Totemic

Beautiful exhibition at Messums London of work by contemporary artists in the theme of the totemic.

Like many of the galleries over the summer this was an excuse to show work by artists they represent and in this case it was themed around the idea of totems. The blurb said "Across cultures it (the totem) has always symbolised more than a mere object: a spiritual and social emblem, imbued with energy, almost living, carrying the history of a people within it. …..But, at the heart of this exhibition is the sense that a totem is a unique expression of who we are, and of what we have chosen to value."

I'm not sure I got that from the works but there we a number of artists I really like represented so I was happy. There was a beautiful small sculpture of three men by Laurence Edwards and I always delighted to see Antony Williams exquisite egg tempera portraits.

New discoveries for me included wacky life sized human figures in shades of blue creating pieces of furniture by Matthew Darbyshire which punctuated the space. Incidentally there was also one in the Summer Exhibition which I went to later in August.


Closed 5 September 2026

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