Rudy Loewe: Intimacies of Care – Spaces of Grief and Possibility

Through sculpture, paintings, text-based work and sound, multidisciplinary artist Rudy Loewe (b. 1987) creates a space of hope in which they reimagine a mental healthcare system that is equitable and supportive. Their exhibition of new commissions, ‘Intimacies of Care – Spaces of Grief and Possibility’, will be at Wellcome Collection from July 2026. 

Through their work, Loewe advocates for Black people whose experience of mental healthcare in the UK is adversely impacted by racist discrimination. They present an opportunity to consider an alternative and empathetic experience of mental healthcare. 

Central to the exhibition is ‘Activation Sculpture’ (2026), a large-scale sculptural commission with sound installations that activate to offer intimate live events and provide a space to reimagine healing and care. Plants and herbs such as tinder fungus and damiana – associated with energy, healing and sustainability – are incorporated into the fabric of the sculpture. 

Black people are often denied help when seeking support for mental health issues, yet they are four times more likely to be detained under the Mental Health Act than white people. In developing the exhibition, Loewe worked with grassroots organisations – ADHD Babes, the Black Trans Foundation, and Black and Neurodiverse – that support Black people who might otherwise struggle to access appropriate and timely mental healthcare. Workshops with members of these groups informed works such as ‘The Search for Care / The Lack of Care’ (2026) and ‘List of Demands’ (2026), which crystallise their conversations through text-based sculpture and paintings capturing both lived experience and visions of radically reimagined care. 

New figurative paintings use vibrant and bold colour pallettes. In ‘And Here We Found One Another’ (2025), two Black people engage in spiritual healing, surrounded by symbols from folklore common to Loewe’s previous work. In ‘Rage’ (2025), a Black person is depicted amidst flames, encircled by police officers.  

Loewe said: “Central to ‘Intimacies of Care – Spaces of Grief and Possibility’ are Black people’s lived experiences of the mental healthcare system and the community practices we create in lieu of getting the support we need. By inviting visitors to consider alternative approaches to care, my hope is that people see there are other possibilities outside of the system we currently live in.” 

Madeleine Kennedy, Wellcome Collection Curator, said: “One of the pillars of Wellcome Collection’s mission is to platform a radical imagination of what health is and what it could be. In their commission, Rudy Loewe models what this means in practice, collaborating with people affected by racism in the mental healthcare system to collectively dream of more just and abundant forms of care, and inviting visitors to join in this reimagining through a restful space that shares lineages of community care structures and healing practices.”

Integral to Loewe's project is an extended programme of dedicated opening hours, including Lights Up and Low Stimulation sessions, designed to make the exhibition as accessible as possible for a diverse range audiences.

The exhibition opens in parallel with ‘The Surviving Exhibitions’, the first museum exhibition dedicated to the work of artist Audrey Amiss (1933 – 2013), whose archive was donated to Wellcome Collection in 2014. Amiss was a talented and prolific artist who often used art to advocate for those who have experienced harm during mental health treatment.

Notes to editors

Images

Download images of past work by Rudy Loewe.

Installation shots of ‘Intimacies of Care – Spaces of Grief and Possibility’ will be available in July 2026.

Media information and further images 

Visitor information

• ‘Rudy Loewe: Intimacies of Care – Spaces of Grief and Possibility’ runs from 10 July 2026 – 7 February 2027.
• Admission is free.
• Address: Wellcome Collection, 183 Euston Road, NW1 2BE.
• Opening hours: 10:00 – 18:00, Tuesday – Sunday.

Accessibility

• Step-free access is available to all floors of the building.
• Large-print guides and magnifiers are available in our galleries.
• Ear defenders, tinted glasses and weighted lap pads are available on request.
• Exhibition texts are accessible in screen-readable formats via QR codes.
• Visual stories are available to help people plan and prepare ahead of visiting.
• Accessible tours to our displays and exhibitions are available and bookable online.

About Rudy Loewe

Rudy Loewe (b. 1987, London) is a multidisciplinary artist who creates spaces to consider collective practices and resistance histories. Through media such as painting, drawing and sculpture, Loewe questions the power of gathering in collectivity. Alongside conversations, workshops and archival research, Loewe weaves in African and Caribbean folklore, embedding community and accessibility at the centre of their practice. 

Loewe is the ninth exhibiting artist for the Art on the Underground Brixton Mural Programme. Last year, they unveiled ‘The Congregation’, a new work that honours the historic role that Brixton has played as a gathering space, particularly for London’s Black communities, adding another layer to Loewe’s ongoing exploration of culture, identity, resistance and collective memory.

About Wellcome Collection

Wellcome Collection is a free museum and library. We believe everyone’s experience of health matters. Through our collections, exhibitions and events, in books and online, we explore the past, present and future of health.

You can find us near Euston station in London and at wellcomecollection.org. Our exhibitions and events are always free. You can use our library and view items from our collections free of charge too – you may just need to book in advance.

Wellcome Collection opened in 2007. We care for many thousands of items relating to health, medicine and human experience, including rare books, artworks, films and videos, personal archives, and objects. We’re part of Wellcome, a charitable foundation supporting science to help build a healthier future for everyone.

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