Drawing (Paper) Show ‘25 at Bridewell Studios and Gallery

Bridewell Studios present The Drawing (Paper) Show, an exhibition of over 50 artists’ work, who work with drawing in various mediums, methods and approaches. It’s a true celebration of what is probably the most ubiquitous artistic practice: the beginning of projects, a process of thinking on paper and for many, an end in itself.

Conceived by Colette Lilley, Sarah Jane Richards and Jon Barraclough, the exhibition is part of the Independents Biennial.

While there is no theme, there are definitely motifs that recur throughout the display. Nature and the human form are broadly the most prominent ones: an image of tangled trees in energetic charcoal marks across 3.5 metres of paper hangs near an abstract drawing featuring foot marks. Elsewhere, there is an embroidered moustache, a concertina sketchbook documenting every part of a long hike and a gentle portrait of a man in colour pencil that remains realistic despite its heavy use of unnatural colours. 

Printmaking, paint and sculpture makes an appearance and look out for the curators’ corner too. There are small sketches; careful, detailed pieces; and others that play with, and expand, the very definition of drawing. That’s the beauty of The Drawing (Paper) Show – tradition sits side by side with contemporary experiments and neither takes anything away from the other.

Let us provide a little bit of context, to highlight the importance of the show to the local artist community. Colette Lilley and Sarah Jane Richards co-curated the drawing exhibitions in 2019 and 2020 to provide a platform for drawing artists in the North West. 

Then there is the Drawing Paper – something of an institution on the Merseyside arts scene (and beyond). It’s a free, printed, large-format newspaper created by Mike Carney and Jon Barraclough that operates as a portable gallery for drawing in all its guises, published on an irregular basis. Once it’s out, it can be found in most galleries and studios around Liverpool and Manchester and is a much more pleasant read with your morning coffee than pretty much any other newspaper you can think of. In 2023, all three artists teamed up to create the first Drawing (Paper) Show and here we are again. You can pick up Drawing Paper 10 at the gallery too, which features all of the works in the current exhibition.

You’d be hard pressed to find anybody who cannot be dazzled by a particularly memorable drawing and here, you’ll find something to impress, haunt or surprise anyone. It’s a joyful event that truly spotlights the often overlooked practice of drawing and, quite simply, a beautiful exhibition too.