Lehmann Maupin is pleased to present Conduits, Anna Freeman Bentley’s inaugural exhibition with the gallery in London. Opening on June 3, 2026, Conduits will feature a suite of new and recent paintings by Freeman Bentley, which explore the idea of veils and coverings as conduits to meaning. The exhibition coincides with London Gallery Weekend, taking place from June 5-7, 2026.
At the heart of Freeman Bentley’s practice is a psychogeographic exploration of the built environment—from baroque interiors and historic buildings to shops, film sets, and industrial sites. Her paintings examine how spaces are shaped by function, class, aspiration, and time; often touching on themes like gentrification, decay, and renewal. However, her paintings don’t just depict spaces—they probe what spaces mean, how they’re used, and what they reveal about human presence, even when no figures appear. Empty rooms in Freeman Bentley’s work are never neutral—they feel charged, suggesting past activity or unseen narratives.
The works in Conduits are taken from Freeman Bentley’s ongoing series Complete Reality, an expansive body of work exploring reality, artifice and layers of meaning in staged and assembled environments. Focusing on interior spaces within the confines of a single geographic location, the paintings in this show display multiple depictions of drapery, veils and coverings. Featuring scenes that suggest a focal point just beyond view, the paintings probe the delicate tension between the real and the artificial, the enduring and the fleeting. In doing so, they question the divide between images captured through the lens and those constructed through painting.
In Conduits, Freeman Bentley uses painting to turn interiors into complex psychological and cultural landscapes—spaces where architecture, narrative, and perception intersect.
