Fight or Flight
20 September - 31 October 2020
Adam Waymouth, Alexander James, Alix Marie, Anna Skladmann, Caroline Popham, Cecilia Di Paolo, Christabel MacGreevy, Daisy Dodd-Noble, Dennis Buck, Diane Chappalley, Guy Haddon Grant, India Nielsen, Jan Agha, Jack Laver, Jordan Hemingway, Louis Morlet, Loulou Siem, Pedro Trindade, Sola Olulode, Yulia Iosilzon
Roman Road in partnership with The Columbia is pleased to present FIGHT OR FLIGHT?, the inaugural exhibition presented in The Bakery, a newly renovated and collaborative gallery space in London. Initiated by Josh Fresco (Director of The Columbia) and Marisa Bellani (Creative Director of Roman Road), The Bakery aims to primarily showcase and promote emerging artists, bringing to its audiences an ongoing and dynamic programme of young artistic talents in the heart of West London. Marking the start of this budding partnership, FIGHT OR FLIGHT? is a group exhibition curated by Marisa Bellani, featuring some familiar names from Roman Road’s roster, together with many new local artists.
FIGHT OR FLIGHT? presents varied and multidisciplinary works by twenty UK-based artists. The show is a reflection on the opportunities that have arisen as a result of the global pandemic. FIGHT OR FLIGHT? showcases and creates synergies between artists that perhaps would not have exhibited together otherwise, centring on ideas of collaboration and integration. Clashes of subject matters, mediums and styles span across the selected works and present an intended visual disparity, asserting the idea, and the possibility, of differences coexisting alongside one another.
Despite the irreversible effects of the COVID-19 outbreak, we are beginning to observe a gradual return to ‘normality’. The subsequent opportunities in this moment of fluctuation have allowed us to dismiss the significance and the everyday reality of living through the pandemic. As we move out of this ‘fight or flight’ state, this exhibition looks to create an environment that provokes questions about our emotive responses to current events.
Emotion, albeit positive or negative, can be harboured in order to create a strong connection to our visual memories. By constructing stimulative events, both physically and psychologically, around these moments we are able to establish visual memories in which we can remember and reflect. Moving forward out of the recent state of uncertainty, the participating artists in FIGHT OR FLIGHT? each present new forms of artistic practice and collaboration, inviting viewers to reflect on the current changes and the possibility of coexistence.
FIGHT OR FLIGHT? opens on Saturday 19 September and will be on display until 31 October 2020.