SAATCHI GALLERY PRESENTS THE RAW & THE COOKED, AN EXHIBITION INTERPRETING LIFE BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER THE MIDDLE AGES

The Raw & The Cooked opened this week at Saatchi Gallery, bringing together eleven contemporary artists who channel medieval traditions and aesthetics to explore how centuries-old themes of spiritual uncertainty and political upheaval echo in our present-day societal struggles.

Timothy Hon Hung Lee, All but a Wave of Melancholy Atoms. Image Credit: Saatchi Gallery.

There is an undeniable resurgence of the medieval in contemporary art and culture, from the arrival of the Bayeux Tapestry to the British Museum this September to medieval re-enactments and ‘medieval core’ fashion. In this way, this period of history is not a mere relic of the past, but a useful tool for examining identity, mythology, folklore and mortality today.

The works in this exhibition expose a cultural shift away from the digital and a return to the physical world of the handmade: media and processes used range from leatherwork, metalwork, and woodwork to painting, ceramics, and even baking.

Harry Jones London, Detail from The Punishment Of Richard Roose, 2026. Image Credit: Saatchi Gallery.

Through their work, these artists prove that the human impulse to find meaning and community during times of personal and global upheaval remains, casting new light on our relationship with the so-called ‘Dark Ages’.

The artists featured are Emmanuel Awuni, Anna Brass, Simon Callery, Caitlin Hazell, James Lang, Timothy Hon Hung Lee, Harry Jones London, Jessica Luostarinen, Elle Perkins, Jakob Rowlinson, Eva Sajovic.

The exhibition is curated by Harry Jones London (@harryjoneslondon).