‘Unbound: Art of the Mystical and the Magical’ is the Norman Rea’s first exhibition of the year. It is an invitation to be bewitched. The artworks let you revel in the spiritual, strange, and spellbinding.
By celebrating the occult, it considers the power of spirituality in a world that champions rationality. The mystical is deeply associated with the feminine and serves as a home for many alternative groups that challenge the status quo. The artworks were like talismen, transporting the viewers to a realm built on imagination, widening the boundaries of society to encompass hidden knowledge.
Many of the artworks on show connect with these ideas; however, the gallery has always championed the belief that you don’t need to be an artist to enjoy art. The exhibition invites you to interact with the pieces organically; it’s ok if you connect with an artwork just because you think it looks pretty – that’s enough.
Opening night felt enchanting. The gallery was brimming with visitors and music serenaded the crowd from the DJ’s box. Visitors were encouraged to interact with the exhibit by writing down their strangest dreams… such as resurrecting the dinosaurs and a murderous Sandra Bullock.
On the eve of opening night, I visited the gallery to chat with the Norman Rea’s co-directors, Lizzy Jones and Charlotte Whitehill, and learn more about the process of curating ‘Unbound’. Committee members had gathered to finish last-minute preparations, the final empty spaces on the gallery wall were being filled, and crescent-moon bunting was being strung around the windows.
I’m always surprised by the gallery’s ability to utterly transform itself with every exhibition and Unbound has been no exception. The freshly painted lilac walls have become a tapestry of various artworks, projections, lino prints, paintings and textiles. There’s still a chance to visit until the 17th of October so don’t miss out!
Where did the idea for the exhibition come from?
(Lizzy) “It came from Exhibition three last year, which is an exhibition that the committee proposes an idea for. Charlotte and I both submitted very similar ideas. Hers was ‘Alice through the looking glass’ thinking about alternative dimensions. And mine was about deconstructing the idea of a single objective perspective. So when we were elected together as co-directors, it was perfect because we then intermeshed our ideas.
There has also been a lot of really topical stuff going on at the moment, for example, at the Tate Britain, there is an Ithell Colquhoun exhibition – she’s a major occultist who creates art based on her spirituality.”
Why did you choose to centre the mystical and magical? It’s such an interesting theme.
(Charlotte) “The last time the gallery did an exhibition about the mystical was quite a few years ago. I think it’s always a theme that people enjoy, because it’s not realism; you can look at the art and go to a different place in your mind. I think it’s quite a nice theme to start the year off with.”
(Lizzy) “The idea of mysticism and spiritualism has always been an escape for people. Especially for women, in the iconography of the Witch and how that’s been reclaimed.
We were also trying to consider how it can be used as a tool in the modern day. Today, thinking is so rational; people are so focused on facts. (Not that that doesn’t have its place). However, we focus on the idea of using the mystical as a tool to imagine a different and better world – a world where being a witch is not a bad thing. I think it’s especially topical right now with the political and social climate; the exhibition’s themes remain really relevant to the problems we’re facing.”
The exhibition is also inspired by selfhood. How does the mystical tie into that?
(Lizzy) “The exhibition sees the self as attached to this whole network. You don’t exist isolated. Whether you believe that’s on some higher plane that exists beyond this one. Or even if you think of it as the social relations and obligations we have, which I feel have been abandoned in favour of individualism and convenience for the self. And so I think we just want to break down the idea of isolated individuality.”
(Charlotte) “We have an artist, Jack Dunnett, whose artwork is going to be without a caption, because he likes to separate himself from the artwork. That makes it a bit easier for the viewer because they aren’t automatically told something that they need to think about. Also, a lot of the pieces, when they have a person in them, they’re kind of distorted in a way.”
Are there any particular feelings that you want viewers to walk away with after the exhibition?
(Charlotte) “I think whatever they feel is ok. It’s just looking at artwork and thinking what you think, we don’t want to push anyone and say, ‘you have to feel this if you come to the exhibition.’ It’s just an opportunity to enjoy it. You don’t have to overthink all the pieces of artwork. You can just look at them and say, ‘I like that one.'”
(Lizzy) “We just want people, even if you have no idea about art, to be able to look at a piece and respond to it emotionally. You can have an opinion on art even if you don’t understand it. You can just look at something and have an emotional response to it. I think that’s like a huge thing we want to encourage with the gallery overall.”
Could you both tell me about an artwork that you’ve really connected with?
(Charlotte) ”I like my artist Megan Mcfarlane’s artwork. Just because I think it’s really pretty, and it’s the first artwork I chose. When I saw it, I instantly thought we need to have this! You could just stare at it for ages. It’s literally just a cloth on a canvas with paint on it. There’s no, like, figures or anything, but it’s just so hypnotic. But I like every artwork; they all fit together.”
(Lizzy) “If I couldn’t choose my own artist. I think I have to say the quilt that we have up by Maria Hallewell. I’m such a textiles person. All my up projects in school were textile based. I just love looking at it and the amount of detail that’s in there. It seems to tell a story, but not one with a particular narrative, so up to interpretation. Just the texture on it; I just want to be able to run my hands over it.”
Are there any artworks or mediums that surprised you?
(Charlotte) “I like Georgina’s (@georgina.lingard) work because it’s made with found objects and tools to create her artwork, which I think is really cool. I also have another artist, Amy Lucy-Knight, (amylu.art) whose piece will be a projection because she uses metal hoops hung from the ceiling, and the animation that she made would go through, like a portal.”
(Lizzy) “I was surprised how many pieces were on wood, I really liked it. It really speaks to the theme and the fact that a lot of the artists who engage with these themes also connect with nature. Wood also acts as an element of the artwork that the artist can’t control.”
What’s it been like putting together the exhibition? What’s been one of your favourite parts so far?
(Charlotte) “The install day is really fun. Then it’s going to be deinstalled in a couple of weeks. So it’s very quick and fast-paced, but the whole committee works together and supports each other. There’s a really good team.”
(Lizzy) “We started over the summer by talking together and writing the press release collaboratively, which took a while! The theme comes together through the artists, and that’s been really rewarding. We start with an initial idea, and then the committee takes it and gives it a life of its own. The artists that they selected for it show all the different ways that they’ve interpreted the theme. I think that’s a really fun part of being able to hand it over to the committee. After we’ve come up with the initial ideas, we let them develop it in their own way because, as directors, I think of us more like pushing an idea off, it’s not a hierarchy.”
(Charlotte) “We all make the decisions as a committee. We want to push the members and other committee members to make the curatorial decisions and decide how to present the gallery.”
(Lizzy) “We just want to facilitate all that creative stuff that makes the gallery so special. We’re not here to make those top down decisions.”
(Charlotte) “We’re student-run at the end of the day, not just director-run.”
Are there any upcoming events for this exhibition that you can share with us?
(Lizzy) “We have more relaxed ways for members to engage with the artworks like a sketch and meet event, where members can engage with the art. Then we’ll have our big event, which will be Norman Ray Late with Vinyl Revival (16/10/25). We’ll also have an artist coming in who’s exhibited to lead a workshop for people to get involved in. So please come along!”
Many thanks to the Norman Rea Gallery, especially Charlotte and Lizzy for taking the time to chat with me!
Artist Credits for Cover Image
- Top Left: Shivani Khoshia (@shivanikhoshia) ‘Twin Flames’
- Bottom Left: Freya Beetham (@frey0) ‘The Horned Boy and His Dog’
- Centre: Maria Hallewell (@bluemalloo) ‘Ways of Being’
- Top Right: Jessica McElligott (@jess.mce) ‘Homeland’
- Bottom Right: Yeuyen Liu (@y_liu.yueyan) ‘It Still Lives’