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 – including a look ahead to upcoming features….
AT THE RWA
These Mad Hybrids: John Hoyland and Contemporary Sculpture
3 February – 12 May 2024
The exhibition positions a group of ceramic sculptures made by abstract painter John Hoyland RA in dialogue with a spectacular, international, assembly of contemporary sculpture by artists including Phyllida Barlow and Hew Locke. A display of paintings by Hoyland shows the dynamic connection between his sculptures and paintings.
Curated by sculptor Olivia Bax in collaboration with Sam Cornish and Wiz Patterson Kelly of The John Hoyland Estate, the exhibition is inspired by a group of unique ceramic sculptures by Hoyland, which he affectionately called his “mad little hybrids.” This is the first public display of the ceramics since 1994, and their first presentation alongside Hoyland’s abstract paintings from the 1960s to 2010s.
Gentle Geometry
3 February – 24 March 2024 – Kenny Gallery
Curated by Sandra Porter RWA, Gentle Geometry brings together the works of four artists who delve into the possibilities of making meaning through geometric shapes and forms in various artistic mediums, including painting, sculpture, and printmaking.
Geometric shapes were central to the ideas and representations of the late Denny Long RWA. Recent works on paper by sculptor Tim Harrisson RWA suggest an evolving structure of landscape. Carol Robertson RWA has consistently embraced the circle as a central motif throughout her career. Additionally, Sandra Porter RWA’s ‘Stations’ series reinterprets the Stations of the Cross through the lens of abstraction. More info here.
CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
Compiled by Sue Quirk and Laurel Smart
1) JULIAN SCOTT: IN THE ABSTRACT
2 –3 MARCH, 4-17 MARCH BY APPOINTMENT, HOURS SPACE, BRISTOL
Exhibition of new paintings by Julian M C Scott. Julian tends to work on several paintings at once. They are abstract, and they evolve through a process that is focussed on the materiality of paint, colour, and the physicality of gesture. The process invokes remembered and imagined experiences of our shared lived spatiality of landscape, time, and place. Propositions and juxtapositions are made that are intended to be in some way ambiguous, unexpected, or strange. Julian wants to be surprised by the work as it emerges and to embrace the awkward and the slightly ‘off’. This process is both cognitive and intuitive and is based on the idea of painting as a kind of pure research into ideas, thoughts, and memories as well as the act of painting itself.
Launch Event Friday 1 March 6-8pm. Exhibition 2-3 March 11am – 4pm
2) LISA PARKYN: RESONANCE
2-17 MARCH, SOU’-SOU’-WEST GALLERY, BRIDPORT, DORSET
Lisa Parkyn is a contemporary abstract artist originally from arid Botswana, in contrast she now works from her home studio in East Devon surrounded by lush countryside and nearby Jurassic coastline. She has always had a deep affinity with nature which serves as a wellspring of inspiration throughout the seasons. Her work includes references of landscape, flowers and figures and is linked to intuitive drawing, mark-making, layering as well as expressive and gestural brushstrokes. She utilises her sensory and emotional response to subject matter. She primarily creates with acrylics, pastels, charcoal, and collage on canvas, paper, or wood. Her latest work is looser, vibrant and more expressive, fuelled by Lisa’s passion for exploration and play.
3) CASTING SHADOWS: SELECTED SCULPTORS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF SCULPTORS
2 MARCH – 6 APRIL, ACEARTS, SOMERTON, SOMERSET
Sculptors include: Barbara Beyer, Rosalyn Burgin, Fiona Campbell, Martin Cody, Dallas Collins, Alice Cunningham, Deborah Duffin, Chris Dunseath, Jane Fox, Alice Freeman, Anna Gillespie, William Lasdun, Nina Gronw-Lewis, Wen-Hsi Harman, Jane Jobling, Paul Juillerat, Robert Marshall, Seamus Moran, Susie Olczak, Kate Parsons, Mark Richards, Alice Sheppard Fidler, Christopher Summerfield, Jo Taylor, Nicola Turner, Patricia Volk, Tom Waugh, & Hamish Young.
This exhibition celebrates contemporary sculptural practice and its many forms. Sculpture is arguably the most diverse of artistic mediums allowing unrivalled freedom in materials, process, form and scale. Crossing boundaries between architecture, design, manufacturing and craft, sculpture is a constantly evolving art form that pervades our lives like no other.
4) WOMEN BY WOMEN: GROUP EXHIBITION
7-12 MARCH, THAT ART GALLERY, BRISTOL
That Art Gallery welcomes the first guest curator of 2024 Sanni Pyhänniska. “Women by Women’ is an exhibition bringing together nine UK-based female artists making work on women: sharing the experiences of both being woman and being surrounded by the women in our lives. Taking place on the week of International Women’s Day, this collection of work celebrates identity, community, sisterhood, body and motherhood – stories of women.”
This exhibition showcases work made by artists: Katherine Allen, Fra Beecher, Caitlin Booton, Sonja Burnie, Alice Farrington, Jazz Potter, Sanni Pyhänniska, Ellie Shipman and Tansy Tester.
20% of proceeds go to UN Women UK Gaza Emergency Appeal.
Opening Preview: 6-9pm Thurs 7th March
5) FRESH: GROUP SHOW
UNTIL 18 MARCH, HEART OF THE TRIBE, GLASTONBURY
Every year the Heart of the Tribe Winter Open Exhibition introduces some incredible new artists. This year it was decided to hold an exhibition celebrating these discoveries.
The FRESH faces are Delphine Barney, Graham Hawkins / Steel Quirks & Michelle Dash.
Delphine Barney: A Glastonbury based landscape painter with a saturated palette, expressive brush strokes and a love for trees.
Graham Hawkins aka Steel Quirks: Hand-crafted in steel with a quirky twist in construction, form or theme, Graham’s work is playful with a hard edge.
Michelle Dash: Michelle makes two and three dimensional work in a variety of media, which has a strong figurative and narrative element, often evoking mystery, the uncanny and dark humour.
6) ANDREW HARDWICK: WOUNDED LAND
UNTIL 23 MARCH, BRIDPORT ARTS CENTRE, BRIDPORT, DORSET
Andrew paints places that are lost or go unnoticed, the unspectacular and ordinary, often wastelands which are about to be built over. These Edgeland landscapes are filled with forgotten ruins, remote moorland reservoirs, even the occasional Amazon Warehouse. Sunsets, rain and storms also feature heavily in his work. He uses a variety of found materials: soils on board, plastics, canvas, roofing materials, and of course, paint, often decorator’s gloss. Following the romantic painting tradition, these textured “constructions” can be big, sometimes over four metres long. Andrew paints places he knows well, especially those near his studio by the Royal Portbury Docks, Bristol, a transient landscape which is gradually being transformed into a modern dock and warehouse area by development. The work challenges our complicated relationship with the land.
7) ONE YEAR! PHOTOS FROM THE MINERS STRIKE
UNTIL 31 MARCH, MARTIN PARR FOUNDATION, BRISTOL
To coincide with the 40th anniversary of the miners’ strike this exhibition looks at the vital role photographs played during the year-long struggle against pit closures, including many materials drawn from the Martin Parr Foundation collection. The miners’ strike was one of Britain’s longest and most bitter disputes, the repercussions of which continue to be felt throughout the country today. Ephemera relating to the strike – including posters, vinyl records, plates, badges and publications – will be placed in dialogue with work by photographers who documented the events in 1984-85. Collectively, the materials demonstrate the power and the contradictions inherent in using photography as a tool of resistance. The exhibition will include photographs by Brenda Prince, John Sturrock, John Harris, Jenny Matthews, Roger Tiley, Imogen Young and Chris Killip, as well as photo albums compiled by Philip Winnard who was himself a striking miner. These works will be displayed alongside archival press prints also from the Martin Parr Foundation collection and vernacular images taken by Swansea police on a trip to a picket line in Derbyshire, on loan from the National Museum Wales.
LAST CHANCE TO SEE
- UNTIL 2 MARCH: DAVID MOORE: THE ARTIST AND STUDIO A solo show of paintings from artist who works from his studio in St Ives. PENWITH GALLERY, ST IVES, CORNWALL https://penwithgallery.com/exhibition/david-moore-2024/
- UNTIL 3 MARCH: LANDSCAPES OF PROGRESS?: A GROUP EXHIBITION Featuring work by six artists all of whom make work exploring views of the world around us, history, change and the environment. HESTERCOMBE GALLERY, CHEDDON FITZPAINE, SOMERSET https://www.hestercombe.com/whats-on/landscapes-of-progress
- UNTIL 3 MARCH: RUPERT JOHNSTONE: WATER VESSELS – SAMPLING THE TORRIDGE Environmental commission telling a story about the geology, environment and ecology of River Torridge through a collection of ceramic vessels made and glazed from materials found in the water or by its banks. BURTON AT BIDEFORD, DEVON https://www.burtonartgallery.co.uk/whats-on-at-the-burton/exhibitions-activities/
WATCH OUT FOR
- NEURODIVERGENT RHAPSODY: GROUP SHOW 8-13 MARCH An eclectic collection of work by neurodivergent artists from Bristol and beyond. CENTRESPACE, BRISTOL https://www.centrespace.org.uk/whats-on
- ALLUVIAL: TERRA MATER ART GROUP SHOW: 9-23 MARCH An exhibition of new works inspired by the life of a river. Terra Mater Art is a group of women artists and makers who are concerned about our environment. TREMENHEERE SCULPTURE GARDENS, NR PENZANCE, CORNWALL https://www.tremenheere.co.uk/exhibition/terra-mater-art-presents-alluvial/
The Floating Circle 
bring back figurative art!
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