London’s art scene thrives on contrast — and Niah McGiff embraces it fully. As both an artist and curator, she’s exploring how the physical and digital intertwine in Flesh and Pixel, a group exhibition at Alexandra Palace that reimagines how we see the body, technology, and belonging. Set within one of London’s most historic creative spaces, the show bridges past and present through painting, film, sculpture, and textiles, all linked by a sense of shared humanity in the digital age. We caught up with Niah McGiff to talk curation, connection, and the new language of contemporary creativity.
Flesh and Pixel brings together a new generation of London artists at Alexandra Palace. What inspired you to create an exhibition that bridges the physical and the digital in such a historic space?
Alexandra palace was built in 1873, conceived as a Victorian entertainment and recreation center. The idea of bringing together young, emerging artists to celebrate creativity and art – over 150 years later – within this venue feels powerful. The concept of the exhibition was born out of my fascination with the tension between the spiritual and the digital age, as well as how current modern technology is in its total consumption of our lives. I find the idea of curating an exhibition exploring these very contemporary themes, in such a historically rich environment very compelling and I hope others do too.
→ Discover more creatives and artists shaping London’s culture.
Alexandra Palace was originally built as a “People’s Palace” — a place for art, learning, and community. How did that history influence your curatorial approach to this exhibition?
As said above, that history definitely shaped how I thought about the show. Alexandra Palace was built for everyone, a space for people to experience art and culture collectively. I wanted Flesh and Pixel to reflect that, by bringing together emerging artists with very different practices and giving them a shared platform. It’s about creating a space that feels open and inclusive, where contemporary work can meet that long tradition of art made for the public.
The show explores how the body meets the digital. What does that relationship mean to you personally, and how do you see it shaping contemporary creativity?
I’m interested in how the digital has become an extension of our body and minds. The absurd nature of internet culture, in my eyes, is really a reflection of our collective consciousness. The rapid consumption of nonsensical online media, and the quick mental disposal of it, really speaks volumes about the nihilistic nature of society. In Flesh and Pixel, that tension becomes visible through exploration of painterly mediums in abstraction, form and figure as well as textiles and film. I hope unexpected connections and conversations occur while people reflect on the work. Contemporary creativity feels shaped by that constant negotiation between the material act of making and the way it circulates.
You’ve spoken about using surreal figuration to explore spirituality and desire in the digital age. How do you balance emotional depth with the technological themes in your work?
For me, the emotional part always comes first in painting. Often I will be thinking about certain subjects or themes and that seeps into my work. The process, for me, is entirely built on intuition and emotion and the themes come later. I always think back to how David Bowie reflects on artists’ process and thinking in an interview I watched – he was rejecting the idea of artists caring about the meaning of art and that “art isn’t about what it means, it’s about the messy process of getting there.” The technology or digital language is just another space to hold it. I’m interested in how screens, images, and online spaces have become places where we process intimacy and longing too, they’re almost sacred in how much of ourselves we put into them. So rather than separating emotion from technology, I use digital ideas as a way to show how entangled they already are.
The artists you’ve brought together span painting, film, sculpture, and textiles. What connects their practices, and how did you curate a dialogue between such different mediums?
The theme is really just a loose umbrella, it gives the work somewhere to gather rather than something strict to follow. I wasn’t looking for everything to match, I wanted space for contrast and surprise. Each artist approaches material and image differently, and that’s what makes the dialogue interesting. My hope is that by putting these pieces side by side, new and unexpected connections start to appear on their own.
As both an artist and a curator, how do you navigate the boundary between your own creative voice and creating space for others’ perspectives?
I wouldn’t say I’m curating in a top-down way. The artists are all involved in shaping how the work sits together, so it’s really a collaboration. We are making decisions collectively, which feels right for a show that’s about connection and community too. My role is just to help hold that process together. The artists that are involved are: Fen Chirathivat, Louis Loveless, Oscar B Ezer & Reuben P Haynes, Pandora Covell, Tiwa Akinjide, Taylor Silk, Tom Saint and myself, Niah McGiff.
Flesh and Pixel touches on belonging and identity — both personal and collective. How do questions of heritage and hybridity shape your vision as an artist working in London today?
Heritage and where you come from always affects what you make, but I don’t try to define it too neatly. London’s full of different voices and that shapes how I think about belonging and identity, as something layered, shared and connected.
Finally, what do you hope audiences will take away from the exhibition — not just about technology or art, but about what it means to be human in a world increasingly mediated by screens?
The work isn’t directly about technology, but we all live through it in some way, so it’s there in the background. I want people to feel a bit closer to the work, and to themselves. We live through screens so much that we forget what it’s like to be still with something physical. I hope connections are made by one another visiting as well as the art, and I hope everyone enjoys it!
xxx
Flesh & Pixel – Group Exhibition at Alexandra Palace
Exhibition Dates: 22nd November – 5th December, 9am – 5pm
Venue: Alexandra Palace, East Court – The Creativity Pavilion, N22 7AY, London