The best art exhibitions coming up in Bristol and the Westcountry – selected by the Friends of the RWA…
Here’s our pick of the best art exhibitions and events happening in and around Bristol and the south west in the month ahead – including a look ahead to upcoming features….
AT THE RWA
170 Annual Open Exhibition
9 Sep 2023 – 14 Jan 2024
The RWA’s renowned Annual Open Exhibition is now in its 170th year, and – as always – offers a stunning variety of work from emerging and established artists. This dynamic, varied and uplifting exhibition includes a stunning array of painting, drawing, printmaking, photography, sculpture, installation and mixed media artworks, and is a showcase of some of the most exciting artists from across the country and beyond.
All work is for sale, making the Annual Open a perfect opportunity to discover new artists or invest in well-known names. You can browse – and buy – the artworks from your home online.
A selection panel assessed every entry and this year over 600 works made it into the final exhibition. The panel this year included Charmaine Watkiss and Meryl Ainslie together with RWA Academicians Fiona Robinson PRWA, Dallas Collins VPRWA, Lucy Austin RWA, Angela Lizon RWA and Karl Singporewala RWA.
FESTIVAL – ARTPORT 2023
Sat 23 – Sun 24 September, Portishead (multiple venues)
ArtPort is a vibrant, multi-arts festival that takes place annually in the unique and historic location of Portishead, on the North Somerset coast.
This year’s event includes ‘FIELD’ by artist Hamish Young RWA – a specially commissioned artwork created from 27,000 hand-cast plaster shells, moulded from shells collected from around the south west coastline. In this work, each shell represents a local resident – each of the 27,000 people who call Portishead ‘home’.
The installation will be housed in The Folk Hall – a well recognised, accessible community space in the heart of Portishead High Street.
Hamish and ArtPort invite everyone to come together and be a part of this organic art installation. Whether you live in Portishead, or are visiting our wonderful festival, there is a shell for you to choose and take away with you to a different place, a new home. The gradual erosion of the sculpture field will be captured in stop motion film and you will become a part of the story.
CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
Compiled by Sue Quirk and Laurel Smart
1) SUSAN EDWARDS: ART AND SOUL
1-28 SEPTEMBER, NORTH TRANSEPT, HEREFORD CATHEDRAL
This is a collaboration between the cathedral and the community. Susan’s theme is REJOICE and her paintings aim to celebrate and be thankful for the abundance of nature, the work of many hands in gardens, the creativity of craftsmen, portraits celebrating the best we can be, a sense of fun and fellowship of friends, and the faith, customs and traditions that bind a rural community together.
Susan intends to be at the Exhibition throughout H.Art week and beyond, so if you would like a ‘Meet the Artist’ tour just ring Susan on 07531521721. Find out more at the website below and there is more information about H.Art Week in the H.Art Brochure.
2) FLO BROOKS: HARMONYCRUMB
UNTIL 11 SEPTEMBER, SPIKE ISLAND, BRISTOL
A new commission by Flo Brooks exploring trans and gender-nonconforming histories through painting and assemblage. The exhibition includes seven acrylic paintings appliqued onto found fabric, and six assemblages composed of lino flooring cutouts and handmade objects. Together, these works explore speculative entanglements between Brooks’ own life and the experiences of different historical figures, including military leader Joan of Arc (1412-31), ‘female husband’ Charles Hamilton (1721-46), and physician Michael Dillon/Lobzang Jivaka (1915-62).
Embedded in the materials of domestic space, which Brooks describes as ‘the first space of dreaming, fantasising, worlding,’ each work originates from fragments of these people’s lives, gleaned from newspaper clippings, autobiographical descriptions and visits to the places they lived and worked. Extending out from the paintings, the floor assemblages support a range of objects and ephemera that are either appropriate to, or out of step with, the period. Some of these objects are placed on and around the lino, which undulates across the floor. Others, such as a broken candlestick and one of Joan of Arc’s sabatons (plate armour shoes), emerge from cut out ‘windows’.
3) SOMERSET OPEN STUDIOS FEATURING JANETTE KERR PPRWA & DAVID PARFITT RI
16 SEPTEMBER – 1 OCTOBER, CHURCH HALL STUDIOS, LOWER COLEFORD
In Coleford, tucked away between Frome and Radstock, this pretty old mining village hosts studios by Janette Kerr, David Parfitt, Val and Andrew Scott George. Andrew paints luminous landscapes in the old medium of egg tempera, while Val creates prowling, elongated animals in papier mâché as well as animal head candlesticks in clay.
Janette and David focus on encounters with land and sea, near and far; Jannette is known for her masterly depiction of wild seas and the forces that shape Shetland and David for his intimate water-infused observations of the Somerset Levels and woods.
Janette Kerr: delighting in sudden and unpredictable changes in the weather, Kerr is a painter of the northern landscape – a foul-weather painter who enjoys being out in, and working from the landscape at its extremes. Charcoal drawings and small paintings made on-site become the basis for larger paintings and drawings and mixed media developed in the studio. She divides her time between living and working in Shetland and Somerset.
4) TO BE FREE: ART AND LIBERTY: GROUP SHOW
UNTIL 17 SEPTEMBER, SALISBURY CATHEDRAL, WILTSHIRE
The exhibition includes works by internationally renowned artists, including Yinka Shonibare CBE RA, Cornelia Parker CBE, Jeffrey Gibson, Ai Weiwei, Mona Hatoum and Lucy Jones.
Salisbury Cathedral is home to the best-preserved remaining Magna Carta, on display in the Chapter House. This important historical document speaks of freedom, stating that all people have the right to justice and a fair trial, dissolving the absolute power of the monarchy. Looking through the lens of contemporary art, this exhibition will focus on five facets of freedom: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom of expression, freedom of movement and freedom from fear. A centrepiece of the exhibition is Cornelia Parker’s Magna Carta (An Embroidery), a 13-metre-long embroidery installation depicting the Magna Carta Wikipedia pages, sewn by civil rights campaigners, MPs, lawyers, barons, artists and prison inmates. This huge piece is the perfect complement to the Cathedral’s rare 1215 Magna Carta. Another astonishing work is Yinka Shonibare’s Justice for All. The sculpture was exhibited for the first time in the UK during the summer of 2020, in response to the tragic killing of George Floyd. The towering figure is a reimagining of F.W. Pomeroy’s Lady Justice, a statue which stands above the dome of The Old Bailey.
5) SOUTH WEST SCULPTORS: FORMS TO INSPIRE
UNTIL 24 SEPTEMBER, BISHOP’S PALACE GARDENS, WELLS CATHEDRAL, SOMERSET
South West Sculptors Bea Green, Colin Jacobs, Hamish Holman, Luke Tupper, Lynn Baxter, Martin Staniforth, Nicola Axe, Patrick Barker, Pippa Unwin, Stacey Beaumont and Zoe Singleton are exhibiting sculptures at The Bishop’s Palace, Wells.
For the first time, South West Sculptors is presenting an inspiring sample of its 50+ members’ works in Somerset. Entitled “Forms to Inspire”, the exhibition will show works created by the above sculptors in the prestigious setting of the historic Grade II listed gardens of the Bishop’s Palace, Wells. The works on show utilise a range of materials, from steel to stone, wood to ceramics, in a wide variety of styles. Ambitious works in willow will be accompanied by soundscape and contemporary dance performances to extend the experience for the many thousands of visitors who travel far to enjoy the historic setting.
6) JESSICA COOPER RWA: CAPSULE COLLECTION
UNTIL 30 SEPTEMBER, BRYHER GALLERY, ISLES OF SCILLY
Under new ownership the Bryher Gallery is featuring Cornish artist Jessica Cooper. Like the comic silence that treads a thrilling fine line; the pregnant pause in a bar of music; the short line of poetry that gathers emotion in refrain, Jessica Cooper’s apparent simplicity on canvas is her most courageous and impactful tool.
The temptation might be to call it minimalism, with its implication of stripping away – or simplicity, with its suggestion of naiveté – but more accurately this is mindfulness of art: a honing of awareness; an attentiveness of mind; and an openness to meaning, wherever it might be found.
7) KAFFE FASSETT: TIMELESS THEMES
UNTIL 1 OCTOBER, VICTORIA ART GALLERY, BATH
World-renowned artist, textile designer and author, Kaffe Fassett is back at the Victoria Art Gallery this summer, with his longtime friend and fellow exhibitor, Candace Bahouth.
This vibrant exhibition showcases 23 large new quilts and ties in with Kaffe’s forthcoming book, Timeless Themes. Kaffe has searched through his print archives to demonstrate the different motifs that people love to return to over and over again in patchwork designs: stripes, circles, dots, flowers and foliage.
LAST CHANCE TO SEE
- UNTIL 2 SEPTEMBER: WELLS ART CONTEMPORARY EXHIBITION 2023 12th year of annual exhibition with works in the cathedral grounds and cloisters. WELLS CATHEDRAL, SOMERSET https://www.wellsartcontemporary.co.uk/
- UNTIL 2 SEPTEMBER: ALISON BAXTER: HIDDEN HISTORIES OF WOMEN A growing collection of miniature vessels celebrating Grandmothers and their legacies. ACEARTS, SOMERTON, SOMERSET https://www.acearts.co.uk/2023-2/
- UNTIL 3 SEPTEMBER: TO THE BIRDS / MAN DIGGING Two distinct exhibitions that, side-by-side, explore what it is to make paintings and what it is to make exhibitions. EXETER PHOENIX, EXETER https://exeterphoenix.org.uk/events/to-the-birds-man-digging/
- UNTIL 3 SEPTEMBER: KIRA FREIJE – RIVER BY NIGHT Includes new and recent sculptural work that coalesces figurative, assemblage and functional forms, and combines industrial metalworking and glass-blowing techniques. KESTLE BARTON FARMSTEAD, CORNWALL http://www.kestlebarton.co.uk/arts-and-events/kira-frieje-river-by-night/
WATCH OUT FOR
- PETE HOIDA, NOELA JAMES BEWRY & ALEXANDRA HARVEY: KRAZY KAT IN THE COTSWOLDS: 1-17 SEPTEMBER An exhibition of paintings by Pete Hoida and Noela Bewry and sculptures by Alexandra Harley. ST MARY OF THE ANGELS, BROWNSHILL, GLOS https://sculptors.org.uk/artists/whats-on/2023/09/krazy-kat-cotswolds
- DEVON OPEN STUDIOS 2023: 9-24 SEPTEMBER Annual flagship event of Devon Artist Network. https://devonopenstudios.co.uk/
- THE CAVE ART OF LASCAUX: A VIRTUAL REALITY EXPERIENCE: UNTIL 10 SEPTEMBER The Lascaux Caves themselves have been closed to the public since 1963, but there is a full size replica of the cave complex in France. Now, using the latest technology, you can ‘visit’ the caves on your own doorstep, using immersive 3D technology. BRISTOL MUSEUM & ART GALLERY https://www.bristolmuseums.org.uk/bristol-museum-and-art-gallery/whats-on/the-cave-art-of-lascaux-a-virtual-reality-experience/
- RANA BEGUM: DAPPLED LIGHT: UNTIL 24 SEPTEMBER London-based visual artist whose work explores the relationships between light, colour and form. THE BOX, PLYMOUTH https://www.theboxplymouth.com/events/exhibitions/dappled-light
The Floating Circle 