Featuring: AA Bronson and Ryan Brewer, Andrea Éva Győri, Elisa Pinto, Don and Moki Cherry, Grace Ndiritu, Laraaji, Paul Shemisi Betutua

This spring 𝕒𝕣𝕘𝕠𝕤 presents When the angels from above*, a group exhibition with a succinct selection of international artists, brimming with spirituality and healing.

In recent years, it has become ubiquitous to read artistic practice as "continuous self-reflection and regard for others" (Helen Molesworth). This reparative turn imagines audiences as damaged and in need of aid and recovery, while demanding of artists and artworks to enable healing.

Rather than evoking such straightforward solutions, When the angels from above proposes artistic practices as prompts instead, in order to consciously navigate and intervene in hostile and violent public spheres. The artworks in the exhibition stage transformative moments set in a wide range of historical and imagined environments. Working through notions of freedom and unknown possibilities, the exhibition as a whole negotiates an intangible interconnectedness that is multidirectional and difficult to map.

Experiential, poetic, critical yet lighthearted, When the angels from above foregrounds alternative notions of healing. Instead of providing clear-cut and pragmatic responses to violence and hostility pervading everyday life, the exhibition presents complex processes that value open-ended and unresolved approaches. In so doing, it invites visitors to enter a space of mutual exchange that is both spiritual and anchored in the here and now.

When the angels from above takes its title from a Joe Smooth song, a beautiful, iconic early deep house track from Chicago, IL:

When the angels from above
Fall down and spread their wings like doves…

Curated by Niels Van Tomme

* This exhibition is dedicated to the memory of Andrea Éva Győri (1985–2022), "an angel, whom we will never forget."