“A million candles burnt in him without his being at the trouble of lighting a single one.”
A Million Candles, Illuminating Queer Love and Life
Inspired by London Art Fair’s partnership with Charleston, the modernist home of painters Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant, the 2024 Platform section of the fair brings together art that shines a light on queer love and life selected by guest curator Gemma Rolls-Bentley. In the early 20th century, the historic house and artist studio became a queertopia for members of the Bloomsbury Group, including Vanessa’s sister Virginia Woolf. In Woolf’s 1928 novel Orlando, an imaginative biography of her lover and muse Vita Sackville-West in which the protagonist changes sex from male to female, she wrote:
“A million candles burnt in him without his being at the trouble of lighting a single one.”
At a time when LGBTQIA+ life is increasingly under threat in the UK and globally, Rolls-Bentley calls on the words of queer ancestors as she brings together art that reflects the resilience, the beauty and the passion of queer love and life.
Gemma Rolls-Bentley has been at the forefront of contemporary art for over 15 years, working passionately to champion diversity in the field. Curating exhibitions and building art collections internationally, her curatorial practice amplifies the work of female and queer artists and provides a platform for art that explores LGBTQ+ identity. Gemma is an advisor to early-stage startups, global businesses and cultural projects and she teaches at institutions including the Royal College of Art, Glasgow School of Art and Goldsmiths. She co-chairs the board of trustees for the charity Queercircle and is a member of the Courtauld Association Committee. She spent a decade working at the intersection of art and technology, holding positions of Chief Curator at Avant Arte and Curatorial Director at Artsy. In 2011 Gemma launched the arts arm of the East London Fawcett Group and ran their 2012-2013 Art Audit campaign. Most recently she curated Tschabalala Self’s first public art project at Coal Drops Yard in London and the Brighton Beacon Collection, the largest permanent display of queer art in the UK. Her group exhibition ‘Dreaming of Home’ is currently on view at Leslie Lohman Museum of Art in NYC and she is the host of the museum’s new podcast series. Her debut book ‘Queer Art’ will be published in 2024 by Frances Lincoln.
