On this week's Sunday Edition, anatomē talks with Senior Director Olivia Paterson to discuss the Nocturnes exhibition at Lyndsey Ingram Gallery, a show that explores the night through artistic imagination. As part of our Sleep Month program, we delve into the connection between art, rest, and how we experience nighttime in a modern world that rarely sleeps.
From the velvety depths of night skies to intimate, dreamlike interiors, Nocturnes captures both the stillness and creativity that emerge after dark. We speak with Olivia about the curation process, the timeless symbolism of night in art, and the evolving relationship between sleep, modern life, and artistic expression.
anatomē: Can you tell us about your journey in the art world and what led you to work with Lyndsey Ingram Gallery?
Olivia: I've worked with Lindsey for the last year and a half, and before that, I worked with a great friend of mine. We had our gallery space, and I joined Lyndsey because I loved their program. Luckily, some of the artists we work with joined the gallery, and this is one of the first shows I started organising.
anatomē: What initially drew you to the theme of Nocturnes, and why do you think it resonates with audiences?
Olivia: We'd like to do a group show every January. January is always a tough spot for a solo show because it's usually quiet, and people are returning from the Christmas holidays. And the idea of doing a group Show in January is that you can ask in lots of different artists, and you know, they can all come to the opening, and then you will bring their mailing lists, and that way it becomes slightly less of a dead spot. I spent a lot of time in museums, and some of my favourite paintings I had seen in museums were Night Scenes. It was one of those themes where the more I realised what I was looking at, the more things cropped up, and the artist seemed really excited by it. That's one of the things that drew me to the theme.
anatomē: How do the artists in this exhibition interpret the nighttime in their work?
Olivia: Sleep is probably the most valuable commodity. Sleep and time are the most valuable commodities everyone has in a busy world, and if you sleep, everything is okay. A lot of artists have quite irregular sleep. It's not a nine-to-five. So the nighttime for artists can also be a fertile time for imagination and for them to create things while the rest of the world is asleep, it is really poetic, and the solitude that goes with nighttime., In the show, there's a midway between the idea of rest and sleep and restoration, but also the idea of when everyone else is asleep and nighttime being a time of intense imagination productivity. The other thing about nighttime is that it is quite dark by default, which allows the artist to experiment with different techniques of how to capture different elements, the sketching of the night sky or the printing plate to completely capture the idea of, like, a velvety night sky covered with stars. And that's a beautiful thing, and quite rare actually, to find.
anatomë: Is there a deliberate connection between the artistic techniques employed in the selected works and the overarching theme of nighttime?
Olivia: Tom Hammick, one of the UK's most prolific and technically accomplished printmakers, has an incredible ability to capture the night sky—his work features these glittering elements that beautifully convey the depth and texture of a nocturnal scene in a 2D medium. For this exhibition, I intentionally kept everything two-dimensional; I didn't want any sculpture. It felt important that the show remained rooted in this format.
One of the most fascinating artistic challenges of depicting nighttime is not just representing darkness—essentially working with black—but making it dynamic and engaging. It also offers artists an opportunity to experiment with diffuse lighting. For example, Anna Calleja has a stunning painting of a bathroom at night. At first glance, it looks like moonlight filtering in, but in reality, it's the reflection of a circular bathroom light. I found the interplay between artificial and natural light particularly interesting.
As for recurring scenes and symbols, the moon and stars play a significant role. There's an entire wall dedicated to different interpretations of the moon, showcasing various formats and perspectives. Lamps are another recurring motif, as are figures in bed. The bed is, arguably, the most essential piece of furniture we ever own—it's where we spend the most time. It holds a deep significance in the exhibition, appearing in multiple works, from a dog stretched out in peaceful rest to a particularly beautiful Picasso etching of his mistress and muse, Marie-Thérèse, reclining on a bed with a minotaur looming over her.
anatomē: Where there any particular artists or pieces that stood out to you during the curation process?
Olivia: All roads lead back to Picasso.
anatomē: Reflecting on the Nocturnes exhibition, how would you describe your relationship with sleep?
Olivia: I have a small child, so sleep has never been more important—or higher on my agenda. I know I'm at my most productive when I'm well-rested. At home, we're trying to ban phones and tech from our bedrooms, which is proving difficult—like most people, I could easily scroll through social media in bed.
I love lavender oil, pillow sprays, and classical music. Fresh air year-round is essential, along with good pillows and an eye mask.
anatomē: Do you think our relationship with night and sleep has changed in the modern world, and if so, how does this exhibition reflect that?
Olivia: I think sleep is probably the most fetishised and valuable commodity. Now, we're constantly told that we need eight hours of sleep; I certainly do; the idea of not sleeping is torturous. I mean, it is a torture technique. The world has never been busier. It's never been full of more horrible tech that keeps everyone awake. I think the idea of having a place that is totally to do with recuperation, rest realisation is a really important thing for busy people, and it's essential for our mental health. And I think that's probably why it's changed so much in the modern world, is that there are, there's ever been more things that are sleep disruptors. And I think people are thinking about that, and people want to buy art and see art for things that are relevant to their everyday lives. Sleep is relevant to all of us, for sure.
Nocturnes, Lyndsey Ingram, 20 Bourdon St, London W1K 3PJ, until, 21 March 2025.
