‘Fertile Spoon’ is a two-person exhibition between contemporary artist Mary Stephenson, who is currently studying at the Royal Academy Schools, and Grace Pailthorpe, a twentieth-century doctor, surgeon, psychoanalyst and painter. From this pitch alone, I was sold.

In terms of effective exhibition-making, having two artists in some form of dialogue is usually the best way of weaving a story, whether the focus is on a thread running between the artists’ work or simply that the two complement each other. For Stephenson and Pailthorpe, it is both, with strong psychoanalytical motifs and dream-like aesthetics and tones radiating throughout. The gallery itself has also been punctuated with accent blocks on particular walls. With Pailthorpe’s work on loan for the show, there is certainly a museum quality to ‘Fertile Spoon’, and it is clear that a great deal of research has gone into the pairing.

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