Hi everyone, today I want to talk to you about one of my favourite contemporary artists, Natalie Papamichael, this October she is launching an exhibition in London and a Fashion Show, how exciting is this!
The exhibition Making Strange is the first central London solo exhibition of Natalie, and you can visit at the Gallery Different London from 21 October. The title of the exhibition is a reference to Bertolt Brecht’s Verfremdungseffekt (estrangement effect), which is a technique designed to dismantle the illusion of narrative and foreground mechanisms of representation. She deploys a similar strategy of “making strange” by inserting herself into canonical art-historical scenes, thus displacing traditional readings and reformulating them through a feminist and satirical lens. Papamichael is well known for her engagement with art history, feminist theory, and political discourse.
This exhibition encompasses multiple bodies of Natalie’s work, from her explorations of gender and representation in the Western canon to her provocative satirical paintings produced during and after the pandemic. The first unsettles the grand narratives of Western art, and in the second, she subjects political leaders and public figures to scathing critiques, exposing the absurdities, contradictions, and flaws of power structures in times of crisis. Natalie Papamichael went further in her critique by inserting images of her paintings into clothing she designed herself, to be unveiled in the fashion show at Different Gallery on October 30, 2025.
“Papamichael interrupts the sanctity of tradition with wit and subversion. By placing herself within the pictorial field, she destabilises authority—be it artistic, historical, or political—compelling the viewer to confront their own complicity in accepted narratives.” – Exhibition catalogue
First introduced to Gallery Different London audiences in the women-only group exhibition Muse, Model or Mistress?, Papamichael has since developed a practice that is both deeply researched and unflinchingly personal. Making Strange consolidates seven years of dialogue between the Artist and Gallery Different London into a landmark exhibition that highlights the intensity and multiplicity of her vision.
The Fashion Show
Natalie Papamichael’s Fashion Show, Making Strange, at Gallery Different London is inspired by the surrealists and the art happenings of the 1960s. It fuses fashion, fine art, performance and painting. This Fashion Show accompanies the artist solo exhibition, unveils a collection of clothing that is acerbic, evocative, startling and mesmerising.
The restriction on free speech of the early 2020s inspired Natalie to look for new ways to circumvent censorship, while reach a wider audience. She began creating clothing out of her works as a painter, merging fashion and fine art with political statements. As the show unfolds, the garments will dialogue with the paintings of the exhibitions. The performance will transform the gallery into a tableau vivant inviting the visitants to reinterpret the stories woven within Natalie’s artworks.
If you’re in London this October, you shouldn’t miss it!
Exhibition and Fashion Show Details:
21 October – 10 November 2025
Press View: 22 October, 5pm
Private View: 23 October, 5.30pm (RSVP essential)
Opening Hours: Daily 10:30 am – 5:00 pm
Late Night Opening Thursdays until 8:00 pm
Venue: Gallery Different
Address: 14 Percy Street, London W1T 1DR
Telephone: 0207 637 3775
Website: www.gallerydifferent.co.uk
Email: info@gallerydifferent.co.uk
Fashion Show 30th October 2025, 6.30 pm – 9pm Tickets available via Eventbrite.
About the artist:
And, for all that are new here, Natalie is a good friend of Women’n Art, we had the pleasure to interview her few years ago, you can read the interview here.
Discover more from Women'n Art
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Women'n Art 
You must be logged in to post a comment.