Fall down the rabbit hole into Charlotte Colbert’s Frieze Week dreamland
‘Dreamland Sirens’, a London exhibition from Charlotte Colbert, is curated by Simon de Pury and LA-based gallery UTA Artist Space

Loosely inspired by Alice in Wonderland, a new London exhibition from multidisciplinary artist Charlotte Colbert heads down the rabbit hole, inviting us to become aware of what we dream and visualise collectively. Taking place during Frieze London 2023, the exhibition ‘Dreamland Sirens’, curated by Simon de Pury and LA-based gallery UTA Artist Space, is in the Grade II-listed Fitzrovia Chapel, an atmospheric space that shimmers with hundreds of golden stars and intricate mosaics.
On show are two 4m-high sculptures. A large-scale, pink, uterus-shaped sculpture, entitled A Taste of Exile, gives a tongue-in-cheek nod to Lewis Carroll’s Queen of Hearts, while a monumental crying blue eye takes us through the looking-glass and into our dreams. Colbert’s work, which spans film, sculpture and installations, often deals with fairytales and dreams, creating a dialogue with the whispers of alternative realities. Guiding us through the looking-glass into an immersive and surrealist exploration of dreamscapes, symbolism and the mind, Colbert asks, ‘Which dreams and utopias can we magick into the world?’
The exhibition is set to a striking soundtrack by composer Isobel Waller-Bridge, played through mermaid-shaped speakers. ‘Diving into “Dreamland Sirens” with Charlotte has been a spectacular adventure,’ says Waller-Bridge. ‘I have always admired Charlotte’s art, so to be invited to collaborate with her was an honour. The way that Charlotte reads the world is completely unique, and responding to her work with my music has drawn me into new realms. I love the result, and I think that what we have created together reflects our mutual and deepest love of surrealism, and the rabbit hole.’
Remarks Colbert, ‘The exhibition takes place in the most magical location. A half-forgotten, mosaic-covered, fairytale-like chapel, tucked away from Oxford Street. So it had that immersive feeling from the get-go and my practice I work in different mediums so it felt natural to bring sculpture, music and writing together.
'The show was born out of ruminations with Simon and Zuzanna about Alice in Wonderland and this weird obsessive feeling I have that we seem to be living in or working towards the dystopias science-fiction writers penned in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. As if today’s powerful visionaries who control tech and new media were creating what they read about and were inspired by as children: driverless cars, talking machines (the creator of Alexa and Siri actually said that is how he had the idea, he had read a book as a kid about a talking machine), even the aesthetic of it all has a sort of Ballard twist.'
Adds de Pury: 'What drew me to the work of Charlotte Colbert is that she is so multifaceted and not a one-trick pony as so many artists are. She applies her talent to a multiplicity of media from ceramics to sculpture, furniture, video and cinema.'
'Psychoanalysis has always found its visual translation in surrealism,' Colbert adds. 'I guess surrealism is about challenging accepted reality by unexpected things being in unexpected places or in unexpected sizes.'
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Colbert’s work has been exhibited at the V&A, Montpellier Contemporain, and the Basel and Istanbul art fairs. Colbert is also an acclaimed filmmaker, making her directorial debut in the psychological horror She Will (2021), which won the Golden Leopard for best debut at the Locarno Film Festival.
Dreamland Sirens runs from 11-21 October 2023 at the Fitzrovia Chapel, 2 Pearson Square, London W1,
charlottecolbert.com, utaartistspace.com, isobelwaller-bridge.com, fitzroviachapel.org
Anne Soward joined the Wallpaper* team as Production Editor back in 2005, fresh from a three-year stint working in Sydney at Vogue Entertaining & Travel. She prepares all content for print to ensure every story adheres to Wallpaper’s superlative editorial standards. When not dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s, she dreams about real estate.
-
The architectural innovation hidden in plain sight at Frieze London 2025
The 2025 Frieze entrance pavilions launch this week alongside the art fair, showcasing a brand-new, modular building system set to shake up the architecture of large-scale events
-
Chantal Joffe paints the truth of memory and motherhood in a new London show
A profound chronicler of the intimacies of the female experience, Chantal Joffe explores the elemental truth of family dynamics for a new exhibition at Victoria Miro
-
This 100-year-old private members’ club in London feels young at heart
The Sloane Club unveils a stylish new rebrand and redesign courtesy of Russell Sage Studio
-
Chantal Joffe paints the truth of memory and motherhood in a new London show
A profound chronicler of the intimacies of the female experience, Chantal Joffe explores the elemental truth of family dynamics for a new exhibition at Victoria Miro
-
Leo Costelloe turns the kitchen into a site of fantasy and unease
For Frieze week, Costelloe transforms everyday domesticity into something intimate, surreal and faintly haunted at The Shop at Sadie Coles
-
Can surrealism be erotic? Yes if women can reclaim their power, says a London exhibition
‘Unveiled Desires: Fetish & The Erotic in Surrealism, 1924–Today’ at London’s Richard Saltoun gallery examines the role of desire in the avant-garde movement
-
Tiffany & Co’s artist mentorship at Frieze London puts creative exchange centre stage
At Frieze London 2025, Tiffany & Co partners with the fair’s Artist-to-Artist initiative, expanding its reach and reaffirming the value of mentorship within the global art community
-
Em-Dash is a small press redefining the indie zine beyond nostalgia
The South London publishing studio's new imprint 'Practice Meets Paper' translates a chosen artist’s practice into print. Wallpaper*s senior designer Gabriel Annouka speaks with the founders, Saundra Liemantoro and Aarushi Matiyani, to find out more
-
‘It is about ensuring Africa is no longer on the periphery’: 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair in London
The 13th edition of 1-54 London will be held at London’s Somerset House from 16-19 October; we meet founder Touria El Glaoui to chart the fair's rising influence
-
‘Sit, linger, take a nap’: Peter Doig welcomes visitors to his Serpentine exhibition
The artist’s ‘House of Music’ exhibition, at Serpentine Galleries, rethinks the traditional gallery space, bringing in furniture and a vintage sound system
-
Who was Denton Welch, the cult writer and painter who inspired everyone from Alan Bennett to William S. Burroughs?
Cult queer figure Denton Welch was a talented, yet overlooked, artist. Now an exhibition of his work at John Swarbrooke Fine Art aims to change that