The Towner Eastbourne presents "Comrades in Art: Artists Against Fascism," an exhibition curated by Andy Friend that chronicles the history of the Artists International Association (AIA). The AIA began as a radical leftwing collective in the early 1930s, founded by artists including Cliff Rowe, Misha Black, Pearl Binder, and James Fitton, and grew into a central force in Britain's wartime art scene. The show features over 320 loans from 62 collections, highlighting the group's evolution from a revolutionary union to an exhibition powerhouse, culminating in the 1943 "For Liberty" exhibition at the bomb-damaged John Lewis department store on Oxford Street.
The exhibition matters because it recovers a largely overlooked chapter of British art history, demonstrating how artists from diverse aesthetic and political backgrounds united against fascism and war. By reintroducing figures who are now relatively obscure—such as Cliff Rowe, Peter Laszlo Peri, and Edith Simon—the show challenges the canon and underscores the power of collective action in times of political crisis. It also connects historical activism to contemporary debates about artists' social responsibility, making it relevant to current discussions on art and politics.