Atlantic crossing: New York artist Karen Gormandy’s ‘The Garden of Shame’, among the works in the Bethlem-Fountain House exhibition
The Bethlem Gallery, the visual arts organisation based on the grounds of the Bethlem Royal Hospital in Beckenham, has a new exhibition, free to the public, which opens next week and marks the completion of a year-long project with Fountain House Gallery – the premier venue in New York City representing artists living with mental illness.
Over the course of a year, more than 20 artists from New York and London met online once a week to collaborate and work through what the gallery calls “a series of artistic provocations”.
The project culminates in two exhibitions – in London and in New York – both titled Unfurling: Coming Out of Isolation. The London show, curated by artist Joanne Barrett and Bethlem Gallery curator Karim Sultan, will open with a reception on July 23 (4pm to 7pm) and will remain on view until September 5.
Bethlem Gallery and Fountain House Gallery will host combined programming via Zoom on July 23, including performances, artist talks and a video screening. Details can be found by clicking here.
“As a neurodivergent artist, isolation is my comfort,” Barrett says.
‘Mourning’: another of the works on display, this by Kerry Kennedy
“My art needs to be made in a peaceful space. The meetings with New York and British artists dragged me out, to others, to the group, and towards work that was different.”
Karen Gormandy, the New York studio director, said: “For a full year beginning in November 2024, artists of Fountain House Gallery and Bethlem Gallery began a series of art-making sessions examining what being in isolation is, and how it manifested for them as artists and individuals.
“Although separated by an ocean, the artists came together each Saturday to explore what it means to be isolated and what might motivate them to move away from that state.”
On display at the combined locations will be more than 80 pieces, spanning media including ceramic, textile, video, painting, drawing, poetry and prose – and a collection of postcards sent between the London and New York City artists.
A full-colour book, featuring selected works and insights by the artists and curators, will be available for purchase.
- For more on the exhibition, click here
- Isolation is on exhibit at The Bethlem Gallery, Monks Orchard Road, BR3 3BX (closest railway station West Wickham; 194 and 198 buses stop nearby) from July 22 to September 5
- Bethlem Gallery opening hours: Wed to Sat 9.30am-5pm
- Preview selected works from both shows at: https://www.artsy.net/show/fountain-house-gallery-unfurling-coming-out-of-isolation
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