Georg Wilson
Mythical and mischievous—her goblins are taking over
Georg Wilson’s latest solo show, The Last Oozings, opened last week at Pilar Corrias’ Conduit Street gallery. We have been admirers of Georg’s work for many years, so it is great to see her continue to rise to the forefront of the London art scene.
A graduate of the Royal College of Art’s prestigious Painting MA, Wilson’s practice weaves together folklore, history, and the natural world to create compositions that are both familiar and strange. At the centre of her works are goblin-like creatures, untethered from human hierarchies of gender or power; they roam landscapes steeped in mythology, untouched by industry. Wilson’s immersive approach extends beyond traditional painting. For her 2022 RCA Degree Show presentation, she transformed her studio space with bales of hay, extending these creatures’ world beyond the canvas for visitors to experience firsthand. Mischievous and ambiguous, these characters recall figures from English folklore who serve as protectors of the land, warning against greed and carelessness. While fantastical, Wilson’s compositions speak to contemporary anxieties about environmental degradation and the consequences of human overreach. In a world increasingly marked by ecological crisis, these paintings offer a vision of harmony, showcasing the resilience of nature’s rhythms.
Her first London solo exhibition, What Mad Pursuit, at Berntson Bhattacharjee Gallery in 2023, explored themes of matchmaking, folklore, love songs, and literature spanning from pre-Christian traditions to 16th-century England. Inspired by Imbolc, the pagan festival of light and fertility, and the chivalric poetry of Thomas Wyatt, Wilson reimagined courtship as a pursuit through the forest—sly eyes peering from undergrowth, clawed fingers reaching through foliage.
This body of work was created with the late winter season and the arrival of spring in mind. Each painting in the show held its own narrative, yet collectively, they exuded an overriding sense of collaborative naughtiness. The goblins appeared frozen in motion, as if caught in the aftermath of battle—arrows strewn across the gallery, evoking a Toy Story-like world where they might spring to life if left unattended. Full of life and character, these creatures spark a deep curiosity about their origins and histories, leaving us eager to witness their stories continue to unfold.
Thankfully, our desires are met in Wilson’s new exhibition, The Last Oozings, at Pilar Corrias. The works in this show expand her world further, capturing her well-loved creatures in the season of autumn. Inspired by John Keats’ poem To Autumn, Wilson’s paintings reflect on the cyclical nature of life—ripeness giving way to decay and decay nurturing future growth. Like Keats’ “last oozings" of autumnal honey, Wilson’s canvases shimmer with the golden hues of early autumn mornings, offset by deep violet undertones, creating a sense of fleeting beauty and inevitable decline.
Wilson’s influences extend beyond poetry. Her paintings at Pilar evoke the gilded palette of British Romantic painter Samuel Palmer, whose pastoral visions of England carry a mystical quality. However, where Palmer depicted human labour in harmony with nature, Wilson’s landscapes reject human presence entirely, emphasising a deeper sense of ecological balance and ancient wisdom.
A standout piece from the show, The Wet (After Ophelia), directly references John Everett Millais’ Ophelia (1851–52), which depicts Ophelia, a character from Shakespeare's Hamlet, singing in a river before drowning. In Wilson’s version, her creature appears relaxed and at one with the river. Portrayed in a toxic green hue, they almost become part of the water rather than succumb to it—there is no fear of drowning here.
Wilson’s cumulative body of work aligns with contemporary movements questioning rigid identity structures; her wildling beings exist beyond gender binaries and reinvent representations of the body, while also engaging with urgent ecological and philosophical conversations. Her richly textured, seasonally attuned paintings challenge us to see the entangled narratives that lie beneath. In doing so, Wilson crafts a world that is both nostalgic and forward-looking, a reminder of what can flourish when we step aside and let the land and its stories breathe.
From the Royal College of Art to Pilar Corrias, Wilson has steadily gained recognition from prestigious galleries and influential tastemakers. This growing acclaim has led to her upcoming inclusion in An Uncommon Thread, a group exhibition at Hauser & Wirth Somerset, opening this weekend (February 8).
Georg Wilson: The Last Oozings is on view at Pilar Corrias until March 22, 2025.
Amazing
Have to go see the show!!