The Courtauld Institute’s East Wing Biennial presents its 16th edition, RE:VISION.
Opening: 24th September 2025, 18:30 at Vernon Square, Penton Rise WC1X 9EW.
Show dates: 24th September 2025 – August 2027.
Through a wide-ranging selection of contemporary artwork and an exciting slate of events throughout 2025-2027, RE:VISION urges audiences to interrogate and question: Who writes history? Who has the right to revise it? And how can art destabilise these narratives?
RE:VISION brings together artists who respond to the past, reconciling it with the present to avoid the pitfalls of history. Their work resists erasure and reclaims autonomy by challenging what endures and what expires; rethinking, reinventing and reconstructing to instigate the potential for the future to change.
Highlights include prints by Yinka Shonibare, photographs by Dora Maar and Jeff Wall and film stills by Pipilotti Rist. Opening night events include a performance and site-specific piece by Maria Gvardeitseva, and a film programme including works by ORLAN and Jeremy Deller.
Press View to be held on 24th September 2025, 16:30. Kindly RSVP to eastwingbiennial@courtauld.ac.uk.
For any enquiries or further information, please email eastwingbiennial@courtauld.ac.uk.
To stay up to date with the latest news, events, and exhibition highlights, follow @eastwingbiennial on Instagram or visit https://courtauld.ac.uk/research/east-wing-biennial/.
About the East Wing Biennial:
Founded in 1991 in the East Wing of Somerset House by Joshua Compston, the student-led exhibition is dedicated to displaying contemporary art in the institute. It reflects the ideas, concerns and creative ambitions of The Courtauld’s student body. Following a brief hiatus during The Courtauld Institute’s temporary relocation, the Biennial was revived in 2023 with its inaugural edition in Vernon Square, King’s Cross. Over its 16 editions, the project has developed into an exciting forum for young curators and vital conversations.
Programme for the evening:
RE:PERFORM
Performance programme
RE:SHAPE | Seminar Room 7 | All evening
Artist and illustrator Max Spendlove will be sketching scenes of the evening
RE:PRESENT | Research Forum Seminar Room | 7.45pm
Maria Gvardeitseva will perform her piece Men in Suits
RE:ACT | Seminar Room 9 | 7.00pm and 8.00pm
Gracie Schylling will perform her piece Daydream
RE:PLAY
Film programme | Lecture Theatre 2 | Timings are approximate
6.45pm & 7.55pm: The Snow to Fall by Else/Xun (7mins 33 secs)
6.55pm & 8.05pm: English Magic by Jeremy Deller (14 mins 23 secs)
7.10pm & 8.25pm: The Dawn Next Spring by Melanie Stidolph (12 mins 25 secs)
7.25pm & 8.40pm: Sainte ORLAN et les Vieillards by ORLAN
7.35pm & 8.50pm: Inside the Cauldron by Sophie Mei Birkin and India Ayles (17 mins 33 secs)
Selected films by ORLAN | Common Room | Timings are approximate
6.30pm & 8.19pm: ORLAN CORPS/SAINTE ORLAN (1979)
6.55pm & 8.43pm: Le Drape Baroque (1979)
7.42pm & 9.30pm: Sainte ORLAN et les Vieillards (1983)
7.51pm: La Liberté en écorchée (2015)
RE:ASSEMBLE
Common Room | All evening
Visitors will be invited to create their own works of art re:acting to the exhibition. All materials provided.
About the RE:VISION Executive Team:
Romy Brill Allen is the Director. She is a third-year Undergraduate student of History of Art with a particular interest in sexual politics and feminist art. She is driven by her passion for storytelling and the potential of art to shape the world around us.
Madeline Cheeseman is the Head Curator. She is a third-year Undergraduate student of History of Art particularly interested in 20th-century and Contemporary art. She also has a personal interest in literature and creative writing and enjoys exploring this alongside her studies.
Will Fairfax is the Registrar and Head of Development. This year, he completed his Undergraduate degree in History of Art at the Courtauld with a dissertation focused on the negotiation between advertising and surrealist style in Dora Maar’s work. In September, he will begin The Courtauld’s new MA in Art and Business.
Maria Cicala is the Head of Publicity and Communications and leads the East Wing Biennial archive project. She is a third-year Undergraduate student at the Courtauld with an interest in Postcolonialism and Modern and Contemporary Latin America. She hopes to further her studies, researching documentary and personal archive photography.
