黑料不打烊

Richard Saltoun Gallery is pleased to present A Leap of Sympathy, the inaugural solo exhibition by London-based artist Anna Perach (b. 1985, Zaporizhzhia) at the gallery, whose first UK institutional solo exhibition was on view at Gasworks in London last year. The exhibition title draws from philosopher Henri Bergson, who emphasized intuition and lived experience over strict rationalism in our understanding of reality. Bergson suggests that, since we cannot empirically prove another person鈥檚 internal experience, we must take a 鈥榣eap of sympathy鈥欌�攁 leap of trust鈥攖o relate to them. This idea finds resonance in Perach鈥檚 exhibition, unfolding across the gallery鈥檚 three spaces like the chapters of a storybook, and bringing together a new body of tufted sculptures, drawings and glass sculptures. These works continue the artist鈥檚 investigation into the intersections of the psyche, gender, and identity through the primary medium of textiles鈥攖raditionally associated with the feminine and the domestic. A Leap of Sympathy was developed in conjunction with East Gallery in Norwich, where it will travel for an institutional solo exhibition in September 2025.

Perach鈥檚 sculptures thread the line between the beautiful and ornamental as well as the grotesque and eerie, challenging the boundaries between fine art and craft. Using tufting, a traditional and labor-intensive textile technique, the artist reimagines archetypes as hybrid forms that question prevailing cultural myths surrounding gender. Central to Perach鈥檚 practice is an exploration of the 鈥渕onstrous鈥� body鈥攁 concept that feminist theorist Donna Haraway uses to imagine new, counter-hegemonic forms of existence, adaptation and imagination in a fractured world. Thus, vilified female archetypes鈥攕uch as witches and monsters, figures often marginalized for transgressing social norms鈥攁re frequently Perach鈥檚 protagonists, through whom she reflects on contemporary societal perceptions of femininity and otherness.

Such reflections are encapsulated in the work Olimpia, the focal point of the exhibition. The installation features two large-scale feminine sculptures in rococo inspired dresses: one is a wearable piece, activated by a performer, while the other is controlled by a clockwork structure operated from within the wearable sculpture. This marks the very first time the artist is using robotics in her work. In Olimpia, she looks at the historical casting of the feminine form as frivolous, overly emotional  and unruly, threatening religious and scientific categorization. As a result, it has been subjugated and coerced into alignment with the dominant narratives of each era. Perach draws connections between these Western systems of control and their impact on the female body, reflecting on what our contemporary attitudes reveal about broader societal anxieties and fantasies. 

Inspired by E.T.A. Hoffmann鈥檚 Gothic fiction The Tales of Hoffmann, Olimpia takes its name from the automaton Olimpia, who becomes the object of a young man鈥檚 obsessive desire, as he believes her to be a real woman. Her mechanical nature is ultimately exposed during a violent struggle between her creators, which leads to her destruction. Perach focuses on the moment when Olimpia is first introduced to society by singing an area at a ball. She interprets Olimpia and Clara鈥攖wo central figures in Hoffmann鈥檚 story鈥攁s representations of the self鈥檚 divided nature: Clara embodies societal norms of logic, while Olimpia represents the repressed, chaotic aspects subjected to patriarchal control. These tensions, and the relationship between the two figures and the viewer will be explored in two performances; during on the opening night of the exhibition (Thursday, 15 May | 6pm) and during London Gallery Weekend (Friday, 6 June 2025 | 5PM), incorporating live music, vocal elements and choreographed movement.

This work also draws from psychoanalytic theory, particularly Freud鈥檚 notion of the doppelg盲nger, which he describes as a mechanism that enables the repression of unbearable psychic content by splitting the self. Though seemingly forgotten, the repressed inevitably resurfaces, exposing a 鈥渕onstrous truth鈥� that was always present. Through Olimpia, Perach examines what threatening, suppressed content the female body might hold鈥攁nd what happens when it inevitably emerges. The work also engages with the psychological rupture that occurs when one鈥檚 perception of what is human is disrupted. In Hoffmann鈥檚 tale, Nathaniel experiences a psychotic breakdown when Olimpia is revealed to be a machine, her humanity an illusion. The 鈥渓eap of sympathy鈥� he extended to her鈥攈is belief in her ability to feel and experience as he does鈥攕hatters, turning Olimpia into a 鈥渕onster鈥� in his eyes and, in turn, making him monstrous. As Perach explains, 鈥淭hat is part of what I want the audience to experience during the performance鈥攓uestioning what is inhabited by a human and is like them, and what is operated by a machine.鈥�