EXHIBITION: The Medium is the Message (9 October 2025-31 January 2026)

The Medium is the Message
9 October 2025 – 31 January 2026
Press Preview: Wednesday 8 October, 2:30–4:30pm
Private View: Wednesday 8 October, 6:00–9:00pm
The College of Psychic Studies, 16 Queensberry Place, London SW7 2EB

https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/exhibition/

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.

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 works by 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.

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.

Quotes

“The College of Psychic Studies holds one of the world’s most remarkable collections of spiritualist and esoteric art in the world. It has been a privilege to draw from this rich heritage and bring rarely seen historical works and artefacts into dialogue with contemporary artists. The Medium is the Message invites audiences to consider new ways of thinking about creativity and the role of the artist — as collaborator with spirit and unseen energies, and messenger of hidden knowledge.”

Jacqui McIntosh, Curator & Archivist, The College of Psychic Studies

“For over a hundred years, our community has been a place of learning — where curiosity is encouraged, knowledge is shared, and creativity is nurtured. The Medium is the Message reflects that tradition, inviting audiences to explore and learn through the mediumistic and visionary voices of our past and present.”

Gill Matini, Principal, The College of Psychic Studies

Curator: Jacqui McIntosh
Jacqui McIntosh’s research focuses on feminist, mediumistic, and esoteric histories, particularly artists whose spiritual development evolved alongside their creative practice. From 2023-2024 she was a recipient of a Curatorial Research Grant from The Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art and curated the exhibition The Time of Our Lives (Drawing Room, 2024), which explored the role that drawing has played within feminist activism.

Press Enquiries and High-Res Image Requests: abigail@collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk