CBP Newsletter: March 2025

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Welcome to the March 2025 newsletter

CBP Exhibitions

Poster image: Lesley Bunch

Darkness Visible

An exhibition of painting, installation, film and performance that takes the simple idea of light emanating from darkness as a starting point to explore deeper themes of the unseen, the psyche, memory, otherness, loss, love, and the space between us.

Darkness Visible was first proposed by the late artist, lecturer and former Chair of Contemporary British Painting Judith Tucker. Exhibiting artists explore the potential of light and dark in painting, installation and film to examine wider social and philosophical concepts. Curated by Paula MacArthur, Gavin Maughfling and Lesley Bunch.

Artists: Marius von Brasch, Lesley Bunch, Anne-Marie Creamer, Graham Crowley, Rosalind Davis & Justin Hibbs, Sam Douglas, Natalie Dowse, Pippa Gatty, Paula MacArthur, Gavin Maughfling, Donna Mclean, Ruth Murray, Joe Packer, Hideatsu Shiba, Geraldine Swayne, Judith Tucker, Casper White, Joanna Whittle.

APT Gallery, Harold Wharf, 6 Creekside, Deptford, London SE8 4SA
Private view: Thursday 27 March, 6pm - 8pm

 Exhibition dates: 27 March - 13 April 2025
Opening times: Thurs - Sun, 12 noon - 5pm • Admission free

Additional events: 

5 April, 2pm - 4pm: ‘On Shadows’, a public workshop led by Lesley Bunch exploring psychology, myth and aesthetics of shadows. Free entry. Bookings required, tickets available through Eventbrite.  

9 April, 6pm - 8pm: Screening of Ann-Marie Creamer’s film ‘Dear Friend I Can No Longer Hear Your Voice’  .

13 April, 2pm - 4pm: Finissage with performance by movement artist Jamal Sterrett and composer for modular synths Ben Lancaster in response to the installation of Rosalind Davis & Justin Hibbs. No booking required.

Read more

Artist of the month

Barbara Howey

Artist of the Month is an ongoing series where we highlight one of our members. This month we are pleased to introduce artist Barbara Howey selected and interviewed by Paul Newman.

"My current body of work is paintings based on plants. Part of my process is photographing the species of plants seen on my daily walks, not rare but local, some native and some finding a space to grow where seeds have blown them from suburban gardens and wastelands… Painting nature has renewed relevance today in the light of climate change and biodiversity loss. My work references plants but also reimagines them through the process of gestural marks and heightened colour to create a space which slides between representation and abstraction and back again… Whilst the references are strongly related to the observable plant world the work is just as much about self-expression and the nature of painting itself."

Read the interview

Late summer with reed mace, oil on board, 51cm x 41cm, 2024

Solo Exhibitions

Lara Davies: Clearing, oil on canvas, 150cm x120cm, 2024.
Image courtesy of Ollie Hammick and Canopy Collections.

We watched the day grow older

A solo exhibition by Lara Davies.

Canopy Collections, 3 Bloomsbury Place, London WC1A 2QA

Private view: Thursday 6 March, 6pm - 8pm

Exhibition dates: 6 March - 18 April 2025

Opening times: Monday–Friday, 10am – 6pm (or by appointment) • Admission free

Suzanne Holtom: Beacon with Signals, oil and thread on canvas, 220cm x 180cm, 2024.

Photograph by Sam Roberts.

And Hills Bore Scars

In her solo exhibition at New Art Gallery Walsall, Suzanne Holtom explores the landscape tradition in painting, presenting recent work specific to the West Midlands landscapes of her childhood. This mapping of place encompasses geological time, social histories, personal experiences and memory. The Black Country Geo-Sites of Barr Beacon, Streetly and Wren’s Nest, Dudley have been key to the work. The post-industrial landscape continues to transform from one state to another. The scars and wounds of deeply embedded histories of natural extraction and social exploitation are ever present. And yet today, these sites support an abundance of nature. These landscapes suggest the instability of experienced events, an instability which seems to point to the future.

New Art Gallery Walsall, Gallery Square, Walsall WS2 8LG

Private view: 29 March, 2pm - 4pm

Exhibition dates: 29 March - 29 June 2025

Opening times: 10am - 5pm Tuesday to Saturday and 12 - 4pm Sunday • Admission free

Ruth Murray: Debdale, oil on linen, 90 x 140cm, 2024

Byron's Pond

Artist Ruth Murray explores the psychological impact of gardens and how green spaces effect our lives today.

Garden Museum, 5 Lambeth Palace Road, London SE1 7LB

Exhibition dates: 29 January - 27 April 2025

Opening times: Monday – Sunday 10am – 5pm • Admission free

The Garden Museum is accessible to wheelchair users with level access to the museum through the Garden Cafe.

Looking At The Overlooked - Spray paint and oil on concrete, 50cm x 50cm

Beauty All Around Us

Solo exhibition of paintings and lithographs by Mandy Payne exploring the urban environment and everyday scenes.

Stapleford Granary Arts Centre, Bury Road, Stapleford, Cambridge CB22 5BP
Exhibition dates: 7 February - 30 March 2025
Opening times: Mon, Tues, Thur, Fri 8.30am - 4pm, Sat 9.00am - 3pm, Sun 10am - 3pm, Wednesday - CLOSED • Admission free

Kirsty Harris: Nevada, oil on cradled board, 30cm x 40cm, 2025

There will come soft rains

In her solo exhibition 'There will come soft rains' with Charlie Smith London, Kirsty Harris presents her most recent oil paintings working with imagery that details movement, attempting to capture the blinding light and the gritty dust clouds of atomic detonations.

Charlie Smith London at Gramercy Park Studios, 25 Great Pulteney Street, Soho, London W1F 9LT
Exhibition dates: 14 February - 14 March 2025
Opening times: Monday - Friday 10am - 5pm • Admission free

Katya Robin: Two Potatoes, watercolour and ink on paper, 20cm x 15cm, 1990

Cupboard Love

Cupboard Love is an installation of mixed-media drawings by Katya Robin, set within the communal breakout and kitchenette area at Bloc Studios. This micro exhibition is curated by Katya Robin with Sean Williams.

Bloc Studios, 51 Eyre Lane, Sheffield S1 4RE

Exhibition dates: 14 February - 15 March 2025

Opening times: Please contact Sean Williams to arrange a viewing - [email protected]

Admission free

Group Exhibitions

Simon Carter: Two Channels, acrylic on canvas, 70cm x 80cm, 2022.
Photo Noah Carter, design Gallery East, Suffolk.

From East to West

From East to West showcases landscape painting from East Anglia and Cornwall. These are paintings which emerge from careful observation but then play out on the canvas with new perspectives challenging us to think again.

Artists: Simon Carter, John Piper, Michael Praed, Alexandra Oliver and Ian Sedge.

Gallery East, 24 Church Street, Woodbridge IP12 1DH

Exhibition dates: 21 February - 22 March 2025

Opening times: Wed - Sat 11am - 4pm • Admission free

Phil Illingworth: Gnossienne (detail)

Clinging On

Instability is growing across the world, as we cling to liberal norms, ideas and values. This is explored by 21 artists in a show titled Clinging On. These are physical, material or conceptual investigations of precariousness and the accompanying need to hold on.

Artists: Hermione Allsopp, Isobel Atacus, Helen Barff, Eleanor Bedlow, Pallas Citroen, Andrew Ekins, Julie F Hill, Nicky Hirst, Phil Illingworth, Lee Johnson, David Kefford, AC Larsen, Jane Millar, Kim L Pace, Sarah Pager, Catriona Robertson, Michael Samuels, Alexandra Searle, Sara Trillo, Erika Trotzig, Poppy Whatmore.

Curated by Hermione Allsopp, Erika Trotzig and Poppy Whatmore.

Glassyard Studios, 276 Oak Square, London SW9 9AW

Private view: Wednesday 6 March, 6pm - 8.30pm

Exhibition dates: 6 - 30 March 2025

Artist’s Talk, chaired by Paul Carey-Kent: Saturday March 22 at 4pm with tea and cake.

Opening times: Open by appointment. Please message [email protected] or @twoplustwo202 • Admission free

Plant Power

Plant Power is all about how plant lives and ours interconnect. Artists who are concerned about plants in a time of climate change are finding ways to give us new intense images. The exhibition began as a joint curatorial project between Veronica Sekules, Barbara Howey and the late Judith Tucker. It has become more and more urgent for humans to re-consider Plant-Power. There has never been such loss of biodiversity as we are experiencing today. Largely owing to human exploitation, greed and carelessness, we are losing plant species every day. The artists showing draw on a range of media from painting, sculpture, video and installation.

Artists: Anna Dumitriu, Anne Geene, Deborah Gardner, Barbara Howey, Caroline Hyde-Brown, Raji Salan, Aurora Sciabarra, Aindreas Scholz, Harriet Tarlo, Julie Tocqueville, Judith Tucker.

Groundwork Gallery, 17 Purfleet Street, King's Lynn, PE30 1ER

Private view: Thursday 6 March, 5.30pm - 8.30pm

Exhibition dates: 6 March - 14 June 2025

Opening times: Wed - Sat 11am - 4pm • Admission free

Bryan Eccleshall: Three Towers, oil on canvas, 140cm x 100cm, 2024

Jammyboree

‘Jammyboree’ is an outright celebration of contemporary Painting and Sculpture. “I am keen to show the great breadth of contemporary art-making, particularly within the city of Sheffield. It’s a thriving scene at the moment and the more opportunities to demonstrate it the better”, says curator Sean Williams.

It features work by 30 artists: Richard Bartle, Stu Burke, Stephen Carley, Andy Cropper, Bryan Eccleshall, Paul Evans, Ranaa Farooq, Loukas Georgiou, Peter Griffiths, Thomas Griffiths, Ruth Heaton, Kate Jacob, Richard Johnson, David Jones, Rita Kaisen, Jack Kettlewell, Simon Le Ruez, Lianne Mellor, Janie Moore, Mikk Murray, David Orme, Trish O’Shea, Conor Rogers, Jenny Sutton, Stephen Todd, Kate Whateley, Joanna Whittle, Myfanwy Williams, Sean Williams, Lynne Wixon. It is curated by Kate Jacob and Sean Williams.

Bloc Projects Gallery, 71 Eyre Lane, Sheffield S1 4RE

Private view: 6 March, 5pm - 7pm

Exhibition dates: 6 - 15 March 2025 (closed Sunday 9 & Monday 10 March)

Opening times: 12 noon - 4pm • Admission free

Please contact Sean Williams @swseanwilliams for more info.

Ruth Calland: Catwalk with cows (#neilranault), oil on paper on board, 76cm x 61cm, 2024.

Photo David Harrison.

This Year's Model part III

Studio1.1 Annual Members' Show 'This Year's Model' part III.

Artists: Jonny McPhee, Peter Sylveire, Caroline Thomson, Bol Marjoram, Ure Kreyman, Kate Jacob, Sharon Swaine, Giuseppe Marasco, Gasper Jemec, Eugenia Cuellar, Julia Keenan, Zoe Crosse, Tamsin Morse, Sarah Knill-Jones, Geoff Titley, Guy Allott, Emily Glass, Mark Bell,

Ruth Calland, Matthew Swift, Peter Roseman

Studio1.1, 57a Redchurch St, London E2 7DJ

Private view: Thursday 6 March, 6pm - 9pm

Exhibition dates: 6 - 30 March 2025 • Admission free

HACK 8558

Part of Soho Connections: Artist Takeover at Shaftesbury Avenue.

Bow Arts presents a takeover of Shaftesbury’s ex-office buildings led by the Soho Connections artists in residence. Taking place over the weekend of 7 - 9 March, Soho Connections will include exhibitions, performances, workshops, talks and more.

Featured exhibitions include HACK 8558, which continues until 16th March, and includes CBP member Joanna Whittle. Showing on the 8th floor of this former Meta building, HACK 8558 takes its name from the corner office dedicated to astrophysicist Margherita Hack and the asteroid to which she gave her name. An asteroid may have been responsible for bringing life to our dysfunctional planet, and so, as the Bow Arts studio use comes to a close at this central London location, a splatter of creative intent will mass for ten days.

8th Floor, 125 Shaftesbury Avenue, London WC2H 8AD

Private view: 7 March, 6pm - 8 pm

Exhibition dates: 7 – 9 March & 15 - 16 March 2025

Opening times: Thurs - Sun 12noon - 5pm • Admission free

Poster image - Enzo Marra: Claw, Hammerite and nail varnish on wood, 24cm x 24cm, 2024

Cat Show

Curated by Enzo Marra

The demeanour, attitude, role and presence of the cat has been captured by artists as long as cats have been in our lives. Their love and their vengeance, their unwillingness to give up on their wild ways, the mayhem and calm they can be responsible for. Their unwillingness to constant easy fit, imbuing them with a character and personality that demands to be recorded. Their facets stilled and hung on gallery walls, carved, cast, constructed and set on gallery floors and pedestals, distributed on printed page, remaining reminding in artists and observer’s magpie minds.

Artists: Rosalind Faram, Lee Grandjean, David Harrison, Paul Housley, Lee Johnson, Peter Jones, Zebedee Jones, Enzo Marra, Vanessa Mitter, Grant Watson, Alison Wilding, Charles Williams.

Thames-Side Studios Gallery, Thames- Side Studios, Warspite Road, London SE18 5NR

Private view: Friday 14 March, 6pm - 9pm

Exhibition dates: 15 March - 30 March 2025

Opening times: Thursday-Sunday 12-5pm • Admission free

Julian Perry: House at Easton Bavents, oil on panel, 20cm x 20cm

A World of Water

'A World of Water' is one of three shows forming the 2025 exhibition programme 'Can The Seas Survive Us' at the Sainsbury Centre UEA Norwich.

Featuring contemporary art, historical paintings, ancient atlases and maps from across the globe, the season explores humanity’s enduring and complex relationship with the sea. Three concurrent exhibitions explore, the choices shaping our future due to climate change, while emphasising the vital importance of the oceans and the life beneath the waves for the viability of our shared future.

A World of Water delves into humanity's profound and intricate connection with the sea, raising pivotal questions about the world’s governments’ responses to climate change, coastal erosion, and environmental degradation.

Featuring artworks by Maggi Hambling, Julian Perry, Eva Rothschild RA, Julian Charrière, John Crome, Ólafur Elíasson, Josh Kline, George Vincent, Hendricus Theodorus Wijdeveld, and more!

Sainsbury Centre, University of East Anglia, Norfolk Road, Norwich NR4 7TJ

Exhibition dates: 15 March - 3 August 2025

Opening times: 9am - 6pm • Admission: Pay if and what you can basis.

Nancy Collantine: The Congruence of Painting, oil on canvas, 26cm x 36cm, 2025

Just Supposing

This micro exhibition in the Prosaic Projects Gallery within Bloc Studios features paintings by Nancy Collantine, Anita Lloyd and Robert Partridge. Each piece was on display in the recent ‘A Bell is a Cup’ exhibition at Bloc Projects. “Although each piece is stunning in its own way, the paintings are very different and do not appear to have an obvious connection”, says curator Sean Williams. “Sometimes these micro shows are themed, others are more playful and I am keen to experiment to see how the more intimate context of a micro show changes the relationship between the works, reflecting the suppositions inherent in the individual works”.

The show is curated by Sean Williams.

Bloc Studios, 198 Arundel Street, Sheffield S1 4RE

Exhibition dates: 17 March - 18 April 2025

Opening times: Please contact Sean Williams @swseanwilliams for further information

Atemkristall (Breathcrystal) Exhibition & Symposium

EXHIBITION:

In 2020, the Beyond Other Horizons exhibition at the Palace of Culture, Iasi, Romania, showcased 84 artists from Romania and the UK, responding to Paul Celan’s poetry, to celebrate 100 years since his birth. Curated by Peter Harrap, Anna McNay and Florin Ungureanu, in partnership with the Iasi Palace of Culture, Iasi ‘George Enescu’ National University of the Arts, and UCL SSEES, it focused on the themes of Walking, Language and Otherness.

Works on paper exploring Walking, Language and Otherness remain the touchstone of our Atemkristall exhibition, but with the added interplay of visual equivalence, as originally conceived by Celan and Lestrange in their exhibition of the same name.

The exhibition includes over 80 artists from the UK ad Romania. CBP members include: Artists: Day Bowman, Simon Carter, Susie Hamilton, Marguerite Horner, Mandy Payne, Narbi Price, Sean Williams, Barbara Howey, Enzo Marra, Marius von Brasch, Julian Brown, Ruth Philo, Freya Purdue and Judith Tucker.

Blyth Gallery, Imperial College London, Level 5, Sherfield Building, London SW7 2AZ

Private view: 20 March, 6.30pm - 8.30pm

Exhibition dates: 19 March - 1 May 2025

SYMPOSIUM & CONCERT:

The symposium is supported by the Warburg Institute, UCL London, and National University of the Arts ‘George Enescu’ Iasi, Romania. Following a welcome by by Aura Woodward, Head of ICR London, and Gabriela Mocan, Head of Visual Arts and Poetry, ICR London, there will be five short lectures, a Q&A session and a panel discussion on the intersection of poetry and art in the work of Celan and Lestrange, and in the work of contemporary artists. Speakers include Peter Harrap, Anna McNay, Harriet Tarlo, Cristian Ungureanu, Ana Maria Negara, Marius von Brasch, Susie Hamilton, Alex McIntyre, Barbara Howey and more tbc.

Romanian Cultural Institute, 1 Belgrave Square, London SW1X 8PH
Symposium: Thursday 20 March, 1pm - 3.30pm
Coffee/networking: 3.30pm - 4pm
Concert: Romanian Cultural Institute, 4pm - 5pm

Please book for the Symposium & Concert on Eventbrite.

Linda Ingham: ASH (leaf, fragmented, May-June 2020), watercolour, gouache, silverpoint and conte, 77cm x 102cm

Legacy - University of Lincoln MA Fine Art Allumni

'Legacy' exhibition marking the final year of the MA Fine Art in its current form, celebrating graduate artists, their talent and contributions over the years whilst looking forward to the new MA Creative Arts course.

Curated by MA Fine Art Alumni Gavin Brown and Madara Vimba in collaboration with the current cohort, this exhibition will celebrate the legacy of the MA Fine Art course, marking the end of an era. It will showcase the work of artists who have completed the course, including those still living and working in Lincoln as well as those working further afield. The exhibition includes CBP member Linda Ingham who graduated from the MA Fine Art course in 2007.

Project Space Plus, University of Lincoln LN6 7TS

Private view date: Tuesday 25 March, 5pm

Exhibition dates: 26 - 28 March 2025

Opening times: 10am - 4pm • Admission free

Day Bowman: Vertical Landscape 7, oil, charcoal and conte on canvas, 30cm x 25cm

This Year's Model PT II

Studio 1.1 will be staging Part II of their annual This Year's Model group exhibition in the gallery in Redchurch Street, Shoreditch. Includes work by CBP member Day Bowman.

Studio 1.1, 57a Redchurch Street, Shoreditch, London E2 7DJ

Private view: Thursday 6 February, 6pm - 8pm

Exhibition dates: 6 February - 2 March 2025

Opening times: Thursday - Sunday 12 noon - 5pm or by appointment • Admission free

Enzo Marra: Deep kiss, tempera on hardback book cover, 13cm x 19cm, 2025

I F H E A V E N F A L L S

The Lido Stores present the fourth annual Alternative Valentines exhibition, ‘If Heaven Falls’.

More than 700 submissions were received, from which gallery owner-curator Kristen Healy selected 115 artworks that contemplate the themes of love, lust and romance in all their complexity. Includes work by CBP member Enzo Marra.

The Lido Stores, 2 Ethelbert Terrace, Margate CT9 1RX

Exhibition dates: 8 February - 8 March 2025

Opening times: Wednesday - Saturday 11am - 4pm; Sunday - Tuesday Closed • Admission free

Barbara Howey: Marsh - Late September, oil on board, 51cm x 41cm, 2024

Wales Contemporary / Cymru Gyfoes

Now in its fifth year, Wales Contemporary / Cymru Gyfoes is an international open competition developed by the Waterfront Gallery with support from the Welsh Government.

Wales Contemporary will be on show at The Garrison Chapel, Chelsea Barracks in February 2025 followed by a touring show at Waterfront Gallery, Milford Haven in March 2025. Includes work by CBP member Barbara Howey.

The Garrison Chapel, Chelsea Barracks, London SW1W 8DS

Exhibition dates: 25 February - 17 April 2025

Prize giving event: Saturday 1 March, 2pm - 5pm

Natalie Dowse: Colours Fly Away (The Teardrop Explodes), oil on panel, 18cm x 18cm, 2024

Beep Painting Biennial 2024: I won’t stay in a world without love

The Beep Painting Prize 2024 exhibition features over 440 artists from around the world.

The exhibition includes CBP artists: Day Bowman, Ruth Calland, Gordon Dalton, Natalie Dowse, Abigail Hampsey, Paula MacArthur, Enzo Marra, Gavin Maughfling, Donna McLean, Stephen Palmer, Sean Williams.

Aberystwyth School of Art, Aberystwyth University, Buarth Mawr, Aberystwyth SY23 1NG
Exhibition dates: 13 January - 4 April 2025
Opening times: Monday - Friday 10am - 5pm • Admission free

Susie Hamilton: Seated Figure (Mile End)

Paper

RWA Biennial Exhibition selected from open submission, all about paper. Included work by CBP member Susie Hamilton.

Royal West of England Academy, Queen’s Road, Bristol

Exhibition dates: 25 January - 27 April 2025

Opening times: Tuesday- Sun, 10am - 5pm • Admission free

Day Bowman: Footprint Series, 20cm x 20 cm, 2019

Drawing on Dorset

SHERBORNE HOUSE in Sherborne, Dorset has recently undergone a massive refurbishment and opened its doors as a cultural hub for Dorset and environs.

Paul Newman, director of Dorset Visual Arts, has curated this exhibition DRAWING ON DORSET that examines both drawing and the Dorset countryside as a place of inspiration for artists to investigate and respond to. Includes CBP artist Day Bowman.

The Sherborne, Newland, Sherborne DT9 3JG

Exhibition dates: 24 November 2024 - 24 March 2025

Opening times: 10 am - 5 pm daily • Admission free

International Exhibitions

Enzo Marra: Peaks, tempera glue paper, 21cm x 14.8cm, 2025

DRAWING BOX in Jelgava

Capturing nature: curious links between flora, fauna, humans, history, medicine, technology, life and art. Past, present and future. Includes work by CBP member Enzo Marra.

Culture Centre of Jelgava, Krišjāņa Barona iela 6, Jelgava, Latvia LV-3001
Exhibition dates: 27 February - 2 April 2025

Publications

Cover image: Daniel H Bell

The Contemporary British Painting Prize 2024 second edition catalogue features the work of the 17 finalists and includes an introduction by Molly Thompson, an essay by Louisa Buck on this year’s prizewinner, Daniel H Bell, and texts on the Blyth Gallery Exhibition Award and the Judith Tucker Memorial Prize.

We have a limited number of copies available to order at £12 per copy plus £3.50 P&P (UK only).

Designed by: idprojects.org

£12 + £3.50 P&P (UK only)

BUY NOW

Online curation from the Priseman Seabrook Collections

A selection of 21st Century British Painting: Drawn from the Priseman Seabrook Collections. Curated by Robert Priseman for Art UK, and featuring many artists from CBP.

21st Century British Abstract Painting

21st Century British Photorealism

21st Century Women: Female Portraits

Artist to Artist

Robert Priseman Interviews Susan Gunn.

An ongoing series of Artist to Artist Interviews with the Co-Founder of Contemporary British painting, Robert Priseman.

Read the interview

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