This autumn, The College of Psychic Studies unveils The Medium is the Message — a major exhibition exploring the rich, complex, and often mysterious relationship between artistic practice and mediumship. The exhibition runs October 9 through January 31 and is being mounted at The College of Psychic Studies, 16 Queensberry Place, London SW7 2EB. Their PR says:
Marking the centenary of the College’s move to its historic South Kensington home in 1925, the exhibition spans four floors and brings together over 100 artworks with rare archival treasures. More than 35 artists, from the mid-19th century to the present day, reveal how art has been used to visualise supernatural connection and imagine radical futures shaped by the ghostly and unseen.
At its core, The Medium is the Message invites audiences to see the artist as a channel between worlds — a receiver of visions, energies, and ideas. The exhibition also shines a light on women artists and mediums whose creativity and courage redefined both spiritual practice and artistic innovation, underscoring mediumship’s enduring place in the College’s history.
Exhibition Highlights
- Anna Mary Howitt Watts (1824–1884) — pioneering artist, medium, and feminist activist — in a landmark presentation featuring important new acquisitions. Archival displays outline her connections to the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and women’s rights activism of the 1850s.
- ‘The Earth is a being…’ — a curated room inspired by a donation to The College of British occultist Ithell Colquhoun’s dream diaries (1906–1988), with works by Nicole Frobusch, Samir Mahmood, Chantal Powell, and Sandra Vásquez de la Horra.
- UK debut of Paulina Peavy (1901–1999) — American visionary whose extraterrestrial-inspired drawings and experimental films remain ahead of their time.
- Selection of never-seen-before and newly acquired worksby Finnish visionary Aleksandra Ionowa (1899–1980), presented in a dedicated solo display.
- Rediscovered spirit drawings by Ethel Le Rossignol (1873–1970), shown in conversation with Ann Churchill, Victoria Rance, and Ariela Widzer.
- Historic women mediums connected to the College, reinterpreted through responses by Susan MacWilliam and Shannon Taggart.
For more info: www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/exhibition
Participating artists include: Mary Bligh Bond, Ann Churchill, Ithell Colquhoun, Joseph Crépin, Alice Essington Nelson, Nicole Frobusch, Madge Gill, Anna Hackel, Stanislav Holas, Alme Hordijk, Anna Mary Howitt Watts, Aleksandra Ionowa, Louise Janin, Freda Köhler, Augustin Lesage, Ethel Le Rossignol, Susan MacWilliam, Cara MacWilliam, Samir Mahmood, Sidney Manley, Margot, Cecile Marková, Allen Moore, Allen Moore o2o, Heinrich Nüsslein, Paulina Peavy, František Jaroslav Pecka, Alice Pery, PIC, Chantal Powell, Victoria Rance, Arild Rosenkrantz, Victorien Sardou, Austin Osman Spare, Sarah Sparkes, Shannon Taggart, Mimei Thompson, Sandra Vásquez de la Horra, Ethel Annie Weir, Ariela Widzer, and others.
