Parrhesia

Gallery Rosenfeld is proud to present 'Parrhesia', the first solo exhibition at the gallery by Spanish artist Natalia Ocerin. Inspired by Michel Foucault’s notion of parrhesia—the act of speaking truthfully, even when it entails risk—this exhibition offers a fearless and theatrical reflection on power, identity, and complicity. For this occasion, the entire gallery has been transformed into a surreal circus, highlighting the artist’s vision of the art world as a site of both performance and observation.

Natalia Ocerin is based in London and is known for her remarkable hyperreal oil paintings, which begin as hand-sculpted plasticine maquettes. Each figure, object and scene is meticulously modelled, then photographed and translated into oil with astonishing trompe-l'œil technique. Her work combines humour and darkness to explore pressing social themes, including mental health, body image, and the illusion of freedom in consumer society. By using childlike materials to address complex realities, Ocerin creates a visual language that is both accessible and conceptually rigorous. At the heart of Parrhesia is a monumental carousel. Rather than evoking nostalgia or play, it spins through unsettling scenes of educational control, digital dependency, anxiety, and death. Money becomes a symbolic anaesthetic, dulling the senses and suppressing speech; in some cases, the figures are literally blinded and gagged by money. What appears to be motion is in fact stasis - an endless cycle of alienation.

Elsewhere in the exhibition, a puppet theatre presents a pointed and nuanced reflection on the art market. Framed like a traditional Punch and Judy show, with the words ‘The Circus of the Art Market’ emblazoned above, the scene depicts an auctioneer energetically selling off artworks while a placid audience sits watching, tittering amongst themselves. It is a scene that captures both absurdity and complicity, exposing the theatrical rituals through which value and visibility are constructed. This is not a straightforward critique, but rather a mirror held up to the system. Ocerin does not condemn from the outside; instead, she speaks from within, refusing the role of silent participant and embracing the risk of dissent.