The best art exhibitions coming up in Bristol and the west country – 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
Dance Out
09 May – 09 August 2026
Dance Out is an exhibition of paintings, drawings and film that celebrates dance as an everyday human activity, both solitary and social. The RWA itself will shape-shift during the exhibition, with the main daylit galleries hosting a series of dance and dance-related events.
Curated by David Remfry RA and art historian James Russell, ‘Dance Out’ brings together paintings, drawings and film across decades of dance culture – from 20th century London and New York to Bristol’s contemporary nightlife.
Friends of the RWA Exhibition
until 17 May 2026, Lower Ground Floor
The Friends’ Exhibition returns to the RWA, showcasing the very best of their art; including painting, printmaking and three-dimensional works.
CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
Compiled by Sue Quirk and Laurel Smart
1) CATHERINE ADE: PRINTMAKING: LITHOGRAPHY
UNTIL 9 MAY, MAKE SOUTHWEST, RIVERSIDE MILL, BOVEY TRACEY, DEVON
‘A place to be in our minds together’ is a collection of lithographs which record flashes of memories, personal connection to place, and the transformative cycles of nature which continually shift from one state into another.These works reflect on a quote from James Baldwin in correspondence with Sol Stein ‘The place in which I’ll fit will not exist until I make it’. This quote speaks powerfully about making a space for yourself and Catherine has interpreted this as doing that very gently, through the building of relationships and tending to them.
Catherine’s practice explores the dualities of identity, thresholds and the nature of memory. The essence of private interior spaces witness these narratives of human relationships, and the passing of time. Using transparent colours and the sensitive qualities of lithographic drawing materials, she build up tones and marks to act as a visual metaphor for memory. The process of stone lithography is slow and labour intensive, which allows for an extended time to dwell on a moment passed. The use of water tusche washes occurs as both material and metaphor; rain, bodies of water and vessels expand the notion of fluidity of memories and cycles of nature.
2) PEOPLE WATCHING: GROUP SHOW
UNTIL 10 MAY, DORSET MUSEUM & ART GALLERY, DORCHESTER
Over a hundred years of British portraiture with The Ingram Collection and Dorset Museum & Art Gallery. Exploring the concept of image and portraiture in British art, ‘People Watching’ will feature approximately 50 works of sculpture, paintings, drawings, and photography from 1915 to the present day. These internationally significant works of art from The Ingram Collection of Modern British Art will be showcased alongside our own collection, some of which have never been publicly displayed before. Represented artists include Dame Elisabeth Frink, Robert Duckworth Greenham, Dame Barbara Hepworth, Anita Klein, Kofi Perry, Dod Procter, David Remfry, and Bridget Riley. The exhibition will explore how artists continued to develop portraiture into the 20th and 21st centuries, and how the idea of what a portrait can be has changed. It will examine self-portraits, portraits of people at work or leisure, how artists have captured their family members, and how they have utilised portraiture in fantastical and imaginative creations. Whether quiet and reflective or playful and provocative, each
3) POSTER POWER! FEAT. CLIFFORD & ROSEMARY ELLIS
UNTIL 10 MAY, VICTORIA ART GALLERY, BATH
This colourful exhibition showcases an exceptional range of British posters from the 19th and 20th centuries, drawn from the collections of the Victoria Art Gallery and Bath Record Office. Reflecting the spirit of the times, the wide-ranging display encompasses theatre, events and entertainment, travel and transport, political campaigns and even World War One recruiting.
Many of the posters have links to the Bath area, advertising events such as Theatre Royal shows, the Bath & West Show, community events on Walcot Street, and Bath Festivals through the ages. There’s also a stunning array of vintage railway posters designed to entice tourists to Bath with images of Georgian architecture and The Roman Baths. The display includes a selection of posters by Bath-based artists Clifford and Rosemary Ellis, who worked as partners designing iconic posters for London Transport and Shell during the 1930s.
4) CORNELIA PARKER & HISTORIC GLASS: HANDLE WITH CARE
UNTIL 10 MAY, No 1 ROYAL CRESCENT, BATH
Light, shadow, transformation. Cornelia Parker brings historic objects into the present. An exhibition that looks through the eyes of one of Britain’s most acclaimed contemporary artists, Cornelia Parker, at the historic glass and found objects that inspire her work and artistic process.
5) MARTIN PARR: THE LAST RESORT 40 YEARS ONS OF MYSELF
UNTIL 24 MAY, MARTIN PARR FOUNDATION, PAINTWORKS, BRISTOL
‘The pictures from The Last Resort still hold very well. When I get to the Pearly Gates, those are the ones I’d probably get out first!’ – Martin Parr
To honour Martin Parr following his death on 6 December, the MPF gallery has opened in 2026 with an exhibition of Martin’s iconic series, The Last Resort. Shot around the English seaside town of New Brighton between 1983 and 1985, The Last Resort was one of the pioneering bodies of work driving British colour documentary photography and established Martin as one of Britain’s most influential photographers.
The Last Resort exhibition includes the full set of photographs from the original photobook, first published in 1986 by Martin under Promenade Press; this new show coincides with the 40th anniversary of both the publication and the landmark exhibition at Serpentine gallery, London. Exhibition prints are on display alongside ephemera, including contact sheets, materials that influenced Martin at the time of making the work, and the original Plaubel Makina 67 camera Martin used, as well as a selection of photographs not included in the original book.
6) ONYA MCCAUSLAND: TAILINGS
UNTIL 30 MAY, CLOSE LTD, HATCH BEAUCHAMP, SOMERSET
Known for her pioneering practice that reconfigures industrial waste residues as rich, site-specific colour, McCausland will unveil new work developed from pigments sourced from the post-industrial landscape.
This exhibition continues Close Gallery’s longstanding commitment to supporting art that confronts climate concerns and examines our evolving relationship with the natural world. McCausland’s work, grounded in ecological research and environmental regeneration, demonstrates how contemporary painting can engage audiences with urgent questions of sustainability, material legacy, and landscape transformation.
At first glance the works appear restrained, luminous, almost meditative. Broad fields of colour feel elemental and patiently composed. Their surfaces are breathable rather than dense powdery, matte, softly striated evoking weathered walls, geological layers, or distant horizons dissolving into the atmosphere. Her palette is deceptively gentle: muted ochres, rust reds, bruised yellows, smoky umbers. These tones recall ancient frescoes and early earth painting traditions, grounding the work in something almost timeless. There is a strong sense of restraint: no gestural excess, only careful accumulation and close attention to the behaviour of materials.
The Floating Circle 