Event type: Exhibition

Liverpool Lines

‘Liverpool Lines’ celebrates the timelessness of Liverpool City Region’s architectural landscape; unique in its quality array of architecture throughout the ages.

The artworks displayed in this exhibition will bring forth a collection of memories for the audience, with each piece aiming to display a fresh perspective on the rich history and vibrant communities that define Liverpool. From its iconic waterfront to the hidden corners of the city; The works reflect the diverse stories that have shaped the soul of the city. As Liverpool moves into the future, the care and preservation of its buildings allow its spirit to endure.

Featuring dot-art Artist Members Alexis Butterfield, Nicola McGovern & Richard Farrell

Alexis Butterfield describes his process: “My eye has been drawn to the generous public spaces and buildings that surround us. I record these places as they are today, sometimes cared for, but often not. In all their variety they represent an ambition for our shared space to be a theatre which celebrates the twin impulses of being together and to consciously create places to help us do that better. While walking the city I have increasingly come to regard these places, both grand and more modest, as jewels – taking joy in the social investment they represent. I produce my work by combining traditional drawing techniques using pens, inks, crayons and areas of gold leaf. These are built up over layers of semi-abstract paper cutouts or over monotype prints. The jewel colours that I have used in many of the pieces are blended goldleaf and inks – lending pearlescence and reflectance in changing lights”

Nicola McGovern utilises painting and papercut illustrations as well as delivering community participatory art projects. This papercut collection celebrates the locally loved parts of Liverpool City Region, capturing them at this specific moment in time. McGovern’s landmark and cityscape artworks combine architectural details with bold, flat colour. These multi-layered collages are created using layers of coloured paper shapes meticulously cut by hand and assembled. The three-dimensional surface texture creates depth and highlights the delicate and meticulous process.

Richard Farrell is a self-taught artist who finds inspiration through the popular culture and architectural heritage of Liverpool. Through Farrell’s past life as a surveyor, he is inspired from his past as he revisits locations, bringing a newfound life to each piece. Farrell’s style is a mix of watercolour and ink wash overlaid with fine-lined detail, this allows for Farrell’s artwork to accurately capture these iconic buildings in their well-known form.

The artists in the ‘Liverpool Lines’ exhibition collectively celebrate the city’s architectural heritage, often they are being drawn to the iconic city centre but are equally intrigued by the lesser-known streets. Unique in style, each artist offers perspectives of their Liverpool, evoking a sense of nostalgia and appreciation. As a collection of works, the city’s rich history shines through, remaining visually and emotionally resonant for audiences today and in the future.

Visit: Tuesday – Saturday, 10:00 – 18:00

The Society of Wood Engravers 87th Ann...

Founded in 1920, the Society of Wood Engravers has long championed the continuing practice of this skilled printmaking technique by holding annual exhibitions to celebrate the vision and versatility of contemporary engravers.

The 87th Annual Exhibition presents over 120 prints selected from an open submission to display a broad diversity of style and subject-matter by both members and non-members from the UK and overseas; all brought together by their commitment to excellence in an exacting medium.

This is the first time in over 25 years that this stunning exhibition has been presented in the Northwest of England, so it is with great pleasure that Kirkby Gallery presents this annual show for the first time.

Event

Complementing this, in The Entrance Gallery is a show of book art curated by Liverpool Book Art, Printmaking Today and SWE responding to the theme, ‘Letting in the Light’, aimed at encouraging exchange and cross-over of ideas and techniques between book artists and printmakers.

Paint, Palette, Place – Exhibiti...

Landscape and beloved places are interpreted in this painterly collection by three artists from Wirral and North Wales. Featuring work by Karl Hughes, Nesta Eluned and Clare Flinn.

Karl Hughes

Karl is a figurative painter working in an impressionistic style across acrylic, oil, gouache & pastel mediums. Drawing and painting is a lifelong passion for him and he enjoys the mix of problem solving and exploring creative possibilities it gives. Karl’s artistic inspiration is drawn from many sources – most recently capturing scenes from his travels at home and abroad. This exhibition contains a mix of work produced outdoors ‘en plein air’ and in the studio from the West Wirral coastline and his recent travels in Tuscany & Mallorca.

Nesta Eluned

Nesta is a North Wales artist born and living in the hills of Eryri (Snowdonia). Her approach ranges from plein-air sessions to studio work and embraces an extensive range of materials and techniques. The work fuses classical landscape compositions with abstract expression. This comes through dynamic mark making and gestures that come naturally from being immersed in the wild, mystic and uncompromising environment of Eryri and the North Wales coast. Nesta’s work has been described as evocative and vibrant, conveying a deep connection to the landscape it depicts.

Clare Flinn

Clare’s work aims to convey a sense of place to the viewer, through her use of expressive marks, layered paint and, sometimes, water soluble crayons. She is primarily a landscape painter, which fits with her love of the wilder places of the British Isles. This collection reflects that, and her continued fascination with the edges of the land. Her work is evolving in a quest to simplify down to the main elements, with sketchbooks used en plein air being her main starting point in creating work. She enjoys experimenting with paint, pushing its limits and using it in less conventional ways. Clare is a co-founder of The Lake Gallery.

Liverpool Independents Biennial 2025

Independents Biennial 2025 will return to Liverpool City Region with 22 new artistic commissions, 64 artists and new work appearing across Liverpool, Sefton, Knowsley, Wirral and St Helens.

The artist-led festival, which runs concurrently to Liverpool Biennial, is created to showcase the vibrant art and art scene of the city-region.

The Independents Biennial has been showcasing the work of grassroots artists since 1999 and has been known by various names including Tracey, Biennial Fringe and Liverpool Independents. It is managed by Art in Liverpool but programmed at venues and locations across the city-region by artists, artist groups, art studios and artist networks.

In 2025, art will be exhibited at over 120 locations, some of which are traditional art spaces, others which are empty or unused high street or retail units. This year’s venues include Bidston Observatory, Hilbre Island, Dibbinsdale Nature Reserve, Bluecoat, The Atkinson, Huyton Village, The World of Glass, Crown Building Studios, Liverpool ONE, Mersey Ferries, Hamilton Square, Victoria Road in New Brighton and Fort Perch Rock.

The artists who are commissioned as part of Independents Biennial live and work in one of Liverpool city-region’s boroughs.

Those commissioned artists are Claire Beerjeraz, CBS Gallery, Rebecca Chesney, Jon Davies & the Sound Art Network, Alan Dunn, Ellis Eyo Thompson, Amy Flynn, Freddy Franke & Rat Shack, George Grace Gibson & Gee Collins, Ellie Hoskins, Anna Jane Houghton & Abbie Bradshaw, Noel Jones & 24 Hope Street, Brigitte Jurack, Dongni Laing, Georgina Tyson & The Royal Standard, Sufea Mohamad Noor, Daniel O’Dempsey, Tom Stockley & Ruaíri Valentine, The Drawing Paper (Show), Stephanie Trujillo, Jacques Verkade & Callan Waldron Hall, and Les Weston.

Visit their website here.

Exhibition Preview: Joanne Masding and...

Join the evening for an exclusive first look at Bluecoat’s new exhibitions as part of their current season But Does it Speak?.

Thu 3 Apr, 6-8pm

Joanne Masding and Rowena Harris will continue the season with their exhibitions The Moveable Scene of the Page and Long-Covid and the Culture of Disbelief. Showing alongside is Veronica Watson, who presents a series of portraits in their upstairs gallery.

Free, drop in

Beauty on Paper, an Exhibition by Dani...

Beauty On Paper is an exhibition of drawings on paper created by Wirral based artist, Daniel Halsall.

The works’ subject matter is the classical female form, taking inspiration from artists such as Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele and Henri Matisse. Daniel’s interest in these artists’ work is the way they captured clothing and textiles to add colour and vibrancy to their works.

Daniel has been the in-house artist for Gondwana Records since 2008, working on many album covers and design based projects. He likes to bring over into the artworks what he learned in his design career, and vice versa from his graphic work into his fine art practices.

This show has been made through collaboration with models: Liverpool based potter, Annie Moon and Liverpool musician, Rosa.

Minds Reimagined Neuro-Hats exhibition

A unique educational exhibition of hats, all responding to an aspect of neuroscience or neurology.

Try some on!

Held weekdays only (excluding Good Friday), open 10am to 12pm on dates:

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8th -11th April
14th – 27th April.

Beyond Van Gogh and Beyond Monet

Beyond Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience is set to return to Liverpool this summer after attracting an amazing 60,000 visitors during its UK premiere in the city in 2024.

The unmissable multimedia experience will be at the waterfront Exhibition Centre Liverpool from Tuesday 15th July to Sunday 3rd August.

And city art lovers will also become the first in the country to enjoy a stunning new immersive show, Beyond Monet, receiving its UK premiere in Liverpool and which brings the works of the ‘Father of Impressionism’ to life in mesmerising fashion.

Beyond Van Gogh and Beyond Monet will be staged on different days throughout the three-week run at the landmark waterfront venue.

Joanne Masding: The Moveable Scene of ...

Masding’s playful exhibition investigates how images, objects and words link together. Through a combination of sculpture, fictional writing and typography, Masding transforms the gallery into a space where language can mingle, collide and flow.

Following on from her 2024 book, Body of Pieces, the exhibition at the Bluecoat presents new writing by Masding and follows her strategy of using fiction to explore the nature of objects, their physical properties and how they relate to us. Masding describes writing as a ‘sculpting tool’ allowing her to defy the laws of physics and go inside objects. In the gallery, visitors will explore sculptures made from metal, ceramic, plaster and shimmering textiles which are suspended from a series of elongated copper sculptures. Pages of Masding’s new works of fiction will hang from these copper frames, for visitors to tear off and read.

The Moveable Scene of the Page also features Masding’s new alphabet sculptures, inspired by, and in the shape of Monster Munch crisps. This novel new typeface is formed by extrusion; a means of forcing soft material through a hole in a flat disc. Monster Munch is made using the same technique, but as this tube of material comes through the extruder it is sliced into individual, flat claw shapes. Masding’s ceramic letters become poetic sculptures, with phrases like “tongue tripping over a glazed ceramic marble” suggesting a collision of words and objects in our own bodies.

When working between the disciplines of writing, sculpture and performance, Masding is often thinking about translation, and how the essence of an object can change. When a drawing is made of a bunch of grapes, it is translated into a flat image and some information is lost (the weight) but something is also gained (small details are highlighted). When that image or artwork is written about, it is translated again into letters and spoken language.

Through her work, Masding gives us the opportunity to look closer at this translation process. She suggests that art is often a task of slowing the world down, and holding it in place so we can take a closer look. When we produce a drawing or take a photograph of something, we fix that object in place and study it. Masding’s work seeks to fix the act of translation in place, giving us the chance to slow down and examine the process.

Fri 4 Apr – Sun 11 May
Free entry

All Together Now: Portraits by Veronic...

Veronica Watson has been chronicling the people who populate the Bluecoat for almost 20 years. As a founding member of Blue Room, the Bluecoat’s inclusive arts project, she has cast a steady eye over the ever evolving community of people who spend time working, volunteering and creating at the arts centre. Her portraiture practice has captured the likeness and spirit of many individuals through drawing and painting.

For the first time, the artists’ collection of portraits will be shared in a limited edition book, All Together Now with a foreword by writer Mike Pinnington from the Double Negative. More information on how to purchase the book will be available soon.

This accompanying exhibition features a selection of portraits of people connected with Blue Room and the Bluecoat, along with archive images of Watson’s long engagement with the arts centre.

Located in their upstairs Gallery.

Until Sun 4 May
Open 11am-5pm, Tue-Sun
Free entry