Coinciding with this summer’s London Olympics, Victory! examines the various concepts which frame and determine the idea of winning. Bringing together an impressive selection of artworks from both the classical and contemporary worlds the show will demonstrate, how the concept of victory is both greater and more subtle than the idea of simply coming first.

Included in the selection are especially commissioned paintings, drawings and sculpture by many of the gallery’s artists. Five of Tibetan heritage – including Kesang Lamdark, Nortse, Tenzing Rigdol, Tsherin Sherpa and Palden Weinreb, explore the concepts of triumph and overcoming, filtered through a Buddhist philosophy. Their works engage in an intriguing dialogue across the centuries with some dozen early classical sculptures and Thangka paintings from the Himalayas.

The conversation is continued by artists from throughout the wider Asian world: Jaishri Abichandani from India shows a series of automatic line drawings which focuses on images of women protesting in Tahrir Square in Cairo. Noted Iranian artist Fereydoun Ave has created two new paintings on paper; one, featuring a chorus of upraised hands, continues the theme of unrest and protest – ripe with the possibility of overcoming – whilst the other, richly worked with gold leaf, takes up a Dionysian theme, deeply layered in the mythic world of ancient Greece. Konstantin Bessmertny from Macao also looks to the past, referencing icons and the religious paintings of early mediaeval Europe as well as the more recently concluded Euro 2012 football; Kazakhstani artist Erbossyn Meldibeko contributes one of his now signature works, a simple enamel pail beaten until its shape echoes the mountaintop of the Communist-named Peak of Victory, its shattered white enamel surface suggestive of alpine scree slopes and icy meadows. Naiza H Khan and Faiza Butt from Pakistan, examine the darker side of the fight for victory, the masculine, combative elements of war and aggression where the desire to triumph can unleash forces of unparalleled destruction. Yet their art is many layered with a quizzical nod to the emotionally and sexually cloistered male sexuality of their culture and the wider world’s take on male bonding. Naiza Khan’s brass soldiers are joined at the hip and waist in an eternal and unsolveable embrace, whilst Faiza Butt’s pumped up men, rendered in delicate roseate tones, seem fit to fight to the death or melt in a narcissistic kiss.

This will be an ambitious show, exploring certain common truths that break down boundaries, cultures and histories.