IONE & MANN is pleased to present Klepsýdra, an exhibition bringing together the work of Irini Bachlitzanaki, Hannah Hughes, Yelena Popova and Sara Rossberg.

Taking its title from the ancient Greek water clock (literally, ‘water-thief’, from klépto [to steal] and hýdor [water]), the exhibition explores the shifting relationships between time, matter, memory and transformation.

Water becomes both a measure of time and a metaphor for the passage of existence: a source of life and a force of destruction, carrying histories, dissolving boundaries and reshaping what it encounters, while undergoing its own continuous material transformation.

With a distant echo of Homer's Odyssey, Klepsýdra traces a journey through disrupted chronologies, displacement, loss and hope. It reflects on the fragility and resilience of the human spirit, and on our desire to hold on to what is, by nature, impossible to contain.

Looking at the present and the past from the perspective of an imagined future, the exhibition considers how every object, gesture and material holds the potential to become a remnant: a trace of what has passed, but also a seed for what is yet to come.

Embracing the journey as an existential condition, Klepsýdra suggests that somewhere between memory and metamorphosis lies the possibility of finding oneself within the very process of change.

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ABOUT THE ARTISTS_

Irini Bachlitzanaki (b. 1984, Athens, Greece) is a Greek-born artist who lives and works between London and Athens.

Bachlitzanaki is inspired by material culture, artisanal traditions, nature and the biographies of objects. She builds upon re-contextualising recognisable forms to examine our relationship with the world around us and ourselves. Within a practice that is primarily sculptural, she plays with two and three-dimensionality and explores the object as image, signifier and continuation of the body and the self.

Bachlitzanaki studied History of Art at UCL, University of London and Fine Art at Central Saint Martins, Chelsea College of Arts. Most recently, she studied at the Royal Academy Schools, graduating in 2021.

Solo Exhibitions include: The Consolation of Imaginary Things at IONE & MANN, London (2024), The Combination Show, at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, Cambridge (2021) just us on a different day Elika Gallery, Athens (2018) and Emergent Qualities also at Elika Gallery (2015). Other Solo Projects / Presentations include Prickly Pears in the Sun as part of Patio Project curated by Georgia Stephenson and Piccadilly Lights, a presentation of a single work at the Piccadilly Circus billboard screen curated by Circa Art, both in 2020.

Group Exhibitions include: ΔΕΗ meets Αrt Vo. 2 curated by Christophoros Marinos (Athens, 2026), In Transit: Greek Artists Abroad, The Hellenic Centre, curated by Theodoris Papandreopoulos (London, 2026), In Spirit and Truth [come closer and see], IONE & MANN (London 2025) , Here at IONE & MANN (London 2023), Free Associations: The Contemporary Art Collection of Polly and Christos Kollialis, Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki curated by Machi Pesmatzoglou, Baggage Claim at Staffordshire St, London curated by Georgia Stephenson and Rosalind Wilson, Kill the Messenger, La Pera projects, New York, Discoveries, Fiumano Clase London, and Rhizome at IONE & MANN, London in 2023; Pott/Pott, The Modern Pottery Museum, Athens, organised by The Symptom Projects and curated by Apostolis Artinos, Doomed Companions, Unsubstantial Shades at the Greek Embassy, London organised by NEON and curated by Akis Kokkinos, Rebetiko at the Athens Municipal Gallery curated by Christoforos Marinos and Traditions & Folklore at Batagianni Gallery, Athens curated by Christina Petrinou in 2022; Our Home, this Mortal Coil at IONE & MANN, London, the RA Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts London, and All I Need is the Air that I Breathe, Artseen Contemporary Art ,Nicosia in 2021; Pending, San Mei Gallery, London, curated by Ludovica Bulciolu in 2020; Playing Ground at Athens Transmission, curated by Christina Petkopoulou in 2019; Serpent and Shadow curated by Martin Westwood at the Royal Academy of Arts and Unguided Tour at Martinos Art Gallery, Athens in 2018;Sci-Fi Athens curated by Augustus Veinoglou at Snehta Residency, Athens and Paste in Place at Supersimétrica, Madrid, curated by 3 137 in 2017, Tramontane at Ileana Tounta Contemporary Art Centre, Athens (2016), the European Night of Museums 2015 annual exhibition at Τhe National Bank of Greece Historical Archiv, Athens (2015).

Scholarships, Grants and Awards include: Ingram Prize 2023 , (shortlisted), ACS Studio Prize, 2023 (shortlisted), Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Artist Fellowship by ARTWORKS, 2022, DYCP Grant, Arts Council, England 2022, Wolfson College Cambridge, Royal Academy Schools Graduate Prize, 2021, A. Dunoyer de Segonzac Prize awarded by the Royal Academy Schools, 2021, NEON Scholarship for Postgraduate Studies Abroad (2020 -2017)

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Hannah Hughes (b.1975) is a London-based visual artist working across collage, photography and sculpture. She graduated from the University of Brighton in 1997, and is currently completing a practice-based PhD at the University of Gloucestershire.

Her work has been exhibited internationally, with recent examples including the solo exhibitions After Fragments at Swedenborg House, London (2026); and Solid Slip at Robert Morat Galerie, Berlin, Germany, (2024); two-person exhibitions Glossaries: Hannah Hughes & Dafna Talmor, Sid Motion Gallery, London (2022); Gleaners: Olivia Bax & Hannah Hughes, Sid Motion Gallery, London, (2020); and group exhibitions What Rose from the Cut, Graces Mews, London (2026-7); Material Language | Language Material, Standpoint Gallery, London, UK, (2025); London Lives, Photo London, Somerset House, London, UK, (2025); and Material Thinking, Lightbox Gallery & Museum, Woking, UK (2024) among others.

Her first book Mirror Image was published by Jane & Jeremy in 2023; and she has participated in two collaborative publications with artist Dafna Talmor, Glossaries, published by Folium in association with Sid Motion Gallery, (2023) and Glossaries II, as part of Emic Units 1, published by Shibboleth, (2023). Her work is included in Material Immaterial, (2018-20) an experimental publication by Rodrigo Orrantia; and Look At This If You Love Great Photography: A critical curation of 100 essential photos by Gemma Padley, (Ivy Press, 2021).

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Yelena Popova (b. 1978, Urals, USSR) is an artist living and working in Nottingham, UK.

Popova works across a range of media including painting, textiles, video and installation. Her works recall the graphics and the aesthetics of Russian Constructivism, Minimalism and Spiritual Abstraction, referenced in her paintings with the use of almost transparent geometric forms. Growing up in a secret Soviet nuclear settlement, Popova often turns her attention to nuclear history and heritage. Through reverberation of modernist aesthetics and the use of own-made paint from foraged natural materials, Popova questions the quest for continuous industrial development and the landscape of contemporary capitalism. 

She is a graduate of the Royal College of Art in London (RCA, MA in Painting, 2009- 2011) and the Moscow Art Theatre School (MHAT, Set Design and Construction, 1995-2000).

Select solo exhibitions include: Moments of Grace, Osnova Gallery (Valencia, 2026), Of Dust and Breath IONE & MANN, (London, 2024), Made Ground, Cample Line (Scotland, 2022),  Showing Now, Touring Later, The Art House, Worcester University (2021), Landscapes of Power, Philipp von Rosen Galerie (Cologne, 2020), The Scholar Stones Project, Holden Gallery, MMU (Manchester 2020), Her Name is Prometheus, L’etrangère, (London, 2018), Elements, Girton College, University of Cambridge, This Certifies That, Philip von Rosen Galerie (Cologne, 2017),  After Image, Nottingham Contemporary (2016).

Recent group exhibitions include: L for Landscape, Division of Labor curated by Gavin Wade (London 2026), The Trees are not Lost, Artwin Gallery, (London, 2026), In Spirit and Truth, IONE & MANN (London, 2025)Matter as Actor, curated by Greg Hilty, Lisson Gallery (London, 2023), Slow Painting, curated by Martin Herbert for Hayward Touring (2019), Perpetual Uncertainty, curated by Ele Carpenter at Malmö Konstmuseum (Malmö, 2017), Future Light curated by Maria Lind for Vienna Biennale (Vienna, 2015). Popova was part of IONE & MANN’s Inaugural exhibition in 2016.

Her work is included in Vitamin P3 (The 108 International Artists Revolutionizing Painting Today), published by Phaidon Press (2016) and Thames and Hudson’s 100 Painters of Tomorrow (2014).

Collections include: Arts Council Collection, Government Art Collection, The Women’s Art Collection, Nottingham Castle Collection, RCA Collection, Saatchi Col­lec­tion, Zabludowicz Collection, and LWL Museum, Münster.

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Sara Rossberg (b. 1952, Recklinghausen, Germany) lives and works in London. She describes her work as an introverted exploration of experienced life and observations expressed through painting. She creates ‘paint-objects’ that possess their own reality and physical presence and are intended to be experienced rather than read like a book.

Sara Rossberg completed Postgraduate studies at the Camberwell College of Art, London (1978) and is a graduate of the Staedelschule, Academy of Fine Art, Frankfurt am Main (1976).

Solo exhibitions have taken place at: Galerie Lattemann, Darmstadt- Muehltal, Germany (2015); Albemarle Gallery, London (2007); The Women’s Art Collection, New Hall College, Cambridge (2004); Galerie Vieille du Temple, Paris (2002); Julian Hartnoll Gallery, London (1997); Turnpike Gallery, Leigh (1996); Stiebel Modern, New York (1993); Warrington Museum & Art Gallery, Warrington (1992); Stiebel Modern, New York (1992); Jill George Gallery, London (1991); Louis Newman Gallery, Los Angeles (1990); Rosenberg & Stiebel, New York (1990); Retrospective touring show ‘Don’t I Know You?’: Museum & Art Gallery Newport, Oriel Gallery, Cardiff, D.L.I. Museum & Art Gallery Durham (1989); Thumb Gallery, London (1988); Denne Hill, Treadwell Gallery (1987); Kunstkeller, Bern, Switzerland (1987); International Art Fair, Basel (1986), Staedek Academy of Fine Art, Frankfurt am Main (1973).

Recent group shows include: Repose, curated by Matthew Holman, William Hine Gallery (2025-2026); Jackson’s Art Prize 2025 Finalist Exhibition [winner of the Judges Choice Award; Advanced Contemporaries, curated by Paul Carey-Kent, Emma Cousin and Theo Ellison (2024).

Rossberg’s works are held in the public collections of The National Portrait Gallery, London; The Women’s Art Collection, Cambridge; The Louth Museum, Lincolnshire; The Newport Museum & Art Gallery, Newport and K&B Corp Collection, New Orleans, US.

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Image Credits: Could You Come to Me, Installation Views, IONE & MANN. Artwork © the artists; photography by Matt Spour, Courtesy of IONE & MANN.