LINSEED (Shanghai) and Ginny on Frederick (London) are delighted to collaborate and present the group exhibition “Reading Stones” at the gallery space of LINSEED in Shanghai from November 7 to December 28, 2023, featuring artists: Charlotte EDEY (b.1992, UK), David FLAUGHER (b.1986, USA), Justin FITZPATRICK (b.1985, Ireland), Paul LEVACK (b.1992, USA), Alexandra METCALF (b.1992, UK), Jack O’BRIEN (b.1993, UK), Cezary PONIATOWSKI (b.1987, Poland), Hamish PEARCH (b.1993, UK), Gal SCHINDLER (b.1993).

Considered to be the first instrument used to create an enhanced sensory experience; reading stones, also known as reading pebbles or reading rocks, refer to small polished stones or gems that were historically used as aids in reading or magnifying text. Originally created from ground beryl and rock, these stones were employed before the invention of magnifying or reading glasses, and placed directly on top of written texts to magnify the letters or images for clarity.

Assembling the multidisciplinary works by these nine artists, Reading Stones asks the viewer to perhaps become a reading stone of themselves. Expanding from the carpet structures of Cezary Poinatowski to the hallucinations of Alexandra Metcalf’s drawings; in looking closer at each work within an expanded view of still life, or still lives, each artist starts to claim part of a wider history that too can be traced back to ancient times.

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