MADDOX GALLERY PRESENTS 'THE SHAPE OF HEAT' IN BOTH MAYFAIR GALLERIES THIS SUMMER
Friday 14th August 2026
Installation View: ‘The Shape of Heat’, Shepherd Market © Maddox Gallery
Cover image: Installation View: ‘The Shape of Heat’, Maddox Street © Maddox Gallery
Summer arrives at Maddox Gallery with all the intensity of a fever dream. Across its Maddox Street and Shepherd Street spaces, The Shape of Heat brings together an evocative group of contemporary artists exploring summer not simply as a season, but as a state of mind - sensual, nostalgic, spontaneous and charged with possibility.
Running through the exhibition is the idea that heat alters our perception. Colours become richer, memories softer and familiar scenes somehow more romantic. The works gathered here move between radiant visions of escape, vibrant abstraction and moments of quiet contemplation, creating a portrait of summer that feels both deeply personal and universally recognisable.
RETNA, Kaleidoscope (2025) | © Maddox Gallery
At Maddox Street, artists including Will Martyr, RETNA, Manuela Gallo, Dairo Vargas, INAE, Juan Cuéllar, Cooper, The Connor Brothers and Mina Alikhani offer distinctly different interpretations of the season. Cooper and Martyr tap into the comfort of familiarity, their vibrant compositions carrying an unmistakable sense of longing, while INAE’s hazy works capture those suspended moments when sunlight seems to slow time itself.
Manuela Gallo brings a more stylised elegance, with luminous skies and confident figures embodying summer’s vitality. Elsewhere, the explosive visual energy of Dairo Vargas and RETNA reflects its unpredictability, while Mina Alikhani’s atmospheric forest scenes offer a quieter counterpoint - an invitation to pause, retreat and reflect.
The Connor Brothers, Freedom Ain’t Free (2026) | © Maddox Gallery
Memory is another recurring thread. Juan Cuéllar’s vivid domestic landscapes reimagine an idealised world through colour and symmetry, while The Connor Brothers turn towards the sea, conjuring childhood adventures, freedom and the particular nostalgia of long, unhurried days.
At Shepherd Street, the seasonal narrative continues with works by David Yarrow and Kate Brinkworth alongside RETNA, The Connor Brothers, Cooper, Mina Alikhani and Will Martyr.
Will Martyr, Keeper of Dreams (2026) | © Maddox Gallery
Together, the two exhibitions make a compelling case for summer as something more enduring than a date on the calendar. The Shape of Heat is about desire, recollection and atmosphere; and that elusive moment when an experience becomes a memory.
The Shape of Heat is on view at Maddox Gallery, 9 Maddox Street, until 28 August 2026, with the Shepherd Street presentation continuing into September.
