Handel Street Projects in North London is pleased to present a collaborative exhibition of works by David Batchelor and Richard Deacon with contributions from curator Fedja Klikovac.

When I was sixteen I was allowed to paint the small room I slept in whatever colour I liked. I painted it purple with orange woodwork. It was awful, like sleeping in a nightmare. Painted it white again after a few days. Should have used blue and yellow. (Richard Deacon)

I would become Ukrainian just for the colours of their flag. (David Batchelor)

A month after the unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine, Handel Street Projects started a conversation about a possible collaborative project, knowing that both artists share a strong interest in colour. As a result of ‘two guys just noticing things as they go along who were sometimes worried and sometimes not but have a background preoccupation (as we all do)’, The two artists began a visual correspondence of messages between each other – pinging back and forth visual references and over time the body of work seemed to evolve including the two colours of the Ukrainian Flag, from the Café Cafe at Hebden Bridge Station to the Beringen Lorry.

Since the shocking and brutal attack by Russia on Ukraine started on the 24 February 2022, 240,000 people have been killed. Millions have been displaced and this exhibition is dedicated to all Ukrainian people fighting for the freedom of their sovereign state.