Fahey/Klein Gallery is pleased to present Julia Fullerton-Batten: Tableaux, a solo exhibition featuring photographs from two major series, ‘Old Father Thames’ and ‘Frida – A Singular Vision of Beauty and Pain’. Known internationally for her elaborately staged, cinematic tableaux, Fullerton-Batten constructs meticulously lit scenes that hover between history and imagination. Drawing on the visual language of film and painting, her photographs meditate on moments of time and place, rendered in a theatrical visual narrative. 

In Old Father Thames, Fullerton-Batten turns her lens toward the legendary river that has shaped London’s character and prosperity for over two millennia. “I live very close to the banks of the Thames in West London and became interested in the historical stories connecting the river to London. Its constantly changing face, moving with the tide and the seasons and the activities that surround the river are an inspiration. But it is the history of the Thames and its stories that draw me in. These stories, countless whimsical, idiosyncratic and tragic happenings, all make up a history of one of the most important rivers in the world,” she writes. “It has acted as a source of water and food, an artery of communication, and a psychological boundary.” From baptisms and Frost Fairs to tales of death, suicide, and scavenging children, Fullerton-Batten re-creates the river’s “many interesting individual stories” with her signature blend of historical research and cinematic imagination. Shot as though witnessed firsthand, each image reconstructs an episode from the river’s past, transforming history into a vivid tapestry of costume, light, and gesture. 

Since Frida Kahlo’s death in 1954, she has become an enduring symbol of creative resilience. For Fullerton-Batten, Kahlo’s legacy, her “fearless self-expression” and profound love of Mexico, became the catalyst for a body of work honoring the artist’s spirit and homeland. “Her legacy as an artist reminds us to embrace our own uniqueness, confront our challenges head-on, and find beauty in the most unexpected places.” Fullerton-Batten explains. “Her paintings stand as a testament to the enduring power of art to heal, inspire, and ignite change. Through her paintings, Kahlo offers us a unique perspective on Mexican culture, identity, and the human condition, leaving an indelible mark on both national and global art history.” 

Following her 2022 retrospective in Mexico City, Fullerton-Batten fell in love with “the colours, the people, and the rhythm of life.” Working with a local film costume designer, she sourced authentic hand-crafted Tehuana dresses from Oaxaca, the same garments Kahlo wore to express her national and cultural pride. Photographed across extraordinary locations including an abandoned mansion in the heart of Mexico City, a Luis Barragán residence, centuries-old haciendas, and the mystic “doll island” of Xochimilco. These images fuse homage and invention, transforming Kahlo’s cultural identity into a lush, contemporary dreamscape. 

Julia Fullerton-Batten (b. 1970, Bremen, Germany) grew up in Germany and the United States before settling in the UK, where she studied photography and assisted professional photographers for five years. By 2005, she had established herself as a leading voice in fine-art photography. Her work is in the permanent collections of the National Portrait Gallery (London), Musée de l’Elysée (Lausanne), and the Parliamentary Art Collection (Houses of Parliament), among others.