At Charleston, the British artist’s sharp and surreal vision unsettles the familiar, exposing the strange politics of everyday life.
16 September 2026
What happens when the ordinary becomes absurd? In Olivia Sterling’s work, the familiar is rarely left undisturbed. Through painting, sculpture and an incisive sense of humour, the British artist turns everyday encounters into charged reflections on power, identity and the structures that shape our lives.
Presented at Charleston, the historic Sussex home of artists Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant, this exhibition brings Sterling’s distinctive visual language into dialogue with a place built on experimentation, collaboration and radical thinking.
Her work is populated by uncanny figures, exaggerated gestures and scenes that hover between the comic and the unsettling. Drawing on the visual languages of art history, popular culture, and contemporary life, Sterling explores how bodies are seen, judged, and represented.
At once playful and provocative, her practice invites us to look again at the familiar, revealing the tensions beneath its surface. The result is an exhibition that challenges easy readings while embracing the possibilities of the strange.
In Charleston, where art and life have long been intertwined, Sterling’s work offers a compelling contemporary encounter, asking what it means to see the world differently.
This exhibition will be on view at Charleston, Firle from 19 September 2026 until 7 March 2027.
