CBP Newsletter: June 2025

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Welcome to the June 2025 newsletter

Artist of the month

Long Division, oil on panel, 18 x 13cm, 2024

Lisa Ivory

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

Lisa Ivory’s landscapes are commonly occupied by a Wildman, who occasionally interacts with a female human figure. There is a Rake’s Progress of sorts, with a skeletal Death figure interrupting the discourse between these characters. The Beast attempts sympathetic magic by scrawling images into the landscape. These exchanges occur in a shadowland - a liminal space of a half-forgotten place that exists simultaneously as rural, urban and wasteland populated with anomalies, chimeras and spectres.

Ivory’s landscapes are archaic in tone and her archetypal subjects present a paradoxical discourse including the feral and tamed; the worshipped and abandoned; the empowered and the subjugated.

Read the interview

Parasol, oil on panel, 15 x 31cm, 2025

Solo Exhibitions

Ruth Calland: Look After Your Trans Friends at the Beach (detail), oil on paper on board, 76cm x 61 cm, 2024. Photo: David Harrison.

This Is All the Treasure We Can Have or Hold

The exhibition explores contemporary themes around self-transformation. Ruth Calland celebrates the lives of trans and nonbinary people who they admire, in the ‘Pin-Ups’ series of vibrant oil paintings, with natural settings that emphasise the importance of embracing our true nature. They have also created two new short films that explore the alchemy of gender and its fluctuations.

Other paintings explore the transgressive as expressed in early vampire films, depicting those in the process of transforming, in various states of rapture and/or anxiety. This exhibition invites us to consider the creative power of human possibility beyond binaries.

"Calland views their own exploration of what they call gender expansiveness as inherently ecological. Their work contributes to the posthuman ecological project of de-anthropocentring and re-ecologising our culture; of understanding ourselves as part of an ecosystem again, at a time of rapid biodiversity loss and climate change caused by human actions. Calland identifies and represents an apparently emerging, global transecological imaginary". (Stephanie Moran, 2025)

20-21 Visual Arts Centre, Church Square, Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire DN15 6TA

Private view: 28 June, 1pm - 3pm

Exhibition dates: 28 June - 20 September 2025

Opening times: Tuesday to Saturday 10am – 4pm • Admission free

Further notes:
Publication Launch Saturday 23 August 2025, 12 - 2pm
Coinciding with Scunthorpe Pride, Ruth Calland will be at the gallery between midday and 2pm launching a new publication accompanying This Is All the Treasure We Can Have or Hold. Refreshments and light snacks will be served. Free Entry. Everyone welcome.

The exhibition will tour to Hastings Museum and Art Gallery in 2026.

Two Person Exhibitions

Sarah Grant: My lovely horse, oil on board, 2025

Small Horse

Ruth Murray and Sarah Grant are excited to announce 'Small Horse', their first 2 person show at The Birley Studios, Preston, supported by Arts Council England.

'Small Horse' is all things nostalgic and animal. The exhibition embraces the friction in contemporary painting between irony and sincerity, delighting in its subjects with a sense of mischievous affection. Leonardo da Vinci is said to have remarked that “the smallest feline is a masterpiece.” We agree! In a time of global collapse, the steadfast love of our pets remains one of the few constants. With that in mind, we wholeheartedly embrace the culture of the ‘cat meme,’ reclaiming the oft-dismissed ‘pet portrait’ trope and bending it to our own ends- not in pursuit of a dispassionate truth about domestic life, but as a means of interrogating form and reimagining these images as tokens of idealised memory.

In pairing our works, we draw attention to our shared themes- kitsch, domesticity, and the particular view of female experience- and to a mutual aesthetic: a painterly sensitivity to surface, and a curiosity about the components of form.

The Birley, Market Offices, Birley St, Preston PR1 2QE

Private view: 7 June, 6pm - 9pm

Exhibition dates: 7 June - 28 June 2025

Opening times: Thursdays - Saturdays, 11am-4pm • Admission free

GOING BACK BROCKENS:
Monuments and Rhetoric After the Miners’ Strike

40 years on from the end of the miners’ strike, award-winning artist Narbi Price and acclaimed writer Mark Hudson have joined forces to create a major new exhibition exploring the changing landscapes and communities of County Durham’s post-industrial towns.

Monuments and Rhetoric After the Miners’ Strike, is a three-part exhibition across County Durham that sees North East artist Narbi Price and writer Mark Hudson explore the post-strike landscape of County Durham through a series of paintings and an accompanying sound installation.

Narbi Price’s 40 new paintings - created during the 40th anniversary year of the 1984/5 Miners’ Strike - depict former colliery sites as they stand today: silent spaces once central to working-class life, now reclaimed, repurposed, or left behind. Price’s paintings are paired with an immersive sound installation by Mark Hudson that revisits interviews from Hudson’s celebrated book Coming Back Brockens (1994), which capture the raw and emotive voices of those who lived through the strike.

The combination of paintings and sound explores not only what was lost, but what remains, what has changed, and how people continue to define their places and memories decades after the last coal was mined.

The Warehouse, Newgate Centre, Bishop Auckland DL14 7JQ

Private view: 13 June 2025, 5pm - 9pm

Exhibition dates: 13 June - 5 July 2025

Opening times: 12pm - 3pm every Thursday - Saturday • Admission free

Website

Further notes:

On Saturday 12 July, the exhibition will form part of the 139th Durham Miners’ Gala. Price’s paintings will be displayed on the field at the historic gathering in Durham City, along with Hudson’s immersive sound installation.

Completing the exhibition’s three part run will be a special showcase at Horden’s 125th anniversary celebrations on Friday 22 August. The 40 paintings from Going Back Brockens will be exhibited in the village, whilst Mark’s immersive soundscape of Horden residents' voices from 1991-92 will be installed in the historic St Mary’s Church, also known as ‘The Miners’ Cathedral’ - a deeply symbolic setting.

Group Exhibitions

Edwin Aitken: Hedge, acrylic on canvas, 30cm x 21cm, 2025

It's in the Trees. It's Coming.

This micro exhibition in the Prosaic Projects Gallery within Bloc Studios in Sheffield features paintings by Edwin Aitken, Norman Anderson, Bryan Eccleshall, Alison Griffin, Janie Moore, Mikk Murray, Megan Thimm and Sean Williams.

It seems apt timing for a show of paintings of trees, as we transition from Spring to Summer. The show features small work by eight artists whose practice is based strongly on looking closely at nature. Trees often to play the supporting role in Painting, forming the backdrop for action. Here, they are front and centre, the stars of the show, demonstrating their versatility, able to represent the beauty of our natural world, or signify something more sinister in equal measure.

The title is taken from Kate Bush’s ‘Hounds of Love’ which, in turn is taken from ‘The Night of the Demon’, a British horror film made in 1957. The show is curated by Sean Williams.

Bloc Studios, 198 Arundel Street, Sheffield S1 4RE

Exhibition dates: 2 June - 11 July 2025

Opening times: Please contact Sean Williams @prosaic97 to arrange to view

Admission free

Only Shallow

Curated by Lee Scully as part of the TWO-PLUS-TWO collaboration project. Only Shallow celebrates surface. Bringing together thirteen artists engaging with the potential of materiality - exploring how the surface of an artwork creates both a tactile and tangible relationship with the world. Surface is the final layer of construction and, equally, the first point of contact for the viewer. Whether this top layer serves as a form of concealment or as an entry point to a more complex mechanism, each surface overlays a vast and intricate network of information. The mechanisms that underpin each artwork rely entirely on their relationship to the surface - its application, operation, and association.

Artists: Jordan McKenzie, Eva Dixon, Billy Crosby, Alex Gilmour, Hester Finch, Eleanor Bedlow, William McLucas, Stevie Chow, Toby Rainbird, Raina Seung, Tabby Li, Zac Merle, Katie Pratt

Acme Glassyard Studio, 276 Oak Square, London SW9 9AW

Private view: Wednesday 4 June, 6pm - 8.30pm

Exhibition dates: 5 - 30 June 2025

Opening times by appointment

Admission free please contact @twoplustwo202 or @lee__scully for entry

Exhibition Walk-through & Artist Talks:

Saturday, 14 June, 2pm - 4pm

100/50 Exhibition: Celebrating Artists Over 50

The “100/50” exhibition features an inspiring selection of works from artists that are often overlooked and are often emerging talent, often those of who have not only honed their skills but have also navigated the challenging landscape of the art world with unwavering determination. This exhibition seeks to honour those who have consistently pushed forward, demonstrating that true artistic success is a marathon, not a sprint.

Includes work by CBP artist Paula MacArthur.

Unit 1 Gallery | Workshop, 1 Bard Road, London W10 6TP

Private View: 19 June, 6pm - 9pm

Exhibition dates: 20 June - 20 July 2025

Opening Hours: Tuesday – Saturday, 11am - 5pm • Admission free

2D3D

Group exhibition with artists Deborah Thompson, Jane Lewis, Julie Cuthbert, Ruth Philo and Sarah Milne showing a mixture of painting and sculpture.

Aldeburgh Gallery, 143 High Street, Aldeburgh, Suffolk IP15 5AN

Exhibition dates: 20 - 25 June 2025

Opening times: 10am - 5pm • Admission free

Molly Thomson: Untitled (red), wood, acrylic paint, caster wheel, 39cm x 35cm x 10cm, 2023

Silent Disco '25

Group exhibition selected by Graham Crowley, including CBP members Daniel Bell, Miranda Boulton, Angelina May Davis, Graham Crowley, Paula MacArthur, Narbi Price, Judith Tucker.

87 High Street, Wickham Market, Suffolk IP13 0RA

Private view: Saturday 28 June, 12 noon

Exhibition dates: 28 June - 12 July 2025

Opening times by appointment • Admission free

To book an appointment: tel 01728 747833 or email: [email protected]

Website

Open Studios

Photo credit: Tricia Austin - Invite design: Kirsty Harris

Chisenhale Open Studios

At Chisenhale Open Studios, members of the public will be given the opportunity to explore the historic building, chat with artists about their work and take part in various activities hosted by the members - throughout the 40 artist studios. Kirsty Harris shares studio 21, with Henrietta Armstrong, on the second floor.

Chisenhale Art Place, 64-84 Chisenhale Road, London E3 5QZ

Private view: Friday 27 June, 4pm - 8pm

Exhibition dates: Saturday 28 & Sunday 29 June 2025

Opening times: 12 - 4pm • Admission free

Symposium / Conference

Ruth Philo: Pollen Painting 4, acrylic & graphite on canvas, 70cm x 70cm, 2024. Photo: Douglas Atfield.

Inter Society Color Council: Color Shifts

Color Impact Conference 2025, Color as Communication, the Inter Society Color Council, USA. Ruth Philo’s painting has been selected for the digital exhibition that will be shown throughout the conference accompanied by a panel discussion.

Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY, USA

Exhibition dates: June 16 - 18 June 2025

Conference booking via website.

Podcast

Katrina Blannin in her studio

A Geography of Colour podcast with painter Katrina Blannin

A special episode of A Geography of Colour podcast with painter Katrina Blannin talking with Ruth Philo about colour and painting, from the Sluice Expo ‘World Building’ in Seyðisfjörður, Iceland with LungA School. This wasoriginally broadcast on Seyðisfjörður Community Radio in May 2025 and is now available on A Geography of Colour in your podcast browser.

Katrina Blannin was born in London, UK where she currently lives and works. Since graduating from the Royal College of Art in 1997 she has shown her work extensively in the UK and abroad, co-directed artist run project spaces, curated exhibitions and written about contemporary painting. In 2021 she completed a Painting by Practice PhD at the University of Worcester. She teaches as an Associate Lecturer at UAL Camberwell for BA Painting and Foundation Drawing/Conceptual Practice; UCA Canterbury and works both on the editorial board and the mentoring programme for Turps Banana, London, UK.

Listen to the Podcast

Lead Artists Joanna Whittle & Sam Jackson

Contemporary Art Academy Crit Programme

CBP member Joanna whittle will be one of the Lead Artists (along with Sam Jackson) for Contemporary Art Academy’s new CRIT Programme. See details of the programme and priority access to the waiting list for the next course below:

Gain priority access to Contemporary Art Academy’s new online CRIT PROGRAMME with Contemporary British Painting.

CRIT PROGRAMME is an intensive 4-week course for artists who want to receive incisive
analysis and feedback on their practice in a critically supportive online environment.

THE CRIT PROGRAMME includes:
• A deep-dive talk from the Lead Artist on their own practice
• Open discussion and live Q&A
• Individual 1:1 critique session
• Group crits with peers and the Lead Artist
• A private forum to share ideas and create opportunity

This programme is designed for practicing artists who want:
• Professional feedback to develop their work critically
• Insight from leading contemporary art practitioners
• Real connections with peers to grow their network
• Access to the contemporary art world

Initiated in 2022 by artist curator Zavier Ellis and artist educator Mathew Gibson, Contemporary Art Academy is democratising art education by providing premium online courses for affordable prices. Its acclaimed courses enable practicing artists to expand their network by joining a supportive, international art community; engage with prominent artworld professionals; and gain confidence by experiencing breakthrough moments in their practice.

For priority access head to the Contemporary Art Academy courses page to select your
artist, and join the waiting list to be notified first.

Priority access sign up

Continuing Exhibitions

*Please note: The show is spread across three venues at the Snape Maltings, therefore, visitors will need to follow a map to find all the installations.

The Foliate Bosses

For the 76th Aldeburgh Festival Julian Perry has been commissioned to create an exhibition with the composer Stevie Wishart. Perry and Wishart’s collaboration is rooted in their mutual commitment to ancient forms as the inspiration from which they create contemporary visuals and music. Perry’s paintings have a huge debt to Northern Renaissance painting (Grunewald, Durer) and Wishart is a world expert on the 12th Century music of Hildegard of Bingen.

Snape Maltings, Snape, Suffolk IP17 1SP

Exhibition dates: 24 May - 29 June 2025 • Opening times: 10am - 5pm

Performance & Talk: Monday 23 June: Stevie Wishart will be performing her original music in Building 7. Followed by talk by Julian Perry about the project.

Exhibition Free. Performance £8, please book via website.

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.

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

Exhibition dates: 29 March - 29 June 2025

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

Laura Lancaster: Shaking Through, oil on linen, 60cm x 50cm, 2023. Photo: Tom Carter, Courtesy the Artist and Workplace, UK

Rachel Lancaster: Always Already, oil on canvas, 60 x 80 cm, 2024. Photo: Courtesy the Artist and Workplace, UK

Remember, Somewhere

Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art is pleased to present a survey of works by Laura Lancaster and Rachel Lancaster. Identical twins and prolific painters, the Lancasters have carved out distinct painting styles and have exhibited nationally and internationally. This exhibition at Baltic will be the first institutional exhibition showing the sisters’ paintings side by side, and the exhibition location, in North East of England, where they were born and still live and work in their shared studio in Ouseburn, Newcastle.

Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art

Gateshead Quays, South Shore Road, Gateshead NE8 3BA

Exhibition dates: 12 April - 12 October 2025

Opening times: Wednesday - Sunday 10am - 6pm • Admission free

The Mirror at Night

Group show curated by Peter Suchin and Chris Tosic based on a poem by Mallarmé, included work by CBP member Susie Hamilton.

Cross Lane Projects, 6-8 Vestry Street, London N1 7RE

Exhibition dates: 26 April - 7 June 2025

Opening times: To be announced • Admission free

Plant Power

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, PE30 1ER

Exhibition dates: 6 March - 14 June 2025

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

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

A World of Water

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, NR4 7TJ

Exhibition dates: 15 March - 3 August 2025

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

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