Mythic Origins brings together artworks which touch on myth and archetypal images in a time of deep uncertainty. The exhibition is focused on artists who make use of fables, allegories and their associations to realise internal journeys of discovery. Often what they evolve becomes a method for themselves to negotiate the alienating world of social constriction and control. In this way, critical issues of identity, autonomy, citizenship and agency come into play. By turning their attention to the creation that is enacted through theirselves, they realize works of art which reach past their conditions to seek new and fruitful possibilities of transformation. Full of esoteric pondering, these artist prophets create images which emote archetypal energy, an art that culls from the ancient past to imagine a liberated future. In conversation, these voices become a community of recalcitrance, insolent to the forces of capitol and insistent on the liberating potential of expression.

Bea Bonafini (b. 1990 in Bonn, DE) is an interdisciplinary artist working between London and Barcelona. Her practice explores the cross-fertilisation of humanity with other ways of being, and the entanglement of painting with tapestry, ceramics and drawing. Her interest lies in the circularity of material and symbols, the resurrection of mythologies and their contemporary and personal reconfigurations, and the emotional landscape of colour. Bea's research is also grounded in unearthing Mediterranean mythologies and narratives of collaboration, hybridity and freedom of movement. She was artist in residence at the ArtExplora Mediterranean Residency (2024) and the British School at Rome (2020). Notable exhibitions include Acque Amare, ALA Art Foundation (2023), Il Chiostro Animato, Museo di Roma, Trastevere, Rome (2022), and Sfiorare Fantasmi, Eduardo Secci, Florence (2021).

Phoebe Collings-James's (b. 1987 in London, UK) work often eludes linear retellings of stories. Instead, her works function as "emotional detritus", speaking of knowledges of feelings, the debris of violence, language and desire which are inherent to living and surviving within hostile environments. Recent works have been dealing with the object as subject, giving life and tension to ceramic forms. Upcoming and recent solo exhibitions include In Practice, SculptureCenter, New York, US (2024), A Scratch! A Scratch!, Camden Arts Centre, London, UK (2021) and The Amount of Love You Have to Give is More Than I Can Stand, Ginerva Gambino, Cologne (2018).

Born on the ancient crossing of the Great Silk Road in Almaty, Kazakhstan, to a Georgian mother and Kazakhstani father, Aigana Gali's (b. in 1982 in Almaty, KZ) formative years were spent in the wild, open cradle of the Eurasian Steppe. This rich cultural heritage is an infinite source to her work; Gali's paintings are invested with subtle historical or mythical references, just as the Saka buried treasures in the endless plains of the Steppe. In relocating to London, Gali explored ways to communicate and translate her cultural milieu, in particular the tonal shifts and vibrational quality of light found in the vast plains. Gali now lives in Mallorca. Aigana Gali has exhibited in, among other, the Georgian National Museum of Art, Tbilisi, Georgia, GE, Abylkhan Kasteyev Museum of Arts Republic of Kazakhstan, KZ and has a permanent exhibition at the Kensington Close Hotel, London, UK.

Prinz Gholam (Wolfgang Prinz (b.1969 in Leutkirch) and Michel Gholam (b.1963 in Beirut)) is a Berlin-based artistic duo formed in 2001, known for creating a unique artistic practice centred on performative and collaborative processes. Their art is a continuous exploration of the self and the body, navigating the interplay between cultural constructs and contemporary existence. Prinz Gholam were awarded the Rome Prize with a residency at Villa Massimo in Rome, Italy, in 2020. Notably, in 2017, the duo participated in documenta 14 in Kassel and Athens. Recent solo exhibitions includes Mon coeur est un luth suspendu at Musée d'art contemporain de la Haute-Vienne, Rochechouart, France (2022), and There are eyes, Aichi Triennale, Nagoya City, Japan (2022).

Influenced by his background in graffiti and graphic design, Oskar Korsar (b. 1977 in Umeå, SE) draws inspiration from comics and expressive painting, infusing his work with an anguished melancholy. Korsar's drawings blend narrative depth with a sketch- like style punctuated by intricate detail, creating a sense of distortion. Korsar employs a distinctive style of visual expression to question and alter the established norms and conventions of modern visual communication. By doing so, Korsar builds an intriguing and captivating visual universe that defies expectations and invites viewers to per- ceive the everyday differently. Recent exhibitions include Speglingar på Styx, Åmells, Stockholms, SE (2024), Fullersta Gård, Stockholm, SE (2018), Breaking Poems, Klosterfelde Edition, Berlin, DE (2018).

Tai Shani's (b. 1976 in London, UK) artistic practice, spanning performance, film, photography, and installation, employs experimental writing as a central method. Drawing from the histories of reproductive labor, illness, and solidarity, Shani aims to recover feminized aesthetic modes, such as the floral, trippy, or gothic, in a utopian militant context. In 2019 Shani was a Max Mara prize nominee and was the joint 2019 Turner Prize winner together with Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Helen Cammock and Oscar Murillo. Her work has been shown at British Art Show 09, Touring (2021), Cen- troCentro, Madrid (2019-20), Turner Contemporary, UK (2019), Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Italy (2019), Glasgow International, UK (2018), Serpentine Galleries, London (2016), Tate, London (2016), and Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin (2016).

Press release courtesy SETAREH.