Paradiso at J/M Gallery presents new and recent works by James Hawke, reimagining his acclaimed Genoa exhibition Life in Transit for London.
This October, J/M Gallery in Notting Hill presents Paradiso, offering London audiences a rare opportunity to see highlights from James Hawke’s acclaimed institutional exhibition Life in Transit. The original show transformed Villa Pallavicino delle Peschiere in Genoa into one of Italy’s most talked-about new art destinations in 2025.
Presented by The Palazzo Foundation (in partnership with NorthStandard) and curated by James Marshall, Paradiso brings together a focused selection of works from the original four-month exhibition, alongside new paintings created especially for London.
The Genoa exhibition, staged within the sixteenth-century villa designed by Galeazzo Alessi and celebrated by Peter Paul Rubens, explored themes of transit, exchange and cultural transference rooted in Italy’s maritime past. Now, in London, Hawke continues that journey through paintings that position everyday leisure scenes as contradictions of paradise and hell, utopia and dystopia, longing and discomfort.
Illustrated through scenes that shift between calm and chaotic yet remain domesticated, Hawke uses analogies of tides and oceans to explore the sociological implications of boundaries. He focuses particularly on human behaviour and the return to primitive and collective impulses when spending time by the sea. His beach scenes, influenced by twentieth-century travel brochures, question the semiotics of ‘perfection’ as presented through advertising. Hawke notes the irony in how such imagery has adapted to shifting sociological and cultural norms, while leisure itself has remained unchanged for millennia. In his work, the simple act of sunbathing becomes a symbol of commodification.
From Life in Transit to Paradiso
Set against the Renaissance splendour of the villa, Life in Transit linked the frescoes of Giovanni Battista Castello (Il Bergamasco) to Hawke’s depictions of social crowds, reworking historic frescoes while responding to the local context. The show attracted international attention and was listed by Yahoo among the top ten cultural experiences in Europe.
In Paradiso, Hawke reinterprets that world for a contemporary setting. Drawing on Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy, he examines humanity’s search for the perfect moment—a paradise both constructed and unattainable. His bright, disciplined compositions reveal not only joy but also the quiet distances that exist within modern collectivity.
About The Palazzo Foundation
Founded by Lockton P.L. Ferrari and supported by NorthStandard, The Palazzo Foundation is dedicated to revitalising Genoa’s heritage through art and cultural diplomacy. Its partnership with NorthStandard reflects a shared belief in the historic bond between seafaring, imagination and exchange.
Paradiso, an exhibition of works by James Hawke curated by James Marshall and presented by The Palazzo Foundation in partnership with NorthStandard, will be shown at J/M Gallery, 230 Portobello Road, Notting Hill, London, from 15–21 October 2025.
©2025 J/M Gallery
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