Three Surrealists: Glenn Baxter, Anthony Earnshaw, Patrick Hughes. Varied explorative works with domestic objects and humour at Flowers, 21 Cork Street, London, W1 on the 10 July – 3 August www.flowersgallery.com
Turner and Constable: Sketching from Nature, works from the Tate Collection. A major exhibition of Turner, Constable and their contemporaries of over 60 works from the Tate collection. The exhibition provides an insight into the different, and often unusual, approaches used by each artist and prompts discussion over the importance of oil sketching in the late 18th and early 19th century. 13 July – 22 September at Compton Verney, Warwickshire, CV35 9HZ www.comptonverney.org.uk
Bridget MacDonald: The Poetry of the Earth. Drawings and paintings inspired by the coast and seascape with influences from Ancient Greece and her literary world. 13 July – 31 August at The West Gallery, Quay Arts Centre, Newport Harbour, Isle of White, PO30 5BD www.quayarts.org.uk
Club to Catwalk: London Fashion in the 1980s. A lively and bold exhibition which traces the emergence of theatricality and celebrates iconic styles including High Camp through 85 outfits from experimental young designers of the decade such as John Galliano. The explosion of the London Club scene and the opportunity to dress up among a like-minded crowd’s results are showcased here. 10 July – 16 February at the V&A, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 2RL www.vam.ac.uk
Shani Rhys James: The Rivalry of Flowers Paintings. Flowers have recently taken over Shani Rhys James’s work and this is juxtaposed with her more usual feminine persona in these provocative wall sized paintings. 12 July – 23 August the University Gallery, Sandyford Road, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8ST www.universitygallery.co.uk
Self Portrait by Dame Laura Knight. Attending the Nottingham School of Art aged just 13 Knight found fame painting the likes of Prima Ballerina Lydia Lopokova backstage at the Ballets Russes. She then gained access to other London Theatres and then racially segregated hospitals in Baltimore before producing some of her most psychologically penetrating paintings at the Gypsy camp in Iver, Buckinghamshire and of World War Two Women. This major new exhibition is at the National Portrait Gallery, St Martin’s Place, London, WC2 11 July – 13 October before touring Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle 2 November – 16 February and Plymouth Art Gallery 1 March – 10 May 2014. www.damelauraknight.com (see review in Country Life August 21 2013)
The Frame Gallery Summer Exhibition. Bringing together an eclectic collection of works by Hampshire artists, the exhibition will showcase tranquil coastal-inspired oil paintings by Len Murrel alongside Hilary Dancer’s romantic and atmospheric abstract cityscapes. Joining them are Cicelie Fry with her exciting compositions using mixed media, rich with colour and movement, and a world full of whimsical cats, fanciful dogs and quizzical sheep as seen through the rainbow coloured glasses of Toni Goffe. At The Frame Gallery, Number 81, High Street, Odiham, Hampshire July 15th to Sep 12th. www.theframe-gallery.co.uk
Modern British Summer Show, artists including Lynn Chadwick, Reg Butler, Roy Turner Durrant, Olivia Fraser, Madge Gill, Peter King, John Melville, Eduardo Paolozzi, Conrad Shawcross, John Piper, Joe Tilson and Karl Weschke, at Grosvenor Gallery, 21 Ryder Street, London SW1 from 10 Jul-16 Aug. www.grosvenorgallery.com
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Russell Frampton: Tor Land. This mixed media exhibition, encompassing new paintings, sculptures and films from Devon-based artist Frampton is pleasantly atmospheric. 6-14 July at Asthall Manor, Burford, Oxfordshire, OX18 4HW www.asthallmanor.com
Tara Sabharwal: works on paper. These works were inspired by ‘remembered moments from a journey of outward and inner explorations. They invite the viewer to make their own interpretations and reflect.’ 3-14 July (Weds-Sun) at The Idler Academy, 81 Westbourne Park Road, London, W2 5QH. www.jhwfineart.com
Culture in Defiance: Continuing Traditions of Satire, Art and the Struggle for Freedom in Syria. SOAS professor Dr Charles Trip and co-curator and journalist Nawara Mahfoud present an exhibition detailing an explosion of expression from graffiti, political posters and short films follow themes of non-violent resistance and the power of culture. Part of the Window on Contemporary Arab Culture Festival. At the RichMix Gallery Café, 35-47 Bethnal Green Road, London, E1 6LA 4-13 July. Contact Malu Halasa malu@dircon.co.uk
Patrick Caulfield. Waddington Custot is to present an exhibition of over 40 works by Patrick Caulfield, his 14th solo exhibition at the Galleries since 1968. Sensitive preparatory drawings and studies for prints offer a rare glimpse into the process behind the artist’s precisely executed paintings, a selection of which will also be on display. By assembling works in various mediums, the exhibition charts the multi-faceted development of one of the finest artists of 20th Century Britain. From 5th June – 13 July. Waddington Custot Galleries, 11 Cork Street, W1S Contact number: +44 (0)20 7851 2200. Website: www.waddingtoncustot.com
University Summer Exhibition at Djanogly Art Gallery, Lakeside Arts Centre, University Park, Nottingham from 28 June until 13 July. www.lakesidearts.org.uk
Tapa – barkcloth paintings from the Pacific – the first major European gallery exhibition of tapa from the islands of the Pacific, which have been made for millennia from the bark of trees. Also: Francois Morellet – a selection of paintings by the French artist made in 2006 which replicate works originally produced by him in 1952 emplifying the profound influence of tapa on Morellet’s distinct style of abstraction. At Ikon Gallery, 1 Oozells Square, Brindleyplace, Birmingham until 14 July. www.ikon-gallery.co.uk
Treasures of the Royal Courts: Tudors, Stuarts and the Russian Tsars – examining the development of cultural diplomacy and trade between Britain and Russia from its origins in 1555, when the Muscovy Company was founded, this show reveals the majesty and pageantry of the royal courts of Henry VIII to Charles II and Ivan IV (Ivan the Terrible) to the early Romanovs as they sought to strengthen their power against a backdrop of religious and social upheaval. At the V & A, South Kensington, London from 9 Mar to 14 July. www.vam.ac.uk (see preview in Country Life, 13 March, 2013)
Gavagan Art presents ‘Spotlight on Art from Lancaster’s Luneside Studios. From 8th June – 13th July. At Linton Court Gallery, Duke Strret, Settle, North Yorkshire, BD24 9DW. Contact number: 01729 824497 Website: www.gavaganart.com
Nicholas Hely Hutchinson. His exhibitions are visual diaries; pencil, paper and paints are never far away when Nicholas travels, whether along the lanes and coastal path of this beloved Dorset or further afield to the glistening seas and alluring gardens of the tropical islands of Barbados and Bequia. From 19th June – 12th July. Portland Gallery, 8 Bennet Station, London, SW1A. Contact number: 020 7493 1888.
Osborne Samuel presents ‘William Scott and Friends: In association with the William Scott Foundation. Most famous for his still-lifes, he moved effortlessly between abstraction and figuration. Looking to a range of masters including Stubbs, Corot, Cezanna and Bonnard, Scott demonstrated throughout his post-war career that it possible to be both avant-garde and rooted in tradition. From 11th June – 13th July. Address: 23a Bruton Street, London, W1J. Contact number: +44 (0)20 7493 7939 Website: www.osbornesamuel.com
Summer Exhibition – the world’s largest open submission contemporary art show, now in its 245th year, showcasing the work of both emerging and established artists in all media. The Architecture Room is hung by Eva Jiricna RA, who is co-ordinating this year’s exhibition with Norman Ackroyd RA. At The Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1 until 18 Aug. www.royalacademy.org.uk
Fred Yates – Paint and Life. An exhibition of paintings by the Salford born artist (1922-2008), who kew Lowry when he first started painting in the 1940s. This show spans a period of 40 years from his first Cornish paintings to a group of canvases completed just a year before his death in 2008. The Tate’s major survey of Lowry this summer provides an opportunity to see Yates alongside an artist who was so important to him and with whom he is often compared. At John Martin Gallery, 38 Albemarle Street, London W1 from 26 Jun to 12 July. www.jmlondon.com
I only Want You to Love Me – major retrospective of works by miles Aldridge at Somerset House, Strand, London (10 Jul to 29 Sep) and Miles Aldridge ‘Short Breaths’ – an exhibition of his photographs to coincide with the Somerset House retrospective at Brancolini Grimaldi, First Floor, 43-44 Albemarle Street, London W1 from 12 Jul to 28 Sep. www.brancolinigrimaldi.com.
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