A new annual exhibition programme dedicated to supporting emerging artists through conversations with art history is launching in London this summer.
Interval One, an initiative founded by father-and-son curators David and Jacob Gryn, will present one graduating artist each year alongside an established historical influence, creating exhibitions that explore unexpected aesthetic and conceptual dialogues across generations.
The inaugural exhibition, Lorette, opens on 18th July and pairs recent Ruskin School of Art graduate Scarlet Topley with American artist Ed Ruscha, whose use of language, commercial imagery and roadside architecture has profoundly influenced Topley’s practice.
Created over two years between her Camden garden studio and the Ruskin School of Art, Topley’s new body of work explores themes of Americana, solitude and the search for meaning in contemporary life. Motels, longing and cinematic encounters recur throughout the exhibition, creating an atmosphere that sits comfortably alongside Ruscha’s iconic investigations into the visual language of the American landscape.
The exhibition takes its title from a message Topley received from her sister while visiting Paris. A café tablecloth bearing the word Lorette—a nineteenth-century term for sex workers living around Notre-Dame-de-Lorette—became the starting point for an exhibition exploring intimacy, projection and the emotional spaces between people and places.
A highlight of the exhibition is a reconstruction of Topley’s North London garden studio. Installed in Interval’s basement, the black-painted shed with its pale pink interior recreates the environment where many of the exhibited works were made, while reflecting the collaborative conversations and informal exhibitions that have taken place there over recent years.
Founded by David and Jacob Gryn, Interval is dedicated to bringing contemporary artists into dialogue with historic works. Since launching in 2025, the programme has included exhibitions pairing Petra Cortright with Old Masters, Sebastián Espejo with Pierre Bonnard and other cross-generational presentations. Interval One now extends that mission by focusing specifically on artists at the very beginning of their careers, offering an institutional-style platform that connects emerging practices with established artistic lineages.
Born in London in 1999, Topley graduated from the Ruskin School of Art in 2026, having received the Erna Plachte Award in 2025 and been shortlisted for the Avril Bruten Creative Writing Award in 2026. Lorette marks the first chapter of what Interval hopes will become an annual showcase for outstanding graduating artists.
Interval One Lorette: Scarlet Topley and Ed Ruscha, July 18th – September 5th 2026, Interval
Private View: Thursday 16th July, 6PM-8PM
