The exhibition explores artistic engagement with mediumship from the 19th century to the present day.
Bringing together more than 30 artists from the 19th century to the present day, the exhibition explores artistic engagement with mediumship, from perceived spiritual inspiration and creation during seances and trances, to automatism, channelling, paranormal investigation and clairvoyance.
Bringing together more than 30 international artists from the 19th century to the present day, it explores the changing historical and aesthetic terms of artistic engagement with mediumship, from perceived spiritual inspiration and creation during seances and trances, to practices of automatism, channelling, and paranormal investigation, whilst also considering clairvoyant practices in relation to the history of feminism. The exhibition takes as its starting point the visionary work of William Blake and the largely forgotten Victorian spirit artists Georgiana Houghton, Anna Mary Howitt and Barbara Honywood, whose work based on experiences and communication with the world of the spirits was strikingly at odds with prevailing traditions of artistic expression. The exhibition progresses onto Surrealist experiments with automatism, and moves through the 20th Century where work by artists Austin Osman Spare, Ithell Colquhoun and Cameron draws on techniques of automatism combined with an interest in ritualised forms of occultism. Concluding with works from artists such as Suzanne Treister, Bonnie Camplin, Lea Porsager and Louise Despont, Not Without My Ghosts demonstrates how contemporary artists are using the power of the unseen and the ghostly to explore the radical ambiguities of the world around them. Participating artists are: William Blake; Cameron; Bonnie Camplin; Ann Churchill; Ithell Colquhoun; Louise Despont; Casimiro Domingo; Madame Fondrillon; Chiara Fumai; Madge Gill, Susan Hiller; Barbara Honywood; Georgiana Houghton; Anna Mary Howitt; Victor Hugo; Augustin Lesage; Pia Lindman; Ann Lislegaard; Andre Masson; Grace Pailthorpe; Frantisek Jaroslav Pecka; Olivia Plender; Sigmar Polke; Lea Porsager; Austin Osman Spare; Yves Tanguy and Suzanne Treister with The Museum of Blackhole Spacetime Collective. Noviadi Angkasapura; Robert Barry; Vidya Gastaldon; Jock Macdonald and Emma Talbot will be included in the exhibition tour. Not Without My Ghosts: The Artist As Medium is a Hayward Gallery Touring exhibition from Southbank Centre, London, developed in partnership with Drawing Room, curated by Lars Bang Larsen, Simon Grant and Marco Pasi. It will travel to Blackpool, Sheffield and Swansea later in the year.
