Michael Horn at the South Quay Gallery, Great Yarmouth until 31 August 2026

Michael Horn is a British painter whose career has combined rigorous formal training with a lifelong engagement with landscape, abstraction and the possibilities of paint.

He studied at St Albans School of Art from 1960–64, where his early talent was recognised with the Unilever Prize in 1965. The following year he was a finalist for the prestigious Prix de Rome and subsequently became a Fellow of the Digswell Arts Trust, an important centre for emerging British artists.

Horn taught in London for many years, including at the City Literary Institute, while maintaining his own practice. His work has been exhibited widely in Britain and internationally, including exhibitions associated with the ICA, Victoria and Albert Museum, Kettle’s Yard, the Norfolk & Norwich Festival and MIART, Milan.

Since moving to Norfolk, the landscape has become an increasingly important source for his painting. Yet Horn is not a conventional landscape painter. His works occupy a distinctive territory between observation and abstraction, transforming remembered places, paths, horizons and changing light into carefully structured compositions.

Working in oil, collage, graphite, crayon and mixed media, Horn balances expressive mark-making with a strong underlying geometry. His paintings reward close looking: familiar elements emerge and recede within layers of colour, line and texture, creating works that are at once atmospheric, intelligent and deeply personal.

Among his continuing themes are the landscape of Norfolk, journeys and pathways, the sea, and the studio itself. His Weavers Way and Towards the Sea works are particularly characteristic of his ability to evoke a sense of place without resorting to literal description.

With a career extending over six decades, Michael Horn has developed a distinctive and recognisable language of his own — one in which the traditions of British landscape painting meet the freedom and discipline of modern abstraction.

The works presented at South Quay Gallery offer an opportunity to encounter a mature artist whose paintings are grounded in place, but whose ambition extends well beyond depiction.

The exhibition continues until 31 August.

Opening times: Wednesday to Sunday from 10am until 6pm.

Free entry and free car parking available next to the Gallery.

Seven Decades of Contemporary Art: Norfolk Contemporary Art Society at Norwich Castle, now extended until 6 June 2027

This exhibition celebrates the 70th anniversary of Norfolk Contemporary Art Society (ncas). Since its founding in 1956, ncas has supported the Castle to present work by innovative contemporary artists including Eduardo Paolozzi, Colin Self, Bridget Riley and Roger Ackling. Their work features in this display of more than thirty of the artworks ncas members have helped to collect over the past seven decades.

Derek Morris, Five Windows with Sky, 2005, stainless steel. Purchased with the support of an anonymous donor, The Art Fund and the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation © The Estate of Derek Morris.

Recently supported acquisitions include Florence Peake's performance-based figurative paintings and photographic work by Daniel & Clara, which explores imagined narratives in a country estate. Work from Wall Existing, a multi-layered photographic survey of Norwich's medieval city walls by Robert Filby and Glen Jamieson is also exhibited.

These new additions to the collection are shown with highlights from the early decades of ncas' activity including Landscape with Farm Buildings (1954) by L.S. Lowry, a purchase which inspired the formation of ncas; and Man entering a Boiler House (c.1957) by Prunella Clough, which was the very first work collectively acquired by ncas members. Other artists featured in the exhibition include Ruth Ewan, Maggi Hambling, Nigel Henderson, Allen Jones, Frances Kearney, Penny Slinger, Mary Webb and many others.

The exhibition runs until 6 June 2027 in the Timothy Gurney Gallery.

ncas members enjoy free admission to the Castle Museum & Gallery.

David Shenton: Kindly Ease the Tension, Norwich Castle Museum & Gallery, until 10 January 2027

Kindly Ease The Tension is the first major exhibition of pioneering British artist and cartoonist David Shenton, curated by Ian Giles. Bringing together 150+ works across five decades, it presents a bold and playful exploration of LGBTQ+ life in Britain.

From early 1980s cartoons in Gay News and Capital Gay to his work for The Guardian in the 1990s, and Stanley and the Mask of Mystery (1983) - one of the first LGBTQ+ graphic novels - the exhibition spans cartoons, paintings, textiles and installations. Highlights include the ‘Duvet of Love', an extraordinary memorial to friends lost during the AIDS epidemic comprised of thousands of button badges, and a tribute to footballer Justin Fashanu.

After studying printed textiles at Loughborough University and completing teacher training at the University of Leeds, Shenton combined a career in art and freelance illustration with teaching in Norwich and London, bringing warmth, wit and humanity to his work. A joyful, deeply human journey through a vital LGBTQ+ voice.

This exhibition includes a number of works relating to the HIV/AIDS epidemic and discrimination towards LGBTQ+ people. It also contains some works relating to sexual health and some mild sexual content. While there is no age guidance, visitors accompanying children may wish to be prepared for age-appropriate conversations about the work. Norwich Castle & Museum staff are available if you would like further information.

Opening times. The Show is open daily inclusing Sundays : 10am to 5pm. Last entry 4.30pm. ncas members enjoy free admission.

Constructive: Katarzyna Coleman and Bridget Heriz at the South Quay Gallery, Great Yarmouth. 8 - 31 August

In the inaugural year of the South Quay Gallery, Constructive is the first exhibition that Katarzyna Coleman and Bridget Heriz have made together. That is remarkable, given that the artists have lived in Great Yarmouth and been friends for over two decades. Each artist renowned, they are also key members of a close-knit community of artists that includes John Kiki, Emrys Parry and, until recently, Bruer Tidman.

Katarzyna Coleman’s work is drawn from the area directly surrounding her studio; the industrial harbour environment of South Denes, Great Yarmouth. Her compositions are concerned with proportion, measurement and perspective, capturing the unexpected elegance of utilitarian architecture without the visual clatter and narrative suggestions that cars and people might imply.

Heriz’s sculptures and drawings are distinguished by figures that appear simultaneously timeless and yet entirely present at the moment. Despite an intimate quality, Heriz’s figures give an impression of quiet sentience, of absorption rather than response.

Constructive continues at the South Quay Gallery until 31 August. The Gallery is open Wednesday to Sunday from 1000 until 1800.

Thick Seams, Hungate Medieval Church, Norwich, 18 July - 16 August

Thick Seams is a two-person show of new artworks by Freya Gabie and Alida Kuzemczak-Sayer at Hungate Medieval Art, Norwich. 

A series of tactile sculptures and interventions will explore the medieval former church of St Peter Hungate as a site of seams – layers, edges, patches and intersections – but also as a vessel, where manifold stories and sediments are held together. The work will attempt to map this archaeology through an excavation of the embedded pasts and speculative futures of the building, incorporating references to the wider material heritage of the region, such as shoe-making, weaving and monumental brass-rubbing.

Private View Thursday 16 July 6-8pm.

Thick Seams was the recipient of a ncas Small Grants Award in 2025. For more information on Small Grants click here

Main photo by Philip Sayer

Lynn Chadwick at Houghton Hall until 4 October 2026

Houghton Hall are presenting a major exhibition of sculpture by the celebrated post-war British artist Lynn Chadwick CBE (1914–2003). Spanning four decades of the artist’s career, from the 1950s to the 1990s, this new presentation showcases previously unseen and rarely exhibited works alongside his best-known sculptures across the house and grounds of Houghton Hall. It forms the largest exhibition of Chadwick’s work in the UK in more than two decades, following the artist’s death and the retrospective at Tate Britain’s Duveen Galleries in 2003.

Curated by Pangolin London, the exhibition presents 30 works across multiple exterior and interior sites at Houghton Hall, including early works, a powerful group of dynamic beasts, kinetic sculptures, and a selection of Chadwick’s best-known paired figures (‘couples’), all set in dialogue with the Neo-Palladian architecture and extensive parklands of Houghton Hall.

About the Artist: Chadwick came to sculpture through unconventional means, initially training and working as an architectural draughtsman before turning to mobile constructions for trade fairs. The success of these early mobiles and free-standing sculptures, two of which were shown at the Festival of Britain in London in 1951, encouraged him to pursue sculpture full time.

Unlike many of his contemporaries, Chadwick’s practice was rooted in construction rather than modelling. Working primarily in bronze, he moved from kinetic mobiles in the late 1940s to the iconic angular figures — often paired and drawn from human and animal forms — from the 1950s onwards. He began by welding an iron armature, or ‘space frame’, which he then filled with Stolit, a man-made stone composed of gypsum and iron filings, building up the surface into a solid form.

Starting from abstraction and gradually giving his figures a strong sense of life and movement, Chadwick’s process reversed traditional sculptural methods. The result is a body of work marked by tension, attitude, and rich surface textures.

Chadwick came to international prominence in 1952, when he was included in the British Council’s New Aspects of British Sculpture exhibition at the XXVI Venice Biennale. In 1956, he returned to the British Pavilion, where he won the International Prize for Sculpture, beating Alberto Giacometti. He remains the youngest sculptor ever to receive the award.

​Chadwick went on to secure an international reputation, with works in many of the great public collections of Europe, North and South America, and Japan. Many honours and awards also followed, including a CBE in 1964 and election as a Royal Academician in 2001.

Seventy years on, this anniversary offers a timely moment to revisit Chadwick’s pivotal role in the history of post-war British sculpture.

The Lynn Chadwick exhibition runs until 4 October.

Text courtesy of Houghton Hall

Photographs Selwyn Taylor

Local Yokel, Saxmundum: 13 June to 22 August 2026

Curated by Clare Palmier, Director, The Art Station, Local Yokel, brings together artists and artists’ work that emanates from the local, ordinary and everyday and in its presence and execution offers work that has universal meaning and creates far-reaching resonances. 

The works are made using a huge range of practices and approaches: video, painting, casting in sand, plaster and bronze, assemblage, performance, ceramics, sculpting and weaving. 

The exhibition is located at The Art Station buildings in Saxmundum:

• The Old Bank, 24 High Street IP17 1AE

• The Telephone Exchange, 48 High Street IP17 1AB

• The Art Station riverside garden – behind 24 High Street IP17 1AE

and runs Wednesday 17 and Saturday 20 June and then by appointment until 22 August.

For more information contact

T: 07927 770421

@the_artstation

info@theartstation.uk

Starfish Galaxy rises again on the solstice at Salthouse Church, 21 June - 5 July

Asteroidea, a 2 meter diameter galaxy of starfish will be hung against the east window of Salthouse Church after a gap of 23 years.  It was made by artists Margie Britz and Liz McGowan in 2003 as part of a group exhibition, but this time it will hang on its own.  Evolving from and revolving around it will be a series of multi-media celestial/marine events. 

“We took starfish from the bottom of the sea and threw them up into the air as a galaxy” says Margie Britz.

Asteroidia silhouette

Gazing at the stars inspires a sense of awe, and the artists want viewers to experience that awe in relation to these extraordinary sea creatures, along with their unique chalk reef habitat.  As above, so below.

Asteroidea is the scientific name given to starfish.  It comes from the Greek Aster, a star, and eidos, like. Starfish are very ancient creatures. They predate dinosaurs and have survived 5 mass extinctions.   Every now and again, a combination of strong winds and high tides leave thousands of starfish stranded on the beach; unable to get back to the sea, they expire rapidly. These starfish were collected  from local beaches between Holkham and Weybourne.

Asteroidia includes a supporting programme of music, projected image, storytelling, poetry, talks and workshops. Details below.

For all bookings, email margiecbritz@gmail.com

Please bring cash for refreshments.

Open daily Monday to Saturday 10am - 5.30pm

Sunday 11am - 5.30pm.

Supported by ncas and Norfolk County Council.

Held Together - an ncas artist members' show: open call

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. 

What is the Meaning of Life? at The Sainsbury Centre, 16 May - 4 October 2026

The Sainsbury Centre continues its innovative series of investigative exhibitions engaging with fundamental questions of life with two new seasons.

What is the meaning of Life? launching in May delves into the fundamental questions of human existence, from rule-making, to time and play and How do We Find Love? opening in November, explores the profound complexities of human relationships, desire, and intimacy.

For further information click here

The Sainsbury' Centre’s new Universal Ticket allows access to the entire gallery. This ticket operates on a ‘Pay If and What You Can’ basis. Upon arrival, please go to Gallery Reception. No pre-booking necessary.

Seven Decades of Contemporary Art: Norfolk Contemporary Art Society at Norwich Castle, until 6 June 2027

This exhibition celebrates the 70th anniversary of Norfolk Contemporary Art Society (ncas). Since its founding in 1956, ncas has supported the Castle to present work by innovative contemporary artists including Eduardo Paolozzi, Colin Self, Bridget Riley and Roger Ackling. Their work features in this display of more than thirty of the artworks ncas members have helped to collect over the past seven decades.

Derek Morris, Five Windows with Sky, 2005, stainless steel. Purchased with the support of an anonymous donor, The Art Fund and the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation © The Estate of Derek Morris.

Recently supported acquisitions include Florence Peake's performance-based figurative paintings and photographic work by Daniel & Clara, which explores imagined narratives in a country estate. Work from Wall Existing, a multi-layered photographic survey of Norwich's medieval city walls by Robert Filby and Glen Jamieson is also exhibited.

These new additions to the collection are shown with highlights from the early decades of ncas' activity including Landscape with Farm Buildings (1954) by L.S. Lowry, a purchase which inspired the formation of ncas; and Man entering a Boiler House (c.1957) by Prunella Clough, which was the very first work collectively acquired by ncas members. Other artists featured in the exhibition include Ruth Ewan, Maggi Hambling, Nigel Henderson, Allen Jones, Frances Kearney, Penny Slinger, Mary Webb and many others.

The exhibition runs until 6 June 2027 in the Timothy Gurney Gallery.

ncas members enjoy free admission to the Castle Museum & Gallery.