Contact:
Camille Tibaldeo
E: camille.tibaldeo@fountainhouse.org
P: 212.246.6543
Contact:
Heather Welsh
E: heather.welsh@bethlemgallery.com
P: +44 20 32 284 101
Fountain House Gallery Completes Collaboration with Bethlem Gallery
Yearlong Project Will Culminate in Exhibitions in New York City and London
NEW YORK CITY – Fountain House Gallery – the premier venue in New York City representing artists living with mental illness – announces completion of a yearlong collaboration with Bethlem Gallery, a leading visual arts organization based on the grounds of the Bethlem Royal Hospital in London, UK. Conceived by Fountain House Gallery & Studio artist Vermillion and led by Fountain House Studio Director Karen Gormandy, the project will culminate in two exhibitions – one in New York City and the other in London – both titled Unfurling: Coming Out of Isolation. The New York City show, curated by Karen Gormandy and Vermillion, will open with a reception on July 23, 2026, from 6pm to 8pm EST and will remain on view through August 15. The London show, curated by Joanne Barrett and Karim Sultan of Bethlem Gallery, will open with a reception at Bethlem on July 23, 2026, from 4pm to 7pm BST and will remain on view through September 5.
On Thursday, July 23, Fountain House Gallery and Bethlem Gallery will host combined programming via Zoom, including performances, artist talks, and a video screening, from 11am-2pm EST/ 4pm-7pm BST. Details can be found at this link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/unfurling-coming-out-of-isolation-joint-reception-programming-tickets-1992449473009?aff=erelexpmlt
Gormandy said, “For a full year beginning in November 2024, artists of Fountain House Gallery and Bethlem Gallery began a series of artmaking sessions examining what being in isolation is, and how it manifested for them as artists and individuals. More than 20 artists of both galleries ‘met’ for weekly, two-hour Zoom sessions, during which they shared their work and insights on the project. In addition, they exchanged emails and posted about themselves and their art practices via an online forum. Although separated by an ocean, the artists came together each Saturday to explore what it means to be isolated and what might motivate them to move away from that state.”
Vermillion added, “It is gratifying to see the artwork born through our transatlantic collaborative experience – a lovely unfurling of energies and expressions. To witness the growing of this show from the germ of an idea that came to me while visiting Bethlem Gallery cements my belief that working toward a better world, one step at a time – reaching out to each other – can build a communal space regardless of the surrounding turmoil. The excitement in the rooms! Oh, to hear those British and American accents! The intelligence, curiosity, resonance. The depth of feeling. The friendship blossoming. We did this!”
In order to concretize and focus work illustrative of the umbrella phrase “coming out of isolation,” specific and extensive prompts were created to represent various phases of the process. Early prompts included, “What We Take with Us/What We Leave Behind,” “Becoming,” “The Unpredictability of Time,” and “Integration,” leading to later prompts moving toward the end of isolation: “Becoming,” “Expectation,” and “Identity & Authenticity” – and culminating in the prompt “Bliss.”
On display at the combined locations will be more than 80 pieces, spanning mediums including ceramic, textile, video, painting, drawing, poetry and prose - and a collection of postcards sent between the New York City and London artists. A full-color book, featuring selected works and insights by the artists and curators, will be available for purchase.
Preview selected works from the show at: https://www.artsy.net/show/fountain-house-gallery-unfurling-coming-out-of-isolation
Joanne Barrett
Joanne Barrett is a ceramicist, weaver and writer. Without a formal art school education and as a late-entry artist her work sits within the Outsider Art movement. She has an acute sensitivity to texture and colour where meaning and form are secondary processes. She uses drawing, painting, text and printmaking as part of her explorations and is drawn to the haptic in textiles, clay and a range of media.
Barrett works collaboratively as a member of participatory projects, many attuned to neurodiversity, where the group produces workshops for artists and in the community, and where an exhibition can be part of the process. These include the Bromley by Bow Centre, Tate Modern, St. Mungo’s, the Irish Cultural Centre: Fitrovia Chapel, the Crafts Council: Crafting with Pride, East London Textile Arts: Art Workers Guild, Out of Context Folkestone: Fourth Wall Gallery, Wave Cafe and the City Lit: Developing Artist Course.
Vermillion
Vermillion's visual arts practice began as a make-something-out-of-nothing artist. Her textile art, collages, and assemblages have developed into installations that have an underlying social or political message but also fulfill a need for playfulness, humor, surprise, uniqueness. In 2023 she was in residence on Governors Island where she worked on The Cobalt Blue Shrine installation made out of 1,000 glass bottles and glassware that evolved from an initial piece in memory of her younger brother lost to alcoholism. The deluge of bottles that came her way after she put in a public request swiftly turned it into an environmental art project. She performed as a stand-in for Mother Earth, and got publicly buried in bottles. She is currently curating Unfurling: Coming Out of Isolation between Fountain House Gallery & Studio with Bethlem Gallery, London, resulting in an exhibition opening in July 2026. She is also an artist in residence at Under St. Marks Theater, where she regularly performs her solo shows “On Cats and Dogs and Other Family Revelations” and "Book Spines Broken by My Cat.” @vermilion.nyc
Karen Gormandy is the Fountain House Studio Director.
Karim Sultan is the Curator of Bethlem Gallery.
Bethlem Gallery
Founded in 1997 to nurture artist opportunities for current and former psychiatric service users of the Bethlem Royal Hospital (London, UK) and wider South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, Bethlem Gallery has quietly and consistently evolved to become a valued space for artists and an influential independent charity. Led by Clore Fellow and Director Sophie Leighton since 2020, today it provides both creative support and commercial representation to visiting as well as Gallery artists. In its public gallery spaces, it presents four free exhibitions annually, accompanied by in-person and online talks, workshops and symposiums. The Gallery also regularly acts as an ongoing specialist advisor to cultural institutions invested in inclusive experimental artistic programming, nationally and internationally.
Fountain House Gallery & Studio
Fountain House Gallery & Studio envisions a world where artists find community, healing and creative growth through artistry, and where their strengths and contributions reshape how society understands serious mental illness. In the Studio, artists find a supportive community where they can explore their creativity, develop their craft, reclaim their identities, and challenge the stigma of diagnosis. At the Gallery, their work is shared with the public, celebrated and sold — amplifying their voices by advancing their careers and demonstrating their essential contributions to art and culture. Together, the Studio and Gallery foster hope, inspire new possibilities, and build upon a movement that values artistry as a force for healing and change.
Fountain House
For 75 years, Fountain House has been a beacon of hope and recovery for people living with serious mental illness. Through its direct service clubhouse programs in New York City and Los Angeles, as well as national policy, advocacy and research initiatives, Fountain House has transformed the lives of tens of thousands of people living with serious mental illness. Founded in 1948 in New York City, Fountain House originated the clubhouse model of community mental health that has been replicated more than 370 times in nearly 40 U.S. states and in 30 countries around the world.
Fountain House Gallery
702 Ninth Avenue at 48th Street
NYC 10019
212.262.2756
Hours: Tues.-Fri. 12-6/Sat. 1-7
More than a gallery. A movement.
Bethlem Gallery
Bethlem Royal Hospital
Monks Orchard Road,
London, BR3 3BX
020 32 284 101
info@bethlemgallery.com
Hours: 9.30am-5pm
Pre-bookings only: Monday–Tuesday
Open to the public: Wednesday – Saturday
(Closed for public holidays and exhibition installs; check website before visiting)
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