Making Appearances: Photography and the Politics of Visibility
— The Arts Club, London 29 April — 27 September 2026

Making Appearances brings together works by Cindy Sherman, Helen Chadwick, Renate Bertlmann, Lebohang Kganye, Awol Erizku, Zanele Muholi, Tseng Kwong Chi and Martine Gutierrez. Spanning generations, the exhibition traces a dialogue between pioneering figures who redefined photographic representation and contemporary artists who continue to expand its possibilities.

The exhibition brings together three pioneering figures of strong feminist foundation whose practices challenged the visual codes through which identity has traditionally been staged and understood. Central to this dialogue are artists such as Cindy Sherman, whose work unsettles fixed ideas of femininity and selfhood; Renate Bertlmann, who exposes structures of gender and power through provocation and theatricality; Helen Chadwick, whose ‘In the Kitchen’ series stages the domestic interior as a charged site of performance. Tseng Kwong Chi’s performative portraits interrogate self-presentation, cultural persona, and the politics of identity, offering a complementary perspective to the feminist pioneers.

Alongside these works, a younger generation of artists brings renewed urgency to questions of representation. Lebohang Kganye explores memory and inheritance through personal and archival imagery; Awol Erizku blends portraiture, fashion, and art history; Zanele Muholi asserts Black queer presence and challenges dominant narratives of visibility; and Martine Gutierrez pushes photography into fiction and self-mythology through performance. Together, they foreground photography as a medium through which identity is continually constructed and reimagined across generations.

Curated by Amelie von Wedel and Pernilla Holmes of Wedel Art.

Making Appearances has been made possible through the generous support of Sprüth Magers, Ben Brown Fine Art, Richard Saltoun Gallery, Yancey Richardson Gallery, Josh Lilley Gallery, Ryan Lee Gallery, and Lebohang Kganye Studio, whose loaned works have been integral in bringing the show to fruition.