In Conversation: George Rouy and Nikolaj Schultz

Join us for a conversation with artist George Rouy and sociologist Nikolaj Schultz, moderated by Editor-in-Chief of Art Review Mark Rappolt, in celebration of the exhibition ‘The Bleed, Part I’ at Hauser & Wirth London.

• 6 pm: After-hours access to the exhibition with complimentary refreshments

• 6.30 pm: Talk begins

• 7.30 pm: Talk ends

Tickets are free, however advance booking is essential and late arrivals will not be admitted. Please note that seats will be allocated on a first come, first serve basis.

About ‘George Rouy. The Bleed, Part I’
Emerging as a leading figure of the new generation of painters, George Rouy’s debut solo exhibition at Hauser & Wirth London, ‘The Bleed, Part I’ features a new body of work continuing his inquiry into collective mass, multiplicities and movement, and human modes of existence. Focused on the relationship between interior landscapes and the body in motion, Rouy’s work presents us with a new language confronting the human body with bold and subversive energy, transformation and flux. Shapeshifting from unified, ambient subjects made strange and alluring through their sparse and enduring symbolism, to fever dreams of androgynous and gestural forms, charged with lurid flashes of pigment and passages of abstraction, Rouy’s work brings to sharp focus recurring themes: the face as a mask, the individual as a mirror, the self as a shadow. 

The exhibition is on view through Saturday 21 December 2024, with the second chapter, ‘The Bleed, Part II,’ following at Hauser & Wirth Downtown Los Angeles in February 2025.

About George Rouy
George Rouy is a British artist known for his dynamic and evocative representations of the human figure. His work, which explores themes of desire, alienation and crisis, reflects the extremes of our time, presenting portraits of identity in a globalized and technology-driven 21st Century. 

Since graduating from Camberwell College of Arts in London, UK, he has exhibited internationally, including: ‘Present Tense,’ Hauser & Wirth Somerset, UK (2024); ‘The Echo of Picasso,’ Museo Picasso Málaga, Spain; ‘Endless Song,’ Nicola Vassell Gallery, New York NY (2023); ‘BODY SUIT,’ Hannah Barry Gallery, London, UK (2023); ‘Belly Ache,’ Almine Rech, Paris, France (2022); ‘Real Corporeal,’ Gladstone Gallery, New York NY (2022); ‘A Thing for the Mind,’ Timothy Taylor Gallery, London, UK (2022); ‘Shit Mirror,’ Peres Projects, Berlin, Germany (2022); ‘Rested,’ Nicola Vassell, New York NY (2021); and ‘Clot,’ Hannah Barry Gallery, London, UK (2020). 

About Nikolaj Schultz
Nikolaj Schultz is a Danish sociologist and leading figure in contemporary social theory and ecological thought. His work explores the intersection of sociology, politics and the climate crisis. Schultz has gained recognition from prominent intellectuals such as Dipesh Chakrabarty, Clive Hamilton and Slavoj Žižek, whilst also influencing artist George Rouy, art critic and curator Hans Ulrich Obrist, and the band Fontaines D.C.

Schultz was a close collaborator of the late French philosopher Bruno Latour (1947 – 2022), with whom he co-authored ‘On the Emergence of an Ecological Class: A Memo,’ Polity Books (2023). The book, which has inspired political movements like the French Green Party (EELV) and the German Climate Movement, calls for the creation of a political class focused on planetary habitability. Schultz’s solo work, ‘Land Sickness,’ Polity Books (2023), a hybrid auto-ethnographic essay, delves into the existential and sociological questions posed by the anthropocene. His innovative approach has resonated with both academics and artists, marking him as a significant emerging voice in ecological and sociological discourse. 

About Mark Rappolt
Mark Rappolt is and art journalist, writer and current Editor-in-Chief of ArtReview. He founded its sister publication, ArtReview Asia, in 2013. Rappolt’s writing has appeared in a number of publications, ranging from The Times and Die Zeit to i-D and Citizen K, and includes exhibition catalogues on artists such as David Cronenberg, Bharti Kher, Vaughn Spann, Yuko Mohri and Liu Xiadong. His books include monographs on architects Greg Lynn and Frank Gehry. Between 2016 – 2018, with Aimee Lin, Rappolt curated Xiàn Chang, a special section of the West Bund Art & Design Fair in Shanghai, China. He has curated exhibitions including ‘Like a Moth to a Flame,’ co-curated with Tom Eccles and Liam Gillick, a two-part exhibition at the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo and the OGR, Turin, Italy (2017); ‘Now or Never,’ Galerie Crone, Vienna, Austria (2018); ‘Sometimes You’re the Hammer, Sometimes You’re the Nail,’ Modern Art Base, Shanghai, China (2019); ‘Zhu Jia: Faraway Friends,’ Modern Art Base, Shanghai, China (2020); ‘Before the Cockerel Crows,’ co-curated with with Tom Eccles and Liam Gillick, Palazzo Re Rebaudengo, Guarene, Italy (2021).

—

Photographs will be taken at this event for use on the Hauser & Wirth website, social media and in other marketing materials.