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Viewing Enchanted Alchemies: Magic, Mysticism and the Occult in Art

The Wick Culture - Ithell Colquhoun, Alcove II, 1948
Courtesy of Lévy Gorvy Dayan

Above Ithell Colquhoun, Alcove II, 1948 Courtesy of Lévy Gorvy Dayan

The Wick Culture - Ithell Colquhoun in 1949
Photograph by Reg Speller

Above Ithell Colquhoun in 1949 Photograph by Reg Speller

The Wick Culture - Chitra Ganesh, Breathing Water and Air, 2024
Courtesy of Lévy Gorvy Dayan

Above Chitra Ganesh, Breathing Water and Air, 2024 Courtesy of Lévy Gorvy Dayan

The Wick Culture - Eileen Agar. DNA Figure, 1968
Courtesy of Lévy Gorvy Dayan

Above Eileen Agar. DNA Figure, 1968 Courtesy of Lévy Gorvy Dayan

The Wick Culture - Linder, Mantic Stain 8 (Sphere of Venus), 2014
Courtesy of Lévy Gorvy Dayan

Above Linder, Mantic Stain 8 (Sphere of Venus), 2014 Courtesy of Lévy Gorvy Dayan

The Wick Culture - Installation view, Enchanted Alchemies
Courtesy of Lévy Gorvy Dayan

Above Installation view, Enchanted Alchemies Courtesy of Lévy Gorvy Dayan

Above Ithell Colquhoun, Alcove II, 1948 Courtesy of Lévy Gorvy Dayan

Above Ithell Colquhoun in 1949 Photograph by Reg Speller

Above Chitra Ganesh, Breathing Water and Air, 2024 Courtesy of Lévy Gorvy Dayan

Above Eileen Agar. DNA Figure, 1968 Courtesy of Lévy Gorvy Dayan

Above Linder, Mantic Stain 8 (Sphere of Venus), 2014 Courtesy of Lévy Gorvy Dayan

Above Installation view, Enchanted Alchemies Courtesy of Lévy Gorvy Dayan

Enchanted Alchemies: Magic, Mysticism and the Occult in Art

Levy Gorvy Dayan, London
1 October – 21 December 21, 2024

Magic, mysticism and the occult have been something of hot topics in art again recently – in part due to revisiting the surrealists to mark the centenary year of the movement this year. Lévy Gorvy Dayan’s timely exhibition places historical figures such as Eileen Agar, Leonora Carrington, Ithell Colquhoun and Leonor Fini in conversation with more recent works by artists still active and prominent today, from Alejandro Jodorowsky to Bharti Kher, Linder, and Goshka Macuga.

It’s a major affair: more than fifty works feature, spanning painting, sculpture, ceramic, watercolour, and collage, sharing a sensibility and interest in the magical and mystical, the transformative and the alchemical.

The exhibition moves between works by British Surrealist, Colquhoun, explorations of an all-encompassing and dynamic force beyond what we might be able to see or perceive, to Jodorowsky’s Enchanted Alchemies – lending their name to the show’s title – the filmmaker, visual artist, and comic book writer, who worked with Carrington and continues a practice that engages with magical concepts today, rooted deeply in a Surrealist mysticism. A fascinating insight into a universe of alternative ways of seeing, being and relating to one another.

Viewing Rob and Nick Carter: Chroma Viscosity II

The Wick Culture - Rob and Nick Carter: Chroma Viscosity II
Courtesy of Rob and Nick Carter

Above Rob and Nick Carter: Chroma Viscosity II Courtesy of Rob and Nick Carter

Rob and Nick Carter: Chroma Viscosity II

5A Bathurst Street
4 October – 18 November, 2024

Rob and Nick Carter’s Chroma-Viscosity II, defies the boundaries of materiality, time, and technology in five framed works – a continuation of the duo’s Painting Photographs series – where stridently coloured swirls of wet paint are captured at a single moment with close-up photography, then enlarged 60 times to emphasise the medium’s sensuous, momentary quality.

Walking the line between painting and photography, two mediums that are intertwined in the contemporary era, Rob and Nick Carter use the photographic technology to draw out the materiality of paint, creating compelling abstraction compositions that query what a painting and how traditional techniques might be transformed for the digital age – a recurrent interest of Rob and Nick Carter’s enquiring and experimental practice.

Also on show is the duo’s new AI-generated film, (also based on the Painting Photographs) reimagining and transforming their captured fluidity and movement of paint into a dynamic, evolving digital format.

Viewing Silk Roads at The British Museum

The Wick Culture - ‘The Franks Casket' ©The Trustees of the British Museum

Above ‘The Franks Casket’ ©The Trustees of the British Museum

The Wick Culture - Ceramic figure of a camel ©The Trustees of the British Museum

Above Ceramic figure of a camel ©The Trustees of the British Museum

The Wick Culture - Ceramic figure of a lute player © Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

Above Ceramic figure of a lute player © Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

The Wick Culture - Gold Shoulder Clasp ©The Trustees of the British Museum

Above Gold Shoulder Clasp ©The Trustees of the British Museum

Above ‘The Franks Casket’ ©The Trustees of the British Museum

Silk Roads

The British Museum
26 September 2024 – 23 February 2025

The Silk Roads hold a particular place in the collective imaginary – calling to mind the trading of luxurious fabrics and rare spaces. This exhibition at The British Museum tries to get past the stereotypical and exoticised view of the Silk Roads and get a bigger picture of the impact of these overlapping networks of global trade routes that linked communities all over Asia, African and Europe.

The Silk Roads’ history is vast and stretches over millennia, but this exhibition focuses on the period between AD 500 to 1000, a definitive moment during which the rise of universal religions made connections across continents more powerful. Highlights of the display – which includes objects on loan from 29 different national and international partners – include pieces from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan shown in the UK for the first time and giving a startling new perspective on the role of Central Asia in the Silk Road story.