On Sunday, I took my wife and our two girls, aged eight and twelve, along to Frameless, the immersive art exhibition at Marble Arch. I’d heard plenty about it and had been meaning to go for ages, so it was great to finally get there.
I’m a huge fan of immersive theatre and exhibitions. Perhaps it’s partly how my neurodivergent brain works, but being surrounded by something really draws me in. The girls are neurodivergent too, and we all respond to having a world unfolding around us, with things to discover wherever we look.
Having visited Cleopatra: The Experience, The Legend of the Titanic: The Immersive Exhibition, and The Last Days of Pompeii: The Immersive Exhibition, I particularly enjoy those enormous projection rooms where the walls and floor become another world. It’s almost like sharing virtual reality with everyone around you, without a headset. Frameless gives you four galleries exploring different artists and styles through huge animated projections and music, with the separate Blank Canvas Gallery currently hosting the Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards too.
Our first stop was Beyond Reality, and within minutes we were all staring upwards. Dalí’s elephants towered over us on their impossibly long legs, melting clocks tumbled around the room, and Munch’s The Scream became unsettlingly animated. Butterflies, flowers, clothing, and strange creatures appeared around us, each belonging to a different artist’s extraordinary imagination.
The girls were having a fabulous time chasing butterflies and jumping onto moving images beneath their feet, while we stood taking it all in. What’s gorgeous is how the animation preserves the different painting styles. You get to explore the colours, textures, and peculiar details on an enormous scale, experiencing familiar works in a completely new way.
Colour in Motion takes that further, scattering digital brushstrokes around your feet. As you move through them, they sweep onto the walls and assemble into paintings. The girls gleefully pushed through piles of colour, helping the images emerge around us. And there’s something wonderful about being surrounded by Van Gogh’s Starry Night Over the Rhône. You can stand inside that painted world and look around you. I absolutely loved it.
The Art of Abstraction offers a different mood, with translucent screens creating a maze of shifting shapes and colour. I could have sat there for hours watching the works of Mondrian, Hilma af Klint, and Kandinsky, gently moving to the beautiful music. Nick Powell’s score includes some very cool jazzy sections. The girls preferred the full projection rooms, but I was quite happy getting lost among the screens.
The World Around Us was spectacular: stormy seas, Venice, old London, and a roaring volcano, with classical music and environmental sounds adding to the atmosphere. Here, the images cover the ceiling too. I kept forgetting to look up, then when I did there were clouds, birds, and smoke above my head.
There were groups of adults alongside families with children of every age, all enjoying it in their own way. Some sequences stretched the girls’ attention towards the end, so a quieter weekday would be my choice for lingering.
Just when we thought we’d finished, there was another room to discover. We were delighted to find that, until January 2027, the Blank Canvas Gallery is home to the Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards residency, included with admission.
We were all laughing at the surprised seals, grinning bears, and penguins with attitude. There’s something particularly funny about seeing these beautifully photographed animals looking like they’ve been caught doing something embarrassing. Across seven habitats, 91 photographs are displayed in this immersive space, with a conservation message behind the comedy photos.
After all those extraordinary painted worlds, watching wildlife have a few ridiculous moments was a lovely way to finish. We’d spent the afternoon staring in amazement, chasing butterflies, and laughing together. I’m very glad we finally made it to Frameless.
Words by Nick Barr
Gallery photography by Antonio Pagano
