No Rush, the first posthumous exhibition of Norman Hyams at the Hannah Barry Gallery in Peckham, is like stepping into the artist’s stream of consciousness. It’s the third time the gallery has shown his work, but the first since his passing last Autumn.
Before he became unwell, Hyams and the gallery were already discussing the possibility of a new exhibition, though nothing had yet taken shape. In memory, the gallery exhibits an intimate selection of 32 unseen and untitled works from his Shephard’s Market studio.
Leaving aside the well-known pieces, the exhibition favours the unseen – self-portraits, figures drawn from life, and bodies at rest. The show is a meditation on Hyams’ identity, stripped of narrative, and authentic to what it means to be a “self”.
Titled No Rush, the show captures a movement of time that belongs entirely to Hyams. The gallery, also friends with the artist, describe both him and his work as being “in and outside of time”. Often working on few and repeated subjects until that moment becomes his own or what Hyams referred to as “in the loop”. Stepping into No Rush, you feel suspended into the intimate loop of an artist’s repeated practice through time. Reminiscent of Clarice Lispector’s idea of “the Is”, an attempt to catch the experience of being, without narrative, before the conscious mind interferes.
Time appears in one of the first works you see: a self-portrait of a watch-wearing arm. According to the gallery, it was Hyams’ own watch – the one he wore religiously. Another reminder that here, we’re on his time.
Resting, floating, and lying-down figures recur throughout. In Untitled (77), a reclining subject seems to dissolve into the background – as if body, surface, and air are connected. Again, Hyams reflects the unbound, undefined mysticism of what it means to rest and reflect.
In another piece, a red figure sits upright in a bed while another figure leans over, almost consuming them. The embracing figure blends into the bed and the background until form becomes ambiguous and spiritual. The red figure breaks through the haze – both out of place and the only clear sense of space.
As well as resting bodies, there is also the repeated theme of the self-portrait. In Untitled (1), Hyams stands in the corner of a room, facing the viewer; in another he hides behind a curtain, and in another he appears as a sharp-toothed monster. Through Hyams’ self-portraits, the mind and reality becomes one.
The intimate pieces offer an awareness of a subject without the need for a story – an unresolved puzzle of the self. No Rush is an exhibition that asks you to meet the artist at their own tempo, to sit with the ambiguity he worked inside of, and to accept presence without explanation. As a memorial, it’s quietly moving – a glimpse into an interiority that unfolds gently, honestly, and only at his pace.
Norman Hyams – No Rush, 27th November 2025 – 24th January 2026 Hannah Barry Gallery
