A bloody mess

Faeces, urine, semen, blood - bodily fluids have long been a staple for avant-garde artistic expression. So much so that even Britain's most user-friendly artist, Antony Gormley, has dabbled in a bit of semen-painting. So it comes as no surprise for Pete Doherty, that self-styled Rimbaud of pop celebrity, to open a vein for something nobler than a chemical hit.

A self-portrait in pencil is daubed with blood. It's recognisably him, but executed with a 12-year-old's heavy hand. Then there's a couple of splodgy, totemic stick-figures with smeary slogans such as 'Rebel without a gauze' - which might raise a feeble smile if the rest wasn't one big, formless mess.

Rough collages feature foil, spoon and syringe, along with largely indecipherable lyrics scrawled in a shaky hand.

(The inspiration clearly comes from punk record covers, but Doherty is no Jamie Reid, the man behind the God Save The Queen design).

Anyway, you get the picture: an artist playing, hopefully tongue-in-cheek, at being tortured. It would have been nice to have something kind to say but the results are so drearily awful, so wretchedly predictable, that no amount of suffering for one's art can redeem it.

Still, no doubt the limited-edition prints will sell out as quickly as his wash-out gigs.

Until May 31, Bankrobber, 52 Lonsdale Road W11, Tue to Sat noon to 6pm, free. Tel: 020 7221 1883.
Tube: Notting Hill Gate

Pete Doherty: Bloodworks
Bankrobber Gallery
52 Lonsdale Road
W11