Current
28.4 – 12.5 2026
Nicholas Steinmetz:Mitopopeia
3-5 Swallow Street Project Space
Huxley-Parlour is delighted to announce Mitopopeia, an exhibition of new works by Brazilian artist Nicholas Steinmetz. Opening in April 2026 in the gallery’s Project Space, the exhibition is presented as part of Conduit – Huxley-Parlour’s curated programme of two-week solo exhibitions – and marks Steinmetz’s first exhibition with the gallery.
Mythopoesis (mitopopeia in Portuguese) is the conscious creation of mythologies. Steinmetz sets his brush to canvas to form monsters, creatures, and wild animals, but divorced from their usual contexts and functions within contemporary and historical culture. The beings created by Steinmetz play on historical allegories found in medieval society (the unicorn or lion, for instance), and the traditional idea of a monster as an antagonist, while forging new moral significations and new allegories. Beasts and hybrid creatures, inspired by found images and bestiaries, are seen in abstract spaces and beyond the societal and cultural network that would have originally given their image allegorical meaning. In the artist’s words, the creatures exist in an ‘intermediate space between the imaginary and the ordinary.’ In effect, the artist rejects the narratives of the dramatic epic and instead views these entities more objectively, outside of the realms of good and evil.
[HP] Where do you go to feel energised creatively. [NS] São Paulo is a city with a very rich contemporary art scene, and much of my creative energy comes from being in contact with exhibitions, images, and the work of other artists. Beyond that, what really energises me is exchange through conversations and encounters where there is some kind of intellectual synergy.
[HP] If you could choose one word to describe your work, what would it be. [NS] Montage. My work is built from an accumulation of visual references of bodies, rituals, animals, and elements from nature, which I reorganise. Through drawing and painting, these images are articulated into compositions where forms overlap, transform, and generate new relationships and meaning.
The Works
19
Nicholas Steinmetz
Between Us
2026
Oil on canvas
Nicholas Steinmetz
Untitled
2026
Oil on canvas
Nicholas Steinmetz
Untitled
2026
Oil on canvas
Nicholas Steinmetz
Untitled
2026
Oil on canvas
Nicholas Steinmetz
Proteção (Protection)
2026
Oil on canvas
Nicholas Steinmetz
Conselhos (Advice)
2026
Oil on canvas
Nicholas Steinmetz
Desacordo (Disagreement)
2026
Oil on canvas
Nicholas Steinmetz
Criatura (Creature)
2026
Oil on canvas
Nicholas Steinmetz
Orgulho (Proud)
2026
Oil on canvas
Nicholas Steinmetz
Rosnado (Growl)
2026
Oil on canvas
Nicholas Steinmetz
Entardecer (Dusk)
2026
Oil on canvas
Nicholas Steinmetz
Vôo (Flight)
2026
Oil on canvas
Nicholas Steinmetz
Pouso (Arrival)
2026
Oil on canvas
Nicholas Steinmetz
Horizonte (Horizon)
2025
Oil on canvas
Nicholas Steinmetz
Grito (Shout)
2025
Oil on canvas
Nicholas Steinmetz
Marte (Mars)
2026
Oil on canvas
Nicholas Steinmetz
Mordida (Bite)
2025
Oil on canvas
Nicholas Steinmetz
Perfil (Profile)
2026
Oil on canvas
Nicholas Steinmetz
Risada (Laughter)
2026
Oil on canvas
B. Brazil1997
Biography
Nicholas Steinmetz’s works present mythical creatures and hybrid animals reimagined beyond the cultural and historical frameworks that once defined their meaning. Working from found images and bestiaries, he manipulates figures – dragons, lions, unicorns – and releases them from fixed allegorical roles and reframing the monster as something other than an antagonist. His practice moves between storytelling, space, and the evolutions of images across time. Drawing and figuration come together through carefully constructed compositions, forming layered scenes that resist linear readings and instead unfold through suggestion and fracture. Informed by a constellation of narratives drawn from the world of images, Steinmetz draws on fragments of histories and rituals to explore themes of the body, nature, memory, gender, and social structures.
Steinmetz was born in Curitiba, Brazil, in 1997. He graduated from Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná in 2020 with a degree in Graphic Design, and completed a Fine Arts exchange at Fanshawe College, London, Ontario, between 2017 and 2018. In 2024, Steinmetz undertook a residency at MAC-PR as part of the ‘Sala Aberta’ programme. His work has been presented across Brazil, with solo exhibitions including ARCADA at 25M, São Paulo (2025); Banquete at Espaço Totó, São Paulo (2024); Pé de Galinha at MAC-PR, Curitiba (2024); Decantação at Asa BASA, Curitiba (2023); and Precipitação at Espaço de Arte do CANTO, São Paulo (2022). Selected group exhibitions include Penumbra at Galeria Contempo, São Paulo (2026); Falácia Natural at Galeria Refresco, Rio de Janeiro (2026); Dispositivos de Contra-Memória at Virtua 3000, Rio de Janeiro (2025); and Diálogos e Narrativas at Gruta, São Paulo (2025), among others. Steinmetz currently lives and works in Brazil.
Nicholas Steinmetz:Mitopopeia
28.4 - 12.5.2026
Current
Hours
Monday to Friday, 10:00am - 5:30pm
Gallery
3-5 Swallow Street, Project Space
London
W1B 4DE