Nairy Baghramian: Jumbled Alphabet – South London Gallery

Nairy Baghramian’s Jumbled Alphabet at the South London Gallery is a compelling but ultimately slightly unsatisfying examination of our expectations of childhood, play and beauty.

Jumbled Alphabet: Look But Don’t Touch (Much)

Today’s post is a short one for two reasons. Firstly, my visit was only brief. Secondly, my visit was brief because there was something about this exhibition that I didn’t quite connect with. It’s unrated for the same reason: I prefer that on occasion when I think that something just wasn’t for me, or there was something I didn’t ‘get’.

Jumbled Alphabet is the work of Iranian-born artist Nairy Baghramian, who has lived and worked in Berlin since 1984. As usual at the South London Gallery it spans two spaces: the main gallery in the original 1891 building, and the Fire Station gallery just up the street. It’s a very simple exhibition. The Main Building hosts works from Baghramian’s Misfits series (2021-present). The Fire Station has a couple more Misfits, and in a second room we find Hand Me Down (2024).

Misfits juxtaposes different materials and textures as well as playing with traditional standards of museum display. Sculptures seem to topple off low plinths. The materials provide contrast: metal, wood, and stone, rough and smooth, light and heavy. The title and the presentation suggest a game, as if we should be fitting different elements together. But it’s an illusion, they don’t fit. Neither is there properly an alphabet here, although it seems at first glance that there might be. Hand Me Down consists of a low table and chairs, set up for children’s drawing. Baghramian has drawn directly on the furniture, and invites children under twelve to contribute to the work. All three galleries also have framed images of a young girl, her turned head or lack of expression subverting our expectations of children, particularly little girls, being happy and accommodating.

The concepts are interesting, but ultimately for me it didn’t quite land. Reading in the handout that the works in the Main Gallery were out of bounds but visitors could interact with those in the Fire Station was intriguing. In reality, you can touch the additional Misfits, but not climb or sit on them. And drawing is only for children. I think this is deliberate: the handout references a park in Italy where adults can enter only when accompanied by a child. But given how few works are on display, it felt a little unsatisfying and restrictive. Perhaps I need to see more of the artist’s work to make up my mind.

Nairy Baghramian: Jumbled Alphabet on until 12 January 2025