Gollings V Schaller 'Photographs and Paintings from Hampi'

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2 – 22 July 2026

Opening Event: Thursday 2 July, 6pm until late.

The Lennox is proud to present Schaller v Gollings, an exhibition combining the photographs of John Gollings and Charlotte Schaller with the watercolour paintings of Mark Schaller. This collection originated in a trip taken by the three to Hampi, the former capital of the Vijayanagara Empire, resulting in a unique contribution to its legacy by way of creative collaboration. With each artist here offering distinctive yet complementary approaches, Hampi’s rich cultural and architectural history is documented, interpreted and honoured.

John Gollings continues his decades-long fascination with and contribution to Hampi with photography celebrating the majesty of the city’s architecture and surrounding landscape. Gollings here captures the interplay of sun and shadow upon Hampi’s temples, archways, and towers, showing their grand illuminations by natural and artificial light in expansive shots. With the city’s survival rendered alongside exquisite horizons and eternal, arid landscapes, we are transported to silent moments of awe and appreciation.

Mark Schaller brings his unique and joyous vision to the subject, playing with form and colour to depict Hampi in a series of en plein air watercolour works. The painter’s buoyant treatment of elements both natural and man-made creates a mischievous schism when set against the austere majesty of Gollings’ documentary-style photographs. In interpreting statues, architecture and verdure, Schaller pays tribute to the spirit of wonder still animating the Empire’s former capital.

Charlotte Schaller offers a counterpoint and complement to both Gollings’ photography and Mark Schaller’s watercolours, choosing instead to shift her focus to the living subjects of Hampi. Her photographs capture a marriage of the contemporary and eternal through the presence of modern visitors to the once-populous ancient city. Reverence and informality alike are revealed in the postures, congregations and clothing of those seen at Hampi, with Schaller depicting here the mingling of traditional and modern dress set against or flowing through the ruins.

Words: John Martin