The Exhibition of One · a format by Teleport

Every portrait
is her.

A real gallery, in the city you name. One afternoon. One visitor — and every painting on the walls is of her.

Rooms I–III · 6 to 20 works · oil, pencil, watercolour
Painted from the photographs her people kept
Curated by people who have never met her · Not for sale
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She came to someone else's opening: a visitor freezes two steps from the door of a gallery hung with her portraits
Plate 1The Visitor, two steps from the door
MediumOil on linen, pencil, watercolour
Lent byHer sister, her friends
RoomI · the east wall
01

Painted from your photographs

Six to twenty portraits, painted over four to eight weeks from the pictures you send us. Oil, pencil, one in the style she loves.

02

A real gallery, one afternoon

A private view in a working gallery. A curator, a critic, two collectors — none of whom have ever met her.

03

She is the only visitor

She arrives for someone else's opening. By the second room she understands. By the last room, the people who lent the paintings are waiting.

One afternoon we wrote

How the afternoon can go

Every exhibition is written from a blank page. These are four plates from one possible afternoon.

An invitation to a private view on the gallery doorstep
Plate 2
An invitation to a private view. The gallery is real. The artist is not listed.
Entrance, Room I
The curator explains the sitter's life to two collectors while the sitter stands between them
Plate 3
The curator explains the subject’s life to two collectors. The subject stands between them, biting her lip.
Room II
The back door opens and the people who lent the paintings walk in with glasses, applauding
Plate 4
The back door opens. The people who lent the paintings walk in with glasses — and applaud. She is the last to turn round.
Room III
The private view spills onto the street; a passer-by looks from the portrait in the window to the woman beside it
Plate 5
The private view spills onto the street. A passer-by looks from the portrait in the window to the woman beside it.
The street
Before the afternoon

What you receive, and when

LengthOne afternoon.
WhereA real gallery, in the city you name.
WorksSix to twenty portraits.
Who knowsEveryone in the gallery. Not her.
What is included
  • Six to twenty portraits, painted from the photographs you send
  • A working gallery, hers for one afternoon
  • A curator, a critic, two collectors — professional actors, rehearsed
  • The invitation, from a gallery she has never heard of
  • Our team running the afternoon, unseen
  • The catalogue, printed in one copy
When
  1. Within two days
    Talk to us.

    Who she is, which painters she loves.

  2. Within a week
    Read one page.

    The list of works, the gallery and the cast. Change anything you like.

  3. Four to eight weeks
    Send the photographs.

    Ten pictures you love. The painters do the rest.

  4. The afternoon
    Bring her to the door.

    The invitation in her name does the rest.

What stays after the afternoon

The portraits

Six to twenty. All of them hers to keep.

The afternoon

A private view she walked into by accident.

A memory that did not exist

The day a gallery was about her.

And the catalogue — printed in one copy.

In their words

Hung in the last room.

“Without a doubt, it was the most magical experience I have ever had. I was completely overwhelmed throughout the entire day by all the surprises.”

Jennifer Klingvall GillbergThe one the exhibition was ofNo. 1 · Words, spoken afterwards · Not for sale

“Beautiful, magical and impossible. I think it’s the greatest gift I could have given her.”

Martina KlingvallFounder & CEO · Telness GroupNo. 2 · Words, spoken afterwards · Lent by the sister

“Teleport is visionary and playful and reawakens, at an essential level, what it is to be human.”

David GlassTheatre director · United KingdomNo. 3 · Words, written afterwards · From the collection

Send us the photographs.
We hang the exhibition.

Tell us who she is and send ten pictures you love. The painters do the rest.

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Exhibition history

It has happened before.

The lenders come out of the back room, applauding
The lenders come out of the back room. A sister gave this to her sister.
Every portrait on the walls is her
Every portrait on the walls is her — painted from photographs her friends had kept.

Real frames from a real private view. Thirty-three seconds; press play.

Notes for the lender

Questions

How much does an exhibition cost? –

There is no price list, because there is no standard afternoon. The cost depends on the cast, the length of the afternoon and what has to be built for it. We share it after the first conversation, as one figure for everything: the script, a cast rehearsed for weeks, every door in the afternoon, and the telling afterwards. The one gift that cannot be bought in an afternoon — only painted. The portraits are hers to keep.

Will she know? –

No. She is invited to someone else's opening. She understands by the second room.

How many portraits? –

From six to twenty. Painted, drawn or printed — one for each decade, each friend or each place, depending on the story.

Do we keep the paintings? –

All of them. And the catalogue, printed in one copy.

How long does it take to prepare? –

Four to eight weeks — the portraits set the pace.

Who arranges the places? –

The gallery, the painters, the catalogue: by us or by a partner we introduce, depending on the story. You never book anything yourself.

Can friends and family take part? –

Yes. They lend the pictures, and they are in the last room.

Will it be filmed? –

Film and photography — by request. Otherwise nothing is recorded.

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Tell us who it is for and what they have never been given.

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Exhibition history