What is the World you Dream Of?

You could call it a group show. But Finding My Blue Sky reads more like a conversation - between artists, histories, cities and the viewer themselves. Curated by Dr Omar Kholeif, this expansive exhibition takes over both Lisson Gallery spaces in London (27 Bell Street and 67 Lisson Street), running from 30th May to 26th July.

Kholeif calls it a love letter to London. But also to a wider, shifting idea of home, making it personal, political, and imagined. With work from more than twenty artists and twelve new commissions, the show loops between past and present, layering biographical threads, diasporic narratives, and different modes of seeing. Some artists make their London debut here; others return with new works shaped by personal and political histories. 

It begins outside. Lubaina Himid’s Freedom Kanga murals wrap the exterior of 27 Bell Street. East African inspired textiles printed with phrases like ‘There could be an endless ocean.’ Inside, the exhibition unfolds with that same sense of fluidity. Magda Stawarska’s copper and aluminum dreamscapes climb the walls; Lawrence Abu Hamdan’s Air Conditioning overlays UN data onto a vast, painterly sky; Simone Fattal’s Wave Under the Sky coils ceramic into something both solid and elemental.  

There are echoes between artists who never met but seem to be speaking to each other. Huguette Caland’s intimate drawings alongside Luísa Correia Pereira’s quietly radical paintings; Sean Scully’s early textile-inspired works paired with his new Rabat Blue. The show also foregrounds under-recognised voices: Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian’s geometric mirrors; Celia Hempton’s new Demolition paintings, shaped by Lisson’s local streets and the ongoing churn of the city. 

Kholeif has imagined the 67 Lisson Street space as a kind of secular church. A space to pause rather than perform. In this spirit, Finding My Blue Sky is less about dictating meaning than inviting it. Its Arabic title asks: “What is the world that you dream of?” - a prompt that lingers long after you leave.

On at Lisson Gallery at 27 Bell Street and 67 Lisson Street, until 26th July 2025. Learn more about the exhibition HERE