Cumbria
Kurt Schwitters’ Merzbarn
Tucked away in a remote corner of the Lake District is Kurt Schwitter’s Merzbarn, an artistic epitaph to the avant garde ‘godfather of modern art’.
Written by David Banning
Friends & Lovers: The Radev Collection
at Abbot Hall
at Abbot Hall
A private collection of 800 stupendously good artworks is nearing the end of its only public tour; it tells a tale of friendship, love and enduringly good taste. Begun in...
Child’s play: Lakes International Comic Art Festival gets serious about comics
The weekend festival stages a talk and drawing workshop exploring the evolving medium of comic art – and whether cartoons can ever be “legitimate” art. Be honest: what do you...
Talk of the Toon: Lakes International Comic Art Festival
Graphic artists and superheroes descend on Kendal next month for its first Comic Art Festival. Cartoon drawings and toads aren’t what you’d expect from a weekend in the Lake District...
Graham Sutherland’s strange days: Exultant Strangeness
at Abbot Hall
at Abbot Hall
Kendal’s gem of a gallery stages the region’s first exhibition dedicated to the seminal landscape painter’s work. Barely eighteen months on from its 50th anniversary celebrations, the Abbot Hall in...
If you go down to the woods today: Eden Arts' Picnic Cinema
We preview the foul deeds, eerie forests and haunted castles that are on the menu for this year’s series of outdoor film screenings. After the success of last year’s outdoor...
Preview: Roger McGough, the “patron saint of poetry”, reads from his latest work
McGough may be a national treasure, but he’s lost none of his trademark wit – or the ability to settle old scores. One of Britain’s best-loved poets, Roger McGough, promises...
True to nature: Ruskin’s gardener on a Brantwood transformed
Brantwood’s Sally Beamish has not only restored a historic garden – she has furthered Ruskin’s sustainable dream. Sally Beamish has overseen quite a few changes during her time as head...
Sticks and stones: Richard Long and his love of the land (art)
The Whitworth’s spring exhibition reveals the work of one of Britain’s most original artists. Originally founded in a park (and soon to be part of it again), the Whitworth is...
Unusual Events #1: The World's Original Marmalade Festival
We love the Lake District for more than just its landscape – try this rather sticky festival up near Penrith. You can’t get more quintessentially British than Marmalade. It’s right...
Brand new second-hand: Uwe Wittwer
at Abbot Hall Gallery
at Abbot Hall Gallery
Don’t expect any easy answers in this old masters-inspired exhibition at Abbot Hall. Uwe Wittwer is an intriguing sort of an artist. He appropriates old masters – think Gainsborough and...
Lake District photography: new large format works
at Brantwood
at Brantwood
A new photography exhibition showcases the other-worldly works of David and Angela Unsworth The Materials of Mountains is an exhibition of extraordinary large format photographs that reveal the beauty of the fells,...