Canopy Collections are delighted to announce Ian Whittlesea's exhibition at our HQ in Bloomsbury, which will be the artist's first solo show in the UK since 2015. Accompanying the release of his latest book, The Rosicrucian Papers of Sissarrad G. Balyan, this original exhibition will present a selection of anonymous works on paper from a private collection of esoteric drawings.
Over the last 25 years, Whittlesea has produced a body of artworks and books that have been collectively described as 'instruction manuals for transcendental exercise'. This area of the artist's practice draws on the intertwined histories of modernism and mysticism, particularly the esoteric traditions that believe revelation comes from control of breath and body.
Ian Whittlesea
Drawings from The Rosicrucian Papers of Sissarrad G. Balyan
24 April–9 May 2025
Private View: Monday 28 April, 6–8pm
Artist Talk from 7pm - Ian Whittlesea in conversation with Andrew Renton
Drawings from The Rosicrucian Papers of Sissarrad G. Balyan is an exhibition of anonymous works on paper, selected and mounted by Ian Whittlesea. The drawings originate from the private collection of engineer Sissarrad G. Balyan who, in the 1950s, was a member of the Rosicrucian order (AMORC) in California.
When the artist acquired Balyan's collection on eBay a few years ago, he discovered an extensive archive of papers, correspondence, diagrams and drawings that are documented in his latest book, The Rosicrucian Papers of Sissarrad G. Balyan.
This exhibition at Canopy Collections HQ coincides with the launch of Whittlesea's book The Rosicrucian Papers of Sissarrad G. Balyan, published by The Everyday Press in London.