25 years since the inception of Belmacz, we are delighted & honoured & excited & energised to present a momentous show reflecting on how the expansive project has grown to date. Driven by the ethos “we do what we like, and what we do we do in a radically welcoming manner”, The Protagonist highlights the gallery’s particularly convivial approach to exhibition making, convening a number of “curators”, each of whom develops one aspect of the ever-changing presentation. Featuring artists with historical connections to Belmacz as well as new faces, the exhibition includes a vast array of artistic presentations and performances.

Carla Åhlander & Aaron Amar Bhamra

(b. 1966, Lund, Sweden and b. 1992, Vienna, Austria)

Carla Åhlander studied art history, performance and photography in Sweden, Italy and Denmark between 1985 and 1994. Carla lives and works in Berlin (Germany) where she teaches photography at Bard College Berlin and at the Berlin University of the Arts.

Aaron Amar Bhamra works at the Department of Expanded Museum Studies at the University of Applied Arts Vienna. Together with Monika Georgieva, Aaron runs LAURENZ, an independent space in Vienna. He is based there full time.

The poster edition was printed on the occasion of the exhibition Holding Places exhibition held at Belmacz, London, 12 Jul — 27 Sep 2024. Featuring Aaron Amar Bhamra’s untitled work and Carla Åhlander’s Construction of a Memory (detail). Visual communication – Roland Wulftange. Designed by smile. Printed by WOESTE DRUCK VERLAG.

Jonathan Baldock

(b. 1980, Pembury, Kent, UK)

Jonathan Baldock studied Fine Art at the Winchester School of Arts (Southampton, UK) before completing his MA in Painting at the Royal College of Art (London, UK). He lives and works in London.

Tim Berresheim

(b. 1975, Heinsberg, Germany)

Isaac Benigson studied Culture, Criticism, and Curation at Central Saint Martins (London), and has an MA in writing from the Royal College of Art (London). He lives and works in London.

Printed on the occasion of his mid-career retrospective Neue Alte Welt, at NRW-Forum Düsseldorf (2024), this deck of 78 + 2 illustrated tarot cards has been designed by Tim Berresheim to “practice your eyesight” and to “bet on your future”. The deck is designed for both beginners as well as advanced users of tarot.

James Lee Byars

(b. 1932, Detroit, Michigan, USA; d.1997 Cairo, Egypt)

James Lee Byars studied Art and Psychology at Wayne State University, Detroit, graduating in 1955. James lived and worked nomadically, moving between New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco in the States, Venice (Italy), Bern (Switzerland), the Swiss Alps in Europe, as well as a decade in Kyoto (Japan). His prime residency was Santa Fe (New Mexico, USA).

Screenprint published by the Letter Edged in Back Press, Inc., New York, as part of William Copley’s S.M.S. portfolio project.

Toby Christian

(b. 1983, Boston, Lincolnshire, UK)

Toby Christian studied at Wimbledon College of Art (London, UK), before completing his postgraduate training at the Royal Academy Schools (London) in 2012. Toby lives and works in London, where he is a Senior Lecturer in Fine Art at Central Saint Martins.

Than Hussein Clark

(b. 1981, Exeter, New Hampshire, UK)

Than Hussein Clark studied at the University of Edinburgh (Scotland, UK) and Goldsmiths, University of London (UK), before beginning an MA in Time Based Media in Hamburg (Germany) in 2012. Than lives and works between London and Hamburg.

Coco Crampton 

(b. 1983, London, UK)

Coco Crampton studied at Norwich School of Art and Design (UK) before graduating from the Royal Academy Schools (London) in 2014. Coco lives and works in Devon (UK).

Frederika Dalwood  

(b. 1996, London, UK)

Frederika Dalwood has a degree in Fine Art Intermedia from Edinburgh College of Art (Scotland, UK) and an MFA in Fine Art Media from the Slade School of Fine Art (London). Frederika lives and works in London.

Michela de Mattei  

(b. 1984, Rome, Italy)

Michela de Mattei studied Philosophy at Sapienza University of Rome. Michela lives and works in Milan (Italy).

Davide Lieske and Dial Records 

(f. 1999, Hamburg, Germany)

Dial Records is a music label showcasing primarily post-minimalist dance music. It was founded by Peter M. Kersten, Paul Kominek and David Lieske.

Magdalena Drwiega 

(b. 1971, Sanok, Poland)

Magdalena Drwiega graduated from Wimbledon College of Art (London, UK) with both a BA and MA in Fine Art. Magdalena lives and works in London.

Erté 

(b. Romain de Tirtoff, 1892, Saint Petersburg, Russia; d. 1990, Paris, France)

Erté studied painting with Ilya Repin before moving to Paris in 1912, initially to study at the Académie Julian, but leaving after several months to pursue fashion design. He continued living and working in Paris for the duration of his lifetime.

Francesca Flora 

(b. 1994, Milan, Italy)

Francesca Flora graduated in Visual Arts from Kingston University (London, UK) in 2020. She lives and works in Marseille (France).

Florian Genzken

(b. 1994, Munich, Germany)

Florian Genzken has studied at the Academy of Fine Arts Munich, Academy of Fine Arts Vienna (Austria), École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts Paris (France), and received his diploma from the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna in 2024. Florian lives and works in Vienna.

John Giorno

(b. 1936, New York, USA; d. 2019, New York, USA)

John Giorno graduated from Columbia University (New York) in 1958. John lived and worked in the Bowery neighbourhood of Lower Manhattan from 1962 until his death in 2019.

Duncant Grant

(b. 1885, Rothiemurcus, Invernes-shire, Scotland, UK; d. 1978, Aldermaston, Berkshire, UK)

Duncant Grant attended Westminster School of Art (London, UK) in 1904, Académie de La Palette in Paris (France) in 1907, and returned to London in 1908 to study at the Slade School of Fine Art. From 1916 onwards he lived and worked from Charleston Farm, Sussex, UK.

Johanna Magdalena Guggenberger

(b.1985, Vienna, Austria)

Johanna Magdalena Guggenberger studied Social and Cultural Anthropology, Arabic and Islamic studies in both Vienna and Pakistan before joining the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna to study under Pawel Althamer and Julian Goethe. Johanna continues to live and work in Vienna.

Paul Housley

(b. 1964, Stalybridge, Greater Manchester, UK)

Paul Housley graduated with a BA in Fine Art from Sheffield City Polytechnic (UK) in 1986, later attaining an MA in Painting from the Royal College of Art (London, UK) in 1995. Paul lives and works in London.

Steph Huang

(b. 1990, Taiwan)

Steph Huang received her MA in Sculpture from the Royal College of Art (London, UK) in 2021. Steph lives and works in London.

Claudia Kugler

(b. 1969, Auerbach, Germany)

Claudia Kugler studied graphic design at the Fachhochschule in Nuremberg (Germany), and received her MA in Fine Arts from the Academy of Fine Arts Nuremberg. Claudia lives and works in Berlin (Germany).

Alastair Kwan

(b. 1993, Leeds, UK)

Alastair Kwan first studied law at Churchill College, University of Cambridge (UK) before enrolling at the Royal College of Art (London, UK) in 2018 receiving first a graduate diploma in Fine Art, and an MA in Sculpture in 2021. Alastair continues to live and work in London.

Camilla Løw

(b. 1976, Oslo, Norway)

Camilla Løw graduated with a BA in Fine Art from The Glasgow School of Art (Scotland, UK). Camilla lives and works in Oslo, where she is a Professor of Art and Craft at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts.

Agata Madejska

(b. 1979, Warsaw, Poland)

Agata Madejska graduated from Folkwang University of the Arts, (Essen, Germany) in 2007 and the Royal College of Art (London, UK) in 2010. Agata continues to live and work in London.

Mira Mann

(b. 1993, Frankfurt, Germany)

Mira Mann graduated in 2021 with an MFA from Kunstakademie Düsseldorf (Germany), in the class of Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster. Mira lives and works in Düsseldorf.

Andrea Marcellier

(b. 1995, Paris, France)

Andrea Marcellier is a graduate of the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf (Germany). She is currently a resident at Villa Belleville in Paris, where she lives and works.

Hanna Mattes

(b. 1980, Munich, Germany)

Hanna Mattes studied Fine Arts at Gerrit Rietveld Academy (Amsterdam, Netherlands) and Linguistics at Freie Universität Berlin (Germany). Hanna lives and works in Berlin and Amsterdam.

Elisabeth Molin

(b. 1985, Copenhagen, Denmark)

Elisabeth Molin studied Fine Art at Chelsea College of Arts (London, UK) and has an MA in Fine Arts from Royal College of Art (London). She lives and works between London and Copenhagen.

Laura Ní Fhlaibhín

(b. 1986, Dublin, Ireland)

Laura Ní Fhlaibhín studied Fine Art Painting and Visual Culture at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin before completing her MFA at Goldsmiths, University of London (UK) in 2019. Laura lives and works in London and Wexford (Ireland).

Lydia Ourahmane

(b. 1992, Saïda, Algeria)

Lydia Ourahmane graduated with a degree in Fine Art from Goldsmiths, University of London (UK) in 2014. Lydia is based in Barcelona (Spain), London and Algiers (Algeria).

Simon Popper

(b. 1977, London, UK)

Simon Popper (b. 1977, London, UK) studied Fine Art and Critical Theory at Goldsmiths, University of London and Slade School of Fine Art (London), graduating in 2000. He lives and works in London.

Eleni Poulou

(b. 1972, Altena, Germany)

Eleni Poulou is a musician and radio host. She is one half of NOHE NOSHE alongside Petr Stef Kišur, and is part of the art collective Honey Suckle Company (Berlin, Germany). She lives and works in Berlin.

Morten Skrøder Lund

(b. 1980, Vejle, Denmark)

Morten Skrøder Lund completed his MFA at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts under the supervision of Prof. Tumi Magnusson. Morten lives and works in Copenhagen (Denmark).

Joel Tomlin

(b. 1969, Sheffield, UK)

Joel Tomlin studied painting at Chelsea College of Arts (London, UK). Joel continues to live and works in London.

Lina Viste Grønli

(b. 1976, Bergen, Norway)

Lina Viste Grønli studied at Aarhus Art Academy (Denmark), and the Oslo National Academy of the Arts (Norway). Lina lives and works between Oslo and Somerville (Massachusetts, USA).

Charlott Weise

(b. 1991, Görlitz, Germany)

Charlott Weise was a participant at De Ateliers (Amsterdam, Netherlands), in 2016. Previously, she studied at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie (Amsterdam), as well as studying under Prof. Christian Macketanz, at the Academy of Fine Arts Dresden (Germany), and the artist Heike Dittrich, in Bautzen (Germany). Charlott lives and works between Amsterdam and Görlitz.

Gernot Wieland 

(b. 1968, Horn, Austria)

Gernot Wieland studied at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna (Austria) and the University of the Arts Berlin (Germany). Gernot lives and works in Berlin.

Rain Wu

(b. 1987, Tainan, Taiwan)

Rain Wu studied at the Royal College of Art (London, UK) and University College London. She lives and works in London.

Abbas Zahedi

(b. 1984, London, UK)

Abbas Zahedi studied medicine at University College London, before completing his MA in Contemporary Photography: Practices and Philosophies at Central Saint Martens (London) in 2019. Abbas lives and works in London where he is an associate lecturer at the Royal College of Art.

Performances

Andrea Marcellier

‘Praise be to those who set cars on fire,
For they shall be forged anew’

A performance by Andrea Marcellier with live flowers, gum and a vintage Daimler, during the opening night of ‘The Protagonist’.

Ja Jess 

“What you were pouring into demolished dishes

Tender entrances when the interior is worn away by its flesh

Yet we are children with eyes so big they burst in the world”

‘Tableau From A Leaking Tongue’

An appearance of Ja Jess at Belmacz | 6th June 2025

Ja Jess *as* Pirate Jenny/Seeräuber Jenny

Pirate Jenny performs Kurt *Weill’s* and *Bertholt* Brecht’s ’Threepenny Opera’, with lyrics adapted by Ja Jess

Materials:

Silvered shards removed from the demolition of Brook St.

Cast aluminium knives, placed on one hand, each tip engraved with one note from ‘Pirate Jenny’.

Crystal glass to sip and tap to the tones of the musical piece.

And booklet with poetry and adapted lyrics

Seeräuber Jenny / Pirate Jenny

Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht’s Threepenny Opera. Lyrics adapted by Ja Jess.

You crowd can watch while I’m scrubbin’ the floors
And I’m scrubbin’ the floors while you’re gawkin’
And maybe once you tip it and it makes you feel swell
On a ratty waterfront in a ratty old hotel
And you never guess to what you’re talkin’
You never guess to what you are talkin’
Suddenly one night, there’s a scream in the night
And you wonder, “What could that a-been?”
And you see it kinda grinnin’ while I’m scrubbin’
And you wonder, “What is with that grin?”
And a ship, a black freighter
With a skull on its masthead
Will be comin’ in

They say, “Go, finish thе floors
Get upstairs, make the bеds, earn your keep here!”
They toss it their tips and look out at the ships
But it’s countin’ your heads while making up the beds
‘Cause there’s nobody gonna sleep here
Tonight none of you will sleep here
Then that night there’s a bang in the night
And they yell, “Who’s that kickin’ up a row?”
And they see it kinda starin’ out the winda
And they say, “What’s it got to stare at now?”
And a ship, the black freighter
Turns around in the harbor
Shootin’ guns from the bow

Then you people can wipe off that laugh from your face
Every building in town is a flat one
Your whole stinkin’ place will be down to the ground
Only this cheap hotel standin’ up safe and sound
And you yell, “Why do they spare that one?”
Yes, that’s what you say, “Why do they spare that one?”
All the night through, through the noise and to-do
You wonder what is living just up there
Then you see it steppin’ out into the mornin’
And you say “This used to live up there”
And the ship, the black freighter
Runs the flag up its masthead
And a cheer rings the air!

By noontime the dock is all swarmin’ with men
Comin’ off of that ghostly freighter
They’re movin’ in the shadows where no one can see
And they’re chainin’ up people and bringin’ them to me
Askin’ it, “Kill them now or later?”
Askin’ me, “Kill them now or later?”
Noon by the clock and so still on the dock
You can hear a foghorn miles away
In that quiet of death, it says
“Right now”
And they pile up the bodies and it says
“That’ll learn you”
Then the ship, the black freighter
Disappears out to sea
And on it is me