The 2023 exhibition Time brought work by more than 130 artists to London around the experience of brain tumours and the urgency carried by diagnosis, treatment and research.
Presented by The Brain Tumour Charity at the Business Design Centre in Islington, the exhibition included photography, painting, medical scans and sculpture.
Artists responding to a limited and uncertain future
Graffiti artist Ed Worley, known as Opake, created I Wish I Had More Time, an image referring to Alice in Wonderland and the pressure of time experienced by people facing serious illness.
His contribution was informed by the experience of a close family friend with a brain tumour.
The exhibition also included work by Antonio Russo, known as Stony, who died in 2022 after living for three years with a grade 4 glioblastoma. He continued making expressive street art during chemotherapy, radiotherapy and immunotherapy.
Personal diagnosis translated through material and colour
Young ambassador Rebecca Taylor contributed work shaped by the mental-health effects of being diagnosed and treated at the age of 14.
Rather than beginning with a fixed visual plan, she allowed layers of colour, texture and meaning to develop during the making process.
The works were offered through online and live auctions, with proceeds supporting the charity’s research and services.
Time used a broad group exhibition to prevent the subject from being reduced to one medical narrative. Artists approached urgency, memory, fear and resilience through different materials and personal relationships with illness.
The title linked those experiences without claiming that time carried the same meaning for every participant.