Culturalee spoke to curator and artist Tobias Ross-Southall about a new exhibition he has curated at The HiLight in Battersea.
In an age defined by saturation, speed, and cultural remix, AVALANCHE at The HiLight captures the chaos with visceral clarity. Tobias Ross-Southall’s curation brings together nine boundary-defying artists whose work explores themes of overload, collapse, and the relentless reassembly of contemporary culture. He also exhibits in the exhibition.
What emerges is a dense, dynamic landscape–ideas in freefall, clashing and colliding in a space where nothing stays still for long. Culturalee sat down with Ross-Southall to unpack the curatorial vision behind AVALANCHE, the energy of its contributing artists, and what it means to navigate a cultural moment teetering on the edge.
The title AVALANCHE is evocative and powerful. What inspired it, and how does it connect to the themes or mood of the exhibition?
Life right now feels uncontrollable, powerful and unpredictable, that is both scary and overwhelming. The title reflects this. The artists explore the overload, collapse and remixing of contemporary culture through multi-disciplinary expression.
As both an artist and a curator, how did your dual perspective influence the selection of artists for this show?
I combined creative insight with curatorial vision to bring together works that resonate personally and connect collectively.
Do you feel it gave you a different lens when shaping the exhibition?
Yes, it gave me a different lens by allowing me to view the exhibition both from inside the creative process and from the broader perspective of how the works engage together.
You’ve brought together an exciting mix of established and emerging artists like Helen Beard, Hayden Kays, Lize Bartelli, and Petros. What guided your choices, and what common threads, if any, do you see connecting their work?
I was guided by a desire to create dialogue between established and emerging voices whose practices are bold, distinctive and unapologetically expressive. While their approaches differ, the common thread is a willingness to confront contemporary culture with honesty, wit and originality.
I like to have a variety of disciplines and conceptual approaches with each show I curate. There are certain artists I regularly collaborate with and champion as their work always feels fresh, engaging and catalytic.
Curating a group exhibition in a distinctive space like The HiLight must come with its own set of challenges and opportunities. How did the physical environment influence your curation and layout decisions?
The inspiring, bright double-height space, with its vast raw concrete columns, shaped the curation, guiding the placement of works to play off the scale and structure while creating dynamic dialogue and tension. The HiLight is an exciting new development in the heart of London and I wanted to put on a show that reflects the ambition and vision of the building.
Are there particular works in AVALANCHE that feel especially significant to you–either personally or thematically?
Tom Furse’s imagery resonates significantly. It is based on candid self-portraits of journalist and model Sydney Lima’s “feet pics” from her OnlyFans page – transformed using his machine learning processes. It raises questions and conversations about self portraiture, hustler culture, voyeurism and the influence of AI on sex work. Furse transforms this into a piece of ethereal erotica that sits timelessly between photograph, airbrush painting and x-ray.
Can you share a few standout pieces and what makes them resonate?
Helen Beard’s painting is a vibrant, intimate exploration of female desire, blending abstraction and representation with bold, saturated colours. Her work reclaims the female gaze through sensual, close-up compositions where forms flow and merge, reflecting both tactile intimacy and cinematic framing.
Dion Kitson’s deconstructed football on raw canvas transforms a found, discarded object into something both beautiful and critical. Flattening the ball into geometric abstraction that highlights its mathematical design while questioning the commodification of sport, bridging ancient ideals of victory with modern branding.
William Cobbing’s ceramic hand sculpture stands out for its playful eeriness. The hand morphs into a face, blurring body and character, turning a familiar gesture into something uncanny yet inviting.
Lize Bartelli’s painting of vivid red lips sucking a cherry resonates through its bold simplicity. Playful, sensual and iconic, it captures desire and allure in a single striking image.
James Massiah’s written “Drafts” are a stream of deeply personal consciousness. Inspired by such artists as Jenny Holzer and Henri Michaux, his words flow onto paper in a beautifully chaotic and poetic way. Massiah expresses a particular experience in Ibiza and a phone call to a close
friend. Graphically precise yet sublimely suggestive.
Hayden Kays’s Pink Pound merges sharp satire with cultural resonance. Using a vibrant pink overlay atop currency, it not only skewers consumerism but also nods subtly to LGBTQ+ buying power. The title itself references the UK slang Pink Pound, meaning the considerable spending power of the homosexual community, an economy often valued at billions annually and recognised since the term first appeared in The Guardian in 1984. In one bold visual stroke, Kays plays on this duality: the mockery of capitalism and the affirmation of queer visibility. The artwork becomes both critique and celebration, transforming money into a pop-art emblem of identity, desire and economic influence.
PETROS’ Lorenzo resonates for its haunting intensity, the bold contrast of inky black against searing red transforms the face into something both mask-like and visceral, teetering between abstraction and figuration. It captures an unsettling psychological presence, making the viewer confront emotion and identity in raw, graphic form.
Also within my own work, I’m currently exploring haunting delicacy, using Indian ink on raw canvas, allowing the medium to bleed and blur into ghostly forms that hover between body and landscape. In Cansado II’ a spectral figure emerges from shifting waters, evoking fragility and transience, while Nuevos Animales (Lago) abstracts the torso into fluid, almost otherworldly contours. Both pieces transform the human form into something ethereal and uncanny.
You’ve balanced names with international recognition alongside emerging talents. How do you approach creating a dialogue between these artists within a shared space?
Mixing artists and disciplines creates a fresh platform for expression. A collective act that is so beautifully human, where established and emerging voices converse, challenge and inspire one another.
Does your love of Mexico and it’s culture inform your curatorial choices or the way you frame and contextualise work in group shows like AVALANCHE?
I really love Mexico and spend a lot of time there. It’s been transformative for my creative practice as both an artist and curator. I have a studio in Downtown Puebla, immersed in its culture and energy that definitely shapes how I bring work together. The strong sense of community, craft and history there naturally influences my choices.
What do you hope audiences take away from AVALANCHE? Is there a message, feeling, or experience you’re hoping to leave them with after they walk through the exhibition?
I hope audiences leave AVALANCHE feeling energised and inspired, having experienced a bold, playful and thought-provoking dialogue between diverse artists. The aim is for the exhibition to spark curiosity, reflection and a sense of the vibrant, collective creativity on display in such a unique space at The HiLight.
All images Courtesy the artist and The HiLight.
AVALANCHE is at The HiLight in Battersea, London until 19th October, 2025. Find more information here.
