Gazelli Art House, London · March 27 – May 16, 2026
Some time ago in Athens, Kalliopi Lemos found an abandoned migrant boat under a bridge—a vessel that had once carried hope. She took that boat and transformed it into a monumental sculpture, carrying it to the streets of London, the courtyards of museums, and the corridors of biennials. This is exactly what art makes possible: history does not remain frozen; instead, the heavy burden of migration and displacement changes form and rejoins us.
Bringing together works from nearly thirty years of production, A Tide of Roses presents brand-new paintings alongside key sculptures from the milestones of her career within a shared conceptual framework. Personal memories, ancient mythology, and the sociological transformation of the female body over time constitute the three fundamental axes upon which this selection is built.
The most distinct feature that sets Lemos’s practice apart from her contemporaries is the unwavering yet never didactic relationship she establishes between material and meaning. A boat, a steel corset, or a massive severed braid of hair… in Lemos’s hands, these cease to be ordinary objects; each carries a heavy history and hides the trace of an invisible body. Here, mythology functions not as a decorative element to adorn the work, but as a powerful language invented specifically to contemplate the body, time, and existence.
She is an artist also known for the powerful marks she has left on London’s public spaces: the giant corset sculpture in Golden Square, the monumental braid in Frieze Sculpture Park, or that iconic high-heeled shoe placed in Greenwich. Lemos is one of those rare names who does not confine her art within the sterile walls of a gallery but allows it to spill over into the streets and civil life. A Tide of Roses is built upon this massive accumulation; it offers both a retrospective summary of the past and announces a brand-new transformation in the artist’s practice.
A tide of roses… at once enchanting and stifling, deeply romantic yet dangerously overflowing. The poetic title of the exhibition perfectly summarizes the dual nature of the works within: an aesthetic that instantly captivates your gaze, yet increasingly unnerves you as you draw closer.
If you are in London or planning a visit, do not miss it; the exhibition closes on May 16.
- Venue: Gazelli Art House, 39 Dover St, London
- Exhibition: A Tide of Roses
- Closing Date: May 16, 2026
