he said its history should warn against fascism and the suppression of artists, but argued that the idea could now be “turned around” against artists who criticise Israel. “You could say… you, Matthew Collings, are a degenerate artist,” he said, describing the accusation that he is simultaneously a “degenerate” and a “Nazi” as something that “cannot possibly work”.

Collings said the controversy surrounding his exhibition raises questions about the ability of artists to address political violence and the restrictions they may face when doing so.

Collings’ exhibition is thus representative of a wider debate within artistic and cultural movements about how artists can bring attention to international atrocities while addressing politically contentious subjects.