In 1991, it was still possible to mistake the predatory violence of that system for a kind of animal vitality. Hyde’s descriptions of the work strongly evoke Tracey Emin, as does its subsequent journey from localised art-world curio to highly valuable, globally exhibited market commodity. Also commendable is Hyde’s willingness to grapple with the issue that plagues ekphrastic writing in practically all of its forms. That feeling of melancholic reflection, of abundant futures concertinaed into the inevitability of the present, suffuses Exhibition and is its primary achievement. Exhibition by Alex Hyde is published by Granta (£14.99).