At the Dorothy Circus Gallery, fifteen international artists explore dreams as a substance made of forgotten memories, sensations, and scents.
“Perfume is the most intense form of memory,” wrote Jean-Paul Guerlain. This is the sentence that opens The Matter of Dreams , a group exhibition presented at the Dorothy Circus Gallery in London from July 9 to August 8, 2026. Around it, fifteen artists, including Fuco Ueda, Zoe Byland, Masakatsu Sashie, Chizu Wada, John Brophy, Saner, and Maruyama Junna, give form to this hazy territory where memory and imagination merge.
© Mattia Barbalaco The Substitute, 2026, Oil On Canvas, 85.5 x 60 cm
The exhibition does not seek to illustrate the dream as a psychological phenomenon, but to treat it as a subject in its own right from which symbols and emotional truths are born, even before language or narrative intervenes.
The Material of Dreams also explores dreams as a profoundly sensory experience. In the dream state, the senses become permeable. The exhibition thus reconnects with the idea that colors, sounds, and scents communicate, an intuition that contemporary neuroscience now confirms. This is what is known as synesthesia.
© Soslan Sosiev, Snake charmer, 2020, Acrylic on canvas, 80 x 80 cm
© Liz Flores I'll Always Look For You, 2026, Acrylic on canvas, 70 x 90 cm
The presence of several Japanese artists introduces a different conception of dreams. The term yume transcends the simple nocturnal dream to encompass aspiration and poetic projection, while the notion of ma —this meaningful interval between forms and events—reminds us that meaning sometimes resides in what remains suspended. Silence and ambiguity thus permeate some of the works presented.
Painting, drawing and sculpture make up this first stage of a curatorial project conceived in two parts: after London, a second chapter is announced for November 2026, with new international artists.
© Fuco Ueda, Japan, b. 1979, Venus of the Void , 2026, Acrylic And Shell White On Canvas, 50 x 60.6 cm
The Matter of Dreams
Dorothy Circus Gallery, London
9 July - 8 August 2026
