Artist in Focus talks
Every Friday in August
11am – 12noon
Bethlem Gallery
If you can’t attend in person and want to join via zoom, please use this link Meeting ID: 868 3578 5856. Passcode: 544577
Friday 2 August, 11am – Karta Kaur
Friday 9 August, 11am – George Harding
“I love the act of creating, it lets you question and belong to imaginary things that are not part of real life. You become immersed in a small head space of endless possibility where fantasy takes over and the strains of existence are forgotten.”
George Harding has a diverse practice encompassing oil painting, print making, graffiti and poetry. Come and hear more about George’s practice – either at the Gallery (with some tea and biscuits) with fellow artists, where George will be joining us remotely, or online using the Zoom link above.
Friday 16 August, 11am – Dolly Sen
Dolly Sen’s arts practice crosses writing, performance, film and visual art. Since 2004 they have exhibited and performed internationally. Their films have also been shown worldwide. Their journey as an artist has taken them up a tree in Regents Park, to California’s Death Row, to the Barbican, Tower Bridge and the Royal Academy, Trafalgar Square, and up a ladder to screw a lightbulb into the sky.
Their work is seen as subversive, humorous and radical. They are interested in debate and social experiment around themes of madness, sanity, the other, and acceptable behaviours, from an unusual and unconventional position of power. They are interested in society’s perception of mental health and madness – whether people think ‘it’s all in the head’ and not a response to social and political issues. Madness is partly political. Maybe we don’t have mental health difficulties, maybe we are living in a harsh, unjust, corrupt world that causes people to struggle. The world is sanitised, not sane. There is a side to madness that doesn’t get shown, that is intelligent, funny, and pointing of the emperor’s new clothes. Much of this is done through my art. It is time to share that discussion with the rest of the world, and art is a very powerful way to do that.
Basically, Dolly’s creativity aims to put normality over their lap and slap its naughty arse.
Come and join the conversation with Dolly Sen – either at the Gallery with lots of tea and biscuits, where Dolly will be joining us remotely, or online using the Zoom link above.
Friday 23 August, 11am – Jules Cunningham
Jules Cunningham (they/them) is based in South London, originally from Liverpool and has worked as a dancer for 20+ years (Critics Circle National Dance Award in 2014) working with Merce Cunningham Dance Company and Michael Clark Company and in projects with Boris Chartmatz, Thick & Tight, Pauline Boudry / Renate Lorenz across Europe.
Jules founded Julie Cunningham & Company in 2017, to create and present work that combines clarity of form with an interest in gender identity and the body. Jules uses a movement language that draws on their technical dance training, expanding and queering it collaboratively, working between sound, text, visual art.
Teaching and performance work is informed by solo and collaborative movement exploration, queerness, lived experience of mental illness, disability and exclusion based on Jules’ working class background and non-binary identity.
Jules also took part in the Bethlem Gallery Residency PIGEONS at the start of 2024.
Come and join the session with Jules – either at the Gallery with lots of tea and biscuits, or online using the Zoom link above.
Friday 30 August, 11am – Ashokkumar Mistry
‘Activating ambition through the archeology of self’.
Ashokkumar Mistry is a multidisciplinary artist, writer and curator working in the UK and internationally. As a practicing artist, Ashokkumar harnesses his neurodivergence to create artworks across visual art and performance.
He has been focused on researching and writing about disability and neurodiversity. His writing encompasses direct research and personal experiences relating to neurodiversity with a view to sharing experiences and changing attitudes.
Come and join the talk by Ashokkumar, either at the Gallery with lots of tea and biscuits, or online using the Zoom link above.
Book your ticket here.
About Bethlem Gallery events
Under 16s must be accompanied by an adult. These talks are free of charge. We take photos at our workshops and events to use on social media – please speak to the facilitator if you do not want to appear in any photos.
If you are unable to attend the event, please contact us to cancel your place. We often have a waiting list.