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ncas is delighted to announce Held Together – a Members’ group exhibition of 70 small works to celebrate ncas’ 70th anniversary.
The exhibition will take place from 29 September to 11 October 2026 at Anteros Arts Foundation, Fye Bridge Street, Norwich.
ncas members are invited to submit works, on a subject of their choosing, measuring no more than 30cm x 30cm x 30cm.
For more information and to apply, click here
Deadline for submissions is midnight on Wednesday 1 July 2026.
Firstsite Gallery, Colchester. Image: Jayne Lloyd Photography
The Artist Prize is a new £30,000 open art prize awarded to a single UK-based artist, alongside a solo exhibition at Firstsite, Colchester in 2028. It is open to any artist in the UK, working in any medium.
Twenty shortlisted artists will exhibit together at Firstsite from 30 January to 16 May 2027. A further 200 longlisted artists will be selected by a national network of around 80 curators drawn from arts organisations across the UK, bringing distributed curatorial expertise to bear on what UK artists are making right now.
The prize is co-founded by Guy Armitage (Zealous) and Sally Shaw MBE (Firstsite, Museum of the Year 2021).
Deadline for submissions, 8 July (midday).
Click here for more information
Norwich Cathedral’s beginnings as a Benedictine monastery continue to inspire life at the Cathedral in the 21st century, and a new open-air art exhibition the Benedictine Art Project, explores the Cathedral’s Benedictine heritage past and present through a series of specially commissioned installations.
Three artists have teamed up with three local charities to create the artworks which reflect the Benedictine themes of healing and wholeness, hospitality and contemplative learning.
A large abstract recreation of the Church of St Ethelbert draped in the cloak of St Martin can be found in Almary Green, close to the Ethelbert Gate entrance to the Cathedral Close. Entitled the Cloak of St Martin, the work is a collaboration between artist Hardy Gru and local homelessness charity St Martins.
Outside the Hostry, visitors will see two old doors transformed into a tabletop covered with plates featuring recipes from around the world. The Hospitality of Abraham was the idea of artist Deborah Tompsett who has worked with English+, a Norwich-based charity helping those who are starting new lives in the city.
Completing the trio of works is The Light Comes from All Sides, an installation in the Cloister which has been created by artist Lily Bunney and Diocese of Norwich schools. Here ancient book cupboards, once used by the Benedictine monks, have been decorated with stained glass inspired by the Cloister and the medieval roof bosses which adorn the ancient architecture.
The Benedictine Art Project in the Cathedral Close is free and Norwich Cathedral’s Benedictine heritage explored in new outdoor exhbition. runs until Autumn 2026. It has been designed to complement Living by the Rule an exhibition taking place at the Sainsbury Centre which reflects on the enduring influence of St Benedict.
All photos courtesy of Bill Smith, Norwich Cathedral.
The Old Post Office, Lowestoft, site of the new Messums East
Messums Creative is exploring opportunities to provide rentable studio workspaces for visual artists in the Lowestoft area. Their aim is to support artistic talent across disciplines by offering studio spaces that inspire and help facilitate the creation of exceptional work.
Messums Creative is currently reviewing options for eight studios and invite expressions of interest from professional artists working in painting, sculpture, print, and other visual arts disciplines in order to assess requirement and interest.
For further details click here
Frutos Secos (Valencia) oil on board 100 × 120 cm
There are three great reasons for making a trip to Great Yarmouth before the 24th May. First, Great Yarmouth just seems to be getting culturally more interesting year on year, so a visit to the town is worthwhile anyhow. Second there is a brand-new gallery, an event which needs to be celebrated, and third is that gallery's spectacular inaugural exhibition of work by Trevor Burgess.
The South Quay Gallery is a brave and wonderful new venture by photographer Pete Huggins and his wife Moira, who have moved into their five-bay, three-story, Georgian riverside building that had previous incarnations as the Nelson Museum and as the Yare Gallery (https://southquaygallery.com). The couple have now created a home, a huge exhibition space, a small café and spaces for art classes and workshops. A soft opening with a display of their own vast and impressive art collection went well, but now comes a major show by an artist who won Best International Artist in last year’s VAA Artist of the Year competition – a major coup for Yarmouth.
Despite these international links, Trevor Burgess has local history. In Norwich, he was Assistant Curator at the Norwich Gallery at what is now Norwich University of the Arts, and he also founded the artist-run Warehouse Artists Studios between 1990 and 1997. In Hackney, 18 years ago, he started work on a large series of figurative canvases depicting street markets in London which then proliferated to include busy open markets across Europe, South America and India, all full of people, produce and pigment. Colour predominated and the sense of individual, independent vendors doing their thing, and the idea that we were revisiting the 'painting of modern life', are testament to Burgess's deep pleasure in the art of looking and our shared visual history. They followed in a solid tradition of street photography and townscape painting.
African and Caribbean food (London) oil on board 100 × 120 cm
And then, around 2016, came the intriguing awareness that after markets close, outdoor or in, stuff, whether it is the crates or the food, must all be tidied away, secured, ready to remerge the following day. And some stalls simply close. And these stacked objects, or the tarpaulin covered stalls, create a very different subject matter. The subject, now unpeopled and sculptural, is hard to define – is it still life, is it landscape, is it animate, a dormant animal? They are certainly different beasts than the open markets, filled with people and life, but they are no less colourful. We usually associate landscape painting with aspects of national or cultural identity, with history, but these canvases resist such resonances because they are international and universal still lives, imbued with a strange sense of familiarity, obscure, hidden and protective. These paintings acquired added resonance for Burgess when the pandemic started. Markets and trading were curtailed, and the general emptiness of life and social interaction enabled an additional powerful reading of his imagery.
Wrapped Stack, San Juan oil on canvas 122 × 210 cm
The major works here are very large, painted uncomfortably while flat on the ground, and together they form a magnificent series of colour-coded works imbued, and I can't believe I am saying this, with a deep spiritual quality of stillness, of reassurance, of continuity. The single dominant colour of each of the large works is arresting, and in the ample space of the gallery form a vivid spectrum around the walls. Light blue, followed by the dark green of Wrap-up (Mula, Spain), then a renaissance ultramarine followed by a strident yellow, and then the flat, solid red of Frutos Secos Valencia.
Wrap-up (Bengalaru) oil on canvas 139 × 280 cm
The challenge in these large images is the decision on the painting's boundary, on how much context is shown. Just enough to give a sense of location and space, but not so much that the essential object, the 'found work' is diminished. Burgess manages this tightrope with finesse, and although he has talked about the 'emptiness at the centre of the canvas', I am not sure I agree with him. These canvases with their simultaneously enigmatic yet everyday motifs, I find life-affirming, colourful, joyful and reassuring, humanist creations.
Wrap-up (Mula, Spain) oil on canvas 160 × 200 cm
Review by Keith Roberts.
Wraps and Stacks continues until 24 May 2026 at the South Quay Gallery in Great Yarmouth. Entry is free.
Florence Peake, Factual Actual Performance Documentation 9, 2022 acrylic on card. Presented by the Contemporary Art Society with support from ncas, 2023/24 copyright Florence Peake. Courtesy of Richard Saltoun Gallery London and Rome
ncas members, friends and supporters gathered on 27 March at Norwich Castle to help celebrate the opening of Seven Decades of Contemporary Art, an exhibition showcasing a selection of the innovative artworks which ncas members have helped to collect and display at Norwich Castle Museum & Gallery over the past seven decades.
From recently supported acquisitions such as works by Florence Peake and Daniel & Clara, to the very first works collectively purchased by ncas members in the 1950s including L S Lowry and Prunella Clough, the 30 artists represented share an interest in experimenting with the conditions of painting, sculpture, photography and performance.
Many of the works reimagine experiences of landscape or figuration, often in very different ways. Together, they signal the changing ideas and relationships that sustain the presentation of contemporary art at the Castle.
Lisa Newby, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at Norwich Castle said: “ Members of the Norfolk Contemporary Art Society play a vital role in developing the contemporary collections at Norwich Castle. This exhibition celebrates their contribution and will be an exciting opportunity for visitors to experience the artworks ncas have supported over the past seven decades.”
Selwyn Taylor, Chair of ncas, said: “ This anniversary is not just about looking back, it is away of reaffirming our commitment to contemporary art for the next generation. Throughout 2026/7, our programme of talks and events will celebrate the artists, audiences and supporters who have shaped Norfolk Contemporary Art Society over the past seventy years, whilst setting an ambitious course for the decades ahead.”
The exhibition, together with a planned series of talks on the changing art scene in the different decades, continues until 28 February 2027 at the Timothy Gurney Gallery.
Norwich Castle & Gallery is open daily from 10am until 5pm. ncas members have free access to the Castle & Gallery.
Check the website for forthcoming talk details.
On Saturday 30 January, friends gathered in St Peter Church, Hungate to celebrate the life of a much-loved and respected friend.
Derek was a trustee of ncas and St Peter Church and had exhibitions there, a space he loved.
The event was a wonderful, uplifting occasion, full of love and memories.
Derek Morris
It is with the deepest regret and sadness that we have to let members know, our dear friend Derek Morris died on 26 November.
Derek had been an active member and trustee of ncas for many years. Together with Keith Pollard, Derek founded Sculpture for Norwich and played a leading role until the charity was amalgamated with Norfolk Contemporary Art Society in 2017.
Our deep sympathy goes to Derek’s family at this very sad time.
ncas are pleased to announce the two winners of the latest round of Small Grants Awards.
Being Woman is a touring series of exhibitions that bring together work from a number of intergenerational female artists, who have an affiliation with Norfolk and Suffolk, under the theme ‘Being Woman’.
Included in this exhibition will be loaned works including pieces by Paula Rego, Eileen Cooper, Celia Paul, Maggie Hambling and Liorah Tchiprout. The six-week exhibition will take place in Mandell’s Gallery in March/April 2026 and will be curated by Rachel Allen.
Featured poster from Being Woman at Corn Hall, Diss March - May 2025.
More information here
From Shangrila to Cromer is an exhibition in tribute to the late Derrick Greaves, featuring a body of work inspired by Derrick’s extensive practice, along with works by Derrick himself.
The proposal came from a group of friends, most of whom met during a three-year course at Art Academy East in Norwich, and who now get together regularly in the studio of the late Derrick Greaves hosted by his wife Sally Butler.
The exhibition will be exhibited at Cromer ArtSpace in 2026.
Featured images above (R to L): With the Parrots, Derrick Greaves; Scrambled Woman, Linda Sonntag; Pink and Green, Polly Johnson.
More information here
Ancient architecture and contemporary sculpture combine in an exciting new exhibition of outdoor art by John Maine RA and Lynn Chadwick
Art in the Close will run from September 2025 to Spring 2026 and will see the Norwich Cathedral Close become the inspirational setting for a mix of works by both artists.
Visitors can enjoy discovering works in three different areas of the Close - the Cloister, the Lower Close and Almary Green.
Entry to the exhibition is free.