Bold new video works by five artists of the moment living or working in London will take over the world’s largest public screens this July in London, Seoul and Tokyo. Curated by Sir Norman Rosenthal, ‘LONDON ZEITGEIST’ comprised of five independent films by Larry Achiampong, Alvaro Barrington, Matt Copson, artist duo Hannah Quinlan and Rosie Hastings, together forming a bold and comprehensive showcase of the most promising artists within a generation to emerge from London. 

This group exhibition adopts its title from Rosenthal’s 1982 exhibition ‘Zeitgeist’ that was held in Berlin’s Martin-Gropius-Bau almost forty years ago, and which was arguably one of the most historically significant global painting surveys of the 20th century, bringing together 45 of the world’s most driven and symbolically heroic artists of the moment. Rosenthal’s unwavering commitment and capacity to embolden the great talent of the time has become a defining characteristic of his career. In 1981, Rosenthal introduced artists such as Baselitz, Kiefer, Polke and Richter to an audience beyond Germany in ‘A New Spirit In Painting’ and helped launch the careers of  Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin, Sarah Lucas and many others with ‘Sensation’ in 1997 at the Royal Academy of Art in London:

“That complex German word “Zeitgeist” (Time/Spirit) that more and more has entered the English language – just like “Kindergarten” once did (!) – naturally relates to place as well as time. Each of the four young artists chosen I believe address these issues subjectively, inevitably, sometimes obliquely, yet each in a “Spectacular” and “Beautiful” way onto the iconic Piccadilly Lights screen. They then are transmitted to the other side of the globe. They are pictures both of issues and fantasies that obsess four individual artists living and working in London, forever a huge urban national centre, and that hopefully too will touch audiences around the world.” – Sir Norman Rosenthal

For Circa we will focus on the act of queer dance as a space of freedom, resistance and identity formation. The film will look at the gesture of dance as forming a bridge between the alienated individual confined to a domestic world (with its inherent ideological burden of heterosexuality, property relations and traditional gender roles) and the broader LGBTQ culture/community. The hedonistic joy of dancing is reflected in the text from La Traviata: 

Everything is folly in this world

That does not give us pleasure.

-Hannah Quinlan + Rosie Hastings

Hannah Quinlan and Rosie Hastings are a London-based artist duo whose collaborative practice explores the histories, cultures and politics of LGBTQ+ communities. Working across film, drawing, installation, performance and fresco, they examine the social structures that shape identity, desire and belonging, creating works that challenge dominant narratives while foregrounding overlooked histories and forms of collective experience.

Bringing together archival research, historical references and contemporary observations, Quinlan and Hastings investigate how power operates through culture, architecture, language and representation. Their work frequently focuses on the ways queer communities have created spaces of resistance, solidarity and self-expression within societies shaped by exclusion and discrimination. Through carefully constructed visual narratives, they reveal how personal lives are intertwined with broader political and social conditions, asking how histories are remembered, who is permitted visibility and what forms of community remain possible.

In 2021, the duo participated in London Zeitgeist, a group exhibition curated by Sir Norman Rosenthal for CIRCA. Conceived as a contemporary response to Rosenthal’s landmark 1982 exhibition Zeitgeist, the project brought together a generation of artists living and working in London whose practices reflected the city’s evolving cultural landscape. Broadcast across public screens in London, Seoul and Tokyo, Quinlan and Hastings’ commission Everything Is Folly In This World That Does Not Give Us Pleasure explored queer dance as a space of freedom, pleasure and identity formation. Drawing inspiration from Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata, the work examined how movement, gathering and joy can become forms of resistance to social and ideological constraints. Accompanied by a time-limited edition of the same title, the project reflected the artists’ ongoing commitment to preserving and celebrating queer histories and cultures.

Quinlan and Hastings have exhibited internationally at institutions including the Venice Biennale, Tate Britain, the New Museum, Kunsthalle Wien and the Irish Museum of Modern Art. Through a practice that combines historical inquiry with contemporary urgency, they continue to create works that illuminate the complex relationships between identity, community and power, while imagining more inclusive and liberatory futures.