Flower in the Wind

This is an exhibition conceived from stasis. After stasis. That is, after a period of being transfixed. Fixed in a place, at a time. Held for a moment whilst life flutters on by. Still. There was magic in that moment of modernist witnessing. When We and I and the ‘Eyes of the gallery’ were taken in by the fragility of sheer formalist touch. By oil and pencil and canvas as graduations in tender-pink.

Titled after Agnes Martin’s 1963 painting of the same name, Flower in the Wind, is not an exhibition in homage to this iconic artist. Rather, the artists we have assembled here, each, in their own way, translate something of the smooth nonchalance that suffuses Martin’s minimalist grid works; making sensorial the “freedom from the cares of this world, from worldliness” that Martin’s oeuvre embodies so totally.

Spanning sculpture and film, painting and printing processes, the artworks that compose Flower in the Wind subtly embrace the dissonance afforded through abstraction – be this visual or conceptual methods of impression making – to give porousness and possibility a form. That is, to evoke something of the release that comes when one sets out to escape the solidified world, with its tightly wrought surface narratives, creating and confining and caressing a new place of material abundance into existence through material imaginings.

Artists select exhibitions histories 

Hawazin Alotaibi (b. 1993, Wisconsin, USA) lives and works in London.

Select recent exhibitions include: Sonic Liberation (in solidarity with Palestine), Radio Alhara, online (2021); Strange Paradigms, YNGSPC, online (2021); 5 Hours, Sook Mayfair, London, UK (2020); Without A Painter, Fitzrovia Gallery, London, UK (2020); Snapshot Group Exhibition, Royal College of Art, London, UK (2020); Justin Cook Gallery, London, UK (2019); WIP Show, Royal College of Art, London, UK (2019); Home House Christmas Reception Exhibition, London, UK (2018); Final Degree Show, Camberwell College Of Art, London, UK (2018); CGP Gallery, London, UK (2017); Alāan Artspace Gallery, Riyadh, KSA (2016); Tamashee, Live Painting, Dubai, UAE (2015); NOVA, Fine Art Students Show, Virginia, U.S.A (2014).

Georgina Hill (b. 1986, Worcester, UK) lives and works in London.

Select recent exhibitions include: Opening group presentation, Des Bains, London, UK (2023); Galerie Charraudeau, Paris, France (2023); Mystery Box’ with Maximilian Schmoetzer, New Toni, Berlin, Germany (2022); In a cowslip’s bell I lie, fluent, Santander, Spain (2022); Army of Lovers, Castello di Potentino, Italy (2018); Memories of Architecture, Filet, London, UK (2022); Me and my friends, koraï Project Space, Nicosia, Cyprus (2021); Mind in Matter, Alkinois, Athens, Greece (2021); Kleinanzeigen, VERY, Berlin, Germany (2021); Storeys, The Swiss Church London, UK (2021); Peeping through the looking glass, SET, London, UK (2021); Sea-Change, Arnis Residency, Germany (2020); For the Love of Avocados, Art Exchange, U. of Essex, UK (2020); Mountain Hauntology, INLAND Campo Adentro, Madrid, Spain (2019); Low Text – 5: Commercials, Am Flutgraben, Berlin, Germany (2019); Sacred Bands, Art Night, London, UK (2019); Hammer & Anvil: Stems, Art Night, London, UK (2018); Seen by #11: Careful Unrest, Museum of Photography, Berlin, Germany (2018).

Bassam Issa (b. Iraq) lives and works between Belfast and Dublin.

Select recent exhibitions include: Illuminations Gallery, Maynooth University, Maynooth, Ireland (2023); The Douglas Hyde, Dublin, Ireland (2022); Dissolving Beyond The Worm Moon, AEMI Online (2022); I AM ERROR, De La Warr Pavillion, London, UK (2022); A Public Skin, Josh Lilley Gallery, London, UK (2022); Cosmic Rays, PEEL GALLERY, Chapel Hill, USA (2022); Living Canvas, Wilton Park, Dublin, Ireland (2022); I AM ERROR, Gasworks, London, UK (2021); Social Fabric, IMMA, Dublin, Ireland (2021); Hestia, Bis44, Paris, France (2021); Refuge, Green on Red Gallery, Dublin, Ireland (2021); I am What I Am, Ballina Arts Centre, County Mayo, Ireland (2021); Here in This Room, Site Gallery, Sheffield, England (2021); Turas, Glebe Gallery, Donegal, Ireland (2021); Longing, Beyond, Offsite solo event with Glucksman museum, Cork, Ireland (2021); Human, 126 Gallery, Galway Ireland (2020); Dissolving Histories, Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast, Northern Ireland (2020); Metamorphosis: Characters in Collision, Glór, Ennis, Ireland (2020); Dissolving Beyond the Worm Moon, Solstice Arts Centre, Co. Meath, Ireland (2019); In the Age of Conscious Makers, NCAD Gallery, Dublin, Ireland (2019); Illusions of Love Dyed by Sunset, the LAB, Dublin, Ireland (2018); The dust carried me into the watchful summer, Eight Gallery, Dublin, Ireland (2017).

Bassam’s work features in the collections of the Irish Museum Of Modern Art, Irish Arts Council’s Collection and Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council.

Camilla Løw (b.1976, Oslo, Norway) lives and works in Oslo.

Select recent exhibitions include: Carla Åhlander & Camilla Løw, Belmacz, London (2022); GIRL MEETS GIRL, Vestfossen Kunstlaboratorium, Norway (2022); Space Junk, ISCA Gallery, Oslo (2021); High Rise, ISCA Gallery, Oslo (2020); Alfabet, Belmacz, London (2019); B, Belmacz, London (2019); INSTRUMENTAL (Camilla Løw & Gert Marcus), Fullersta Gård, Huddinge (2018); Collective Collaborations, British Council Collection (touring exhibition) (2018-19); Alpenglühen – 100 years of Ettore Sottsass Jr, Belmacz, London (2017); Eye In The Sky, Kunstnerforbundet, Oslo (2016); NN-A NN-A NN -A – New Norwegian Abstraction, Astrup Fearnley Museum, Oslo (2015); Vibrant Matter, KIOSK, Ghent (2015); Nerves and Muscles, Elastic Gallery, Stockholm (2015); Chain On Chain, Belmacz, London (2014); Dumb Rocks, Belmacz, London (2013); The Space of Shape-Time, The National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, Oslo (2012).

Camilla’s work features in numerous public collections, including: Skulpturstopp sculpture park, Norway; Pier Arts Centre, UK; The National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, Norway; The British Arts Council Collection, UK; The Government Art Collection (UK); Region Skåne, Sweden; The Ruppert Collection of post-1945 Concrete Art Museum in Kultuspeicher, Wurzberg, Germany; The Statoil Art Collection, Norway; The Storebrand Art Collection, Norway. In 2008 she was awarded the Statoil Hydro-Art Grant Prize for contemporary art.

Vladimir Nikolic (b. 1974, Belgrade, Serbia) lives and works in Belgrade.

Select recent exhibitions include: Long Distance, Nassima Landau Art Fondation, Tel Aviv, Israel (2023); Walking With Water, Serbian Pavilion 59th Venice Biennale, Italy (2022); PROMETHEANS OF THE NEW CENTURY, Museum of Yugoslavia, Belgrade (2021); Bigger than Myself: Heroic Voices from ex Yugoslavia, MAXXI The National Museum of 21st Century Arts, Roma, Italy (2021); Nezasticeni svedok #2 , Muzej nauke i tehnike, Belgrade, Serbia (2020); Behind The Image, Kunstsammlungen Museen, Neue Galerie im Höhmannhaus, Augsburg, Germany (2019); International Triennial of Expended Media, Multimedia Art and New Media Art, UP Cvijeta Zuzoric, Belgrade (2019); Crossroads Of The View, Nebojsa Tower, Belgrade (2019); Artists’ Film Festival, Whitechapel Gallery, London, UK (2018); Between the Visible and the Invisible, Maraya Art Center, Sharjah, U.A.E. (2018); 9. Beogradski susreti, Center for Graphic Art & Visual Researches, Belgrade (2018); Vladimir Nikolic / NO HAY PAISAJE (There is No Landscape), Sala ZONA3, Castellon, Spain (2018); subject and object, Center for Graphic Art & Visual Researches, Belgrade (2017); Event Horizon, Tobacco 001 Cultural Center, Ljubljana, Slovenia (2017); Symptoms of Society, Zheijang Art Museum, Hangzhou, China (2017); Art Encounters, Biennale of Contemporary Art, Timisoara, Romania (2017); Ser e Estar. Vídeos da Coleção Berardo, Museu Coleção Berardo, Portugal (2017); Apocalypse, End Without End, Das Naturhistorische Museum Bern, Switzerland (2017); Autoportraits, Portuguese Centre for Photography, Porto, Portugal (2015); There is No Landscape, 1933 Contemporary, Shanghai, China (2015); Hommage à Malevich – 100 Years of the Black Square, Mestna Galerija, Ljubljana, Slovenia (2015); MemoryLab – Transition, Casino Luxembourg – Forum d’art contemporain, Luxembourg (2015); IN VIAGGIO PER L’EUROPA, sapore di sale, Studio Tommaseo, Trieste, Italy (2015); Von oben gesehen. Die Vogelperspektive, Germanischen Nationalmuseum, Nürnberg, Germany (2015).

Vladimir’s works feature in the collections of the MAXXI – National Museum of 21st Century Art, Roma; Museum of Contemporary Art Belgrade; Belgrade City Museum; Cultural Center of Belgrade; Collection 1, Oktobar Salon collection, Cultural Center of Belgrade; FRAC Poitou-Charentes, France; Vehbi Koç Foundation Contemporary Art Collection, Istanbul; Berardo Museum, Lisbon; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris.

Olu Ogunnaike (b. London, 1986) lives and works in London.

Select recent exhibitions include: An enclosed garden, gb agency, Paris, France (2022); Testament, Goldsmiths CCA, London, UK (2022); Domestic Drama, HALLE FÜR KUNST Steiermark, Graz, Austria (2021); I’d rather stand, Museum Folkwang, Essen, Gernamy (2021); Crumbs, Capc Musée d’art contemporain de Bordeaux, France (2021); The Same Way You Came In?, Royal Academy of Arts, London (2021); Geographies and the Memory Game, Villa Lontana, Rome, Italy (2020); Grace Before Jones: Camera, Disco, Studio, Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham, UK (2020); ELC TV Dinner Episode III, Tate Modern, London UK (2019); Art Geneva w/ PS120, Geneva, Switzerland (2019); Unearthing, Becky’s Unit 23, Penarth Centre, London, UK (2018); ‘…and their tooth, finest gold’, Les Urbaines, Espace Arlaud, Lausanne, Switzerland (2018); Nutrition for the Next, Jupiter Woods, London, UK (2018); The Share of Opulence; Doubled; Fractional, Sophie Tappenier, Vienna, Austria (2018); Muscular Notions, Cob Gallery, London, UK (2018); Le Colt est Jeune & Haine, Doc, Paris, France (2018); The Way Things Run: Loose Ends Don’t Tie, PS120, Berlin (2018).

Niamh O’Malley (b. 1975, Co.Mayo, Ireland) lives and works in Dublin, Ireland.

Select recent exhibitions include: Gather, Irish Pavilion tour, The Model, Sligo; Temple Bar Gallery + Studios, Dublin; The Linenhall, Castlebar, Co. Mayo (2023); Irish Pavilion, Venice Biennale (2022); Solo Exhibition, John Hansard Gallery, Southampton (2021); Making and Momentum: In Conversation with Eileen Gray, Roquebrune, France (2021); New considerations of familiar settings, Newbridge House, Donabate, Ireland  (2021); Periodical Review X, Pallas Projects, Dublin (2020); Solo Exhibition, mother’s tankstation, Dublin (2020); Solo Exhibition, RHA, Dublin (2019); In the Age of Conscious Makers, NCAD Gallery, Dublin (2019); Drawing Biennial 2019, Drawing Room, London (2019); Shaping Ireland: Intervention and Representation in Irish Landscape Art, National Gallery of Ireland (2019); Foiled Glass, Grazer Kunstverein, curated by Kate Strain (2018); Rests, The Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin, Ireland (2017).

Niamh’s work is included in numerous private and public collections including: Stefan Stolitzka Collection, Graz, The Hugh Lane, Dublin City Gallery,  Irish Museum of Modern Art, the Arts Council of Ireland, Office of Public Works, Ireland & Galleria Arte Moderna, Turin.

Simon Popper (b. 1977, London, UK) lives and works in Califonia.

Select recent exhibitions include: Haus Wien 2021, Haus, Vienna (2021); I dialogue, Kinch, Belmacz, London (2021); Mushrooms: The art, design and future of fungi, Somerset House, London (2019); B, Belmacz, London (2018); The Ashtray Show West, Belmacz, London (2018); Books and Elephant, Motto, Berlin (2016); Bodikon, Belmacz Gallery, London (2016); Das wäre doch nicht nötig gewesen, Baeckerei, Berlin (2016); Everything is About to Happen, Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art, Porto (2016); [ear for EAR], FILET, London (2015); Accadrà Domani, curated by Gregorio Magnani, Museo Marino Marini, Florence (2015); The Library Vaccine, Artists Space, New York (2014); Paper, curated by Keith Coventry, SMAC Gallery, Cape Town (2014).

Simon’s works feature in numerous international collections including the collection of the Weltkulturen Museum, Frankfurt, Germany.