An exhibition presented by Cardion Arts in partnership with The Museum of Transology
4th - 27th July 2025
Private view: 03 July 2025 at The Art Academy, London, SE1
Prem Sahib, Obsidian Mirror III.II, 2020 Image Courtesy of Artist and Phillida Reid
Talisman is a group exhibition of LGBTQIA+ artists, curated by Gemma Rolls-Bentley and E-J Scott, that considers the objects, people and symbols we turn to in order to keep us safe. Since ancient times, people have turned to ritual and talismanic objects as a means of protection against unseen forces and existential threats. In that same spirit, Talisman - Cardion Arts’ annual group exhibition for 2025 - draws on this rich legacy of symbolic defence, inviting artists from across the UK to channel their creative energies as acts of safeguarding and resistance. From 4th - 27th July 2025, visitors are welcomed into a space of collective sanctuary, shaped by the imaginations of some of the biggest names in queer art alongside a tightly curated selection of early and mid-career artists. The exhibition features Karina Akopyan, Niya B, Jonathan Baldock, Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley, Claye Bowler, KV Duong, Eva Dixon, Jesse Darling, Dudley Dream Walsh, Luke Edward Hall, Lubaina Himid, Erin Holly, Kasra Jalilipour, Wayne Lucas, Richard Maguire, Emily Pope, Prem Sahib, Zach Toppin, Emily Witham, Ajamu X, Osman Yousefzada, alongside objects from the Museum of Transology.
The works on view explore themes of queer spirituality, the supernatural, hurt and healing, bodily sanctity, and our community's shared capacity to summon resilience and good fortune. The show is curated by Gemma Rolls-Bentley, and E-J Scott, with assistant curator, Katie DellaValle. Curators Gemma Rolls-Bentley, and E-J Scott are powerhouses in the artworld. Gemma RollsBentley has been at the forefront of contemporary art for over two decades, working passionately to champion diversity in the field and amplify the work of queer artists. E-J Scott is a curator, cultural producer, and academic known for founding the Museum of Transology.
The Curators
Gemma Rolls-Bentley has been at the forefront of contemporary art for almost two decades, working passionately to champion diversity in the field. Her debut book Queer Art: From Canvas to Club and the Spaces Between was published in Spring 2024 by Frances Lincoln and has been highlighted as a must-read by Them, Dazed, Timeout, The Guardian, Cultured and the FT. Her curatorial practice amplifies the work of female and queer artists and provides a platform for art that explores LGBTQIA+ identity. Gemma has curated for a range of international galleries and institutions, most recently Carl Freedman Gallery, ICA London, Cardion Arts, Leslie Lohman Museum of Art, and London Art Fair. In 2022 she curated the Brighton Beacon Collection, the largest permanent display of queer art in the UK, for Soho House Brighton. Gemma has taught at numerous institutions including the Royal College of Art, the Glasgow School of Art, and Goldsmiths, and is a juror for the 2025 John Moore’s Painting Prize. She is a trustee of the charity Queercircle and sits on the Courtauld Association Committee and the Leslie Lohman Museum Acquisitions Committee.
E-J Scott is a curator, cultural producer, and academic known for their work with the Museum of Transology, a collection of material culture representing trans lives. They are also a Senior Lecturer at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London, and a Trans-Inclusive Culture Trainer for museums, galleries, and archives. E-J's practice focuses on enabling marginalized communities to recentre their histories through participatory and interventive practices.
Cardion Arts exists as a not-for-profit organisation to provide a platform for LGBTQIA+ artists. We aim to advance their career through exhibitions and events. We strive to nurture and support them and to present projects in physical and digital spaces that are engaging and educational, celebrating queer joy with the rest of our community and diverse audiences. https://cardionarts.org/
The Museum of Transology (MoT) has been collecting objects and stories from the trans, non-binary and intersex community for over a decade. With almost 1000 objects and 2000 protest placards amassed, it’s now the world’s biggest collection of material culture representing our gender identities, our lived experiences and our trans and intersex bodies. The entire collection has been archived and documented by with our own hands, in our own words by our Community Curators. Our curatorial activism has been strategised to halt the erasure of transcestry by saving our voices in history. This ensures we secure a historical counternarrative to the legal systems that criminalise us, the medical systems that pathologise us, the politicians who debate us and the media that sensationalise our lives. Never again can anyone claim that we do not exist.
The MoT’s collection is held at the Bishopsgate Institute’s Special Collections and Archives. Objects are available for members of the community, their friends and families, community groups, researchers and educators to access for free, and are loaned for exhibitions to museums and galleries locally, nationally and internationally. Follow us on Insta @museumoftransology