Exhibitions in Manchester and the North

Maja Lorkowska, Exhibitions Editor

This month’s more summery art offering is varied indeed – from outdoor sculpture and musings on water to big contemporary art festivals, get your diary ready because it’s a busy one!

First of all – Liverpool Biennial is back! With exhibitions all around the city, the country’s biggest festival of contemporary art showcases the work of over 30 international artists and collectives. We take a closer look at one of the main exhibition in the brand new Tobacco Warehouse.

Castlefield Gallery opens The Poetics of Water featuring the work of artists Jessica El Mal and Parham Ghalamdar. In fact, Ghalamdar’s work also features in WINK WINK, a fantastically diverse group show at the Whitaker exploring queerness. 

And that’s not all! In the green fields of Yorkshire Sculpture Park, you’ll find the absurd sculptures of Erwin Wurm, taking place both in the Underground Gallery as well as outdoors. Further north, Cross Lane Projects’ Late and Soon showcases the risqué, politically-charged works of Margaret Harrison and Conrad Atkinson.

Our top picks

Liverpool Biennial 2023 – uMoya: The Sacred Return of Lost Things

Liverpool Biennial 2023, 10 June–17 September 2023, free entry - Find Out More

The largest contemporary art festival in the UK is back! The 12th edition focuses on themes of healing and the titular keyword “uMoya” means spirit and breath, calling for the return of ancestral knowledge and wisdom.

Credit: Thom Isom

Liverpool Biennial 2023 at Tobacco Warehouse

Liverpool Biennial at Tobacco Warehouse, 10 June–17 September 2023, free entry - Find Out More

The brand new Tobacco Warehouse’s spacious interior is filled with art from six very different artists, all addressing Liverpool Biennial’s leading themes in their own ways, from organic material sculpture to performance.

Ibokwe. Black Circus. 2022. photo by Sanele Thusi

WINK WINK at the Whitaker

WINK WINK at The Whitaker, Until 23 July 2023, free entry - Visit now

Curated by Garth Gartrix, WINK WINK reveals the nuance of queer perspectives and an alternative view of the world via photography, video, sculpture, drawing, textiles and mixed media.

Harry Clayton Wright, Mr Blackpool (2023). Image by Matt Crockett, Make up by Guy Common, Costume Design by Ryan Dawson Laight

Hybrid Futures: The Poetics of Water at Castlefield Gallery

Hybrid Futures: The Poetics of Water at Castlefield Gallery, Castlefield, 25 June–24 September 2023, free entry - Find Out More

Jessica El Mal and Parham Ghalamdar focus on the symbolism and significance of water, in the context of humans’ complicated relationship to nature across the world.

Sara Benabdallah

Erwin Wurm: Trap of the Truth at Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Erwin Wurm: Trap of the Truth at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield, 10 June 2023–28 April 2024, free entry - Find Out More

Erwin Wurm’s sculptures are incredible objects to look and interact with, while also providing some light relief from the more serious side of fine art that we often encounter today. His love for the absurd and unexpected makes for a truly memorable (and funny) display.

© Studio Erwin Wurm, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn

Late and Soon: The Works of Margaret Harrison and Conrad Atkinson at Cross Lane Projects

Late and Soon: The Works of Margaret Harrison and Conrad Atkinson at Cross Lane Projects, Cumbria, Until 24 June 2023, free entry - Visit now

Cross Lane Projects celebrates the work of Margaret Harrison and Conrad Atkinson with a joint exhibition from two artists, who, despite being married, maintained entirely independent practices for several decades. Here, their work is shown together for the very first time.

Margaret Harrison and the Ronald Feldman Gallery, New York

Hew Locke: The Ambassadors at The Lowry

Hew Locke: The Ambassadors at The Lowry, MediaCityUK, Until 25 June 2023, free entry - Visit now

See Hew Locke’s new show of maximalist, grand sculptures of figures on horseback, pondering questions of  state, ceremony, royalty, legacy of the empire and the symbols of nationhood.

Hew Locke, The Ambassadors. Image: Jules Lister

Chris Killip, retrospective at Baltic

Chris Killip, retrospective at BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Newcastle, Until 3 September 2023, free entry - Visit now

A new major retrospective has landed at Baltic gathering the work of the self-described ‘chronicler of the deindustrialisation revolution’ – Chris Killip, one of the country’s most prominent documentary photographers.

© Chris Killip Photography Trust/Magnum Photos, courtesy of Martin Parr Foundation

LuYang Arcade Liverpool at FACT

LuYang Arcade Liverpool at FACT, City Centre, Until 17 September 2023, free entry - Visit now

A treat for gamers, fans of anime and new media, LuYang Arcade Liverpool offers a display bursting with interactive and immersive experiences.

LuYang NetiNeti at Zabludowicz Collection. Installation View. Photo David Bebber

Larry Achiampong: Wayfinder at Baltic

Larry Achiampong: Wayfinder at BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Newcastle, Until 26 October 2023, free entry - Visit now

See Larry Achiampong’s new exhibition in Newcastle, including the artist’s critically acclaimed first feature film.

Larry Achiampong, WayFinder 2022. Feature-length single-channel 4K film with stereo sound. Commissioned by Turner Contemporary with MK Gallery and Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art. © Larry Achiampong. All rights reserved, DACS/Artimage 2022. Courtesy the artist and Copperfield, London

Return of the Gods at The World Museum

Return of the Gods at World Museum Liverpool, City Centre, Until 25 February 2024, £8 with concessions - Book now

Marvel at classical sculpture and learn more about the twisted minds and complicated relationships of ancient gods at the World Museum’s brand new exhibition.

Return of the Gods at World Museum ©National Museums Liverpool

Lindsey Mendick: Where The Bodies Are Buried at Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Lindsey Mendick at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield, Until 3 September 2023, £9 with concessions - Book now

Come face to face with the wonderfully twisted world of Lindsey Mendick’s imagination in this immersive display featuring ceramics, installation and many hidden surprises.

Lindsey Mendick, Where The Bodies Are Buried, installation view at YSP, 2023. Courtesy the artist. Photo © Jonty Wilde, courtesy YSP
Lindsey Mendick, Where The Bodies Are Buried, installation view at YSP, 2023. Courtesy the artist. Photo © Jonty Wilde, courtesy YSP

Traces of Displacement

Traces of Displacement in the Whitworth's Collection at The Whitworth, Manchester, Until 7 January 2024, free entry - Visit now

The Whitworth’s new major collection exhibition explores the issue of forced displacement throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. You’ll find works by Marc Chagall, Cornelia Parker, Mounira al Solh and many others.

Mounira al Solh, 'I Strongly Believe in the Right to be Frivolous', 2012-ongoing, image courtesy the artist.

To The Lakes! at Wordsworth Grasmere

To The Lakes! at Wordsworth Grasmere, Cumbria, Until 30 December 2023, from £6.00 - Book now

Find out how the first tourists to the Lake District (a time before mobile phones, specialist clothing and TripAdvisor reviews) experienced the area, in this fascinating new exhibition.

To The Lakes! at Wordsworth Grasmere
Image courtesy of Wordsworth Grasmere.

If Not Now, When? Generations of Women in Sculpture in Britain, 1960 – 2022 at The Hepworth Wakefield

If Not Now, When? Generations of Women in Sculpture in Britain, 1960 – 2022 at The Hepworth Wakefield, Wakefield, Until 20 January 2024, from £0.00 - Book now

The work of global art stars Phyllida Barlow, Helen Chadwick and Cornelia Parker all make an appearance at the Hepworth Wakefield’s new exhibition, alongside many other female artists who work in the medium of sculpture.

Cornelia Parker, Endless Coffee, 2022 Courtesy the artist and Frith Street Gallery, London. Photo Ben Westoby

Tracery – Venice and the Lakes Interlaced by Déirdre Kelly at Brantwood

Tracery – Venice and the Lakes Interlaced by Deidre Kelly at Brantwood, Cumbria, Until 11 July 2023, from £11.50 - Book now

An exhibition of works by Déirdre Kelly that mirror Ruskin’s dedication to observation, and adoration for Venice and the Lakes.

Tracery – Venice and the Lakes Interlaced by Deidre Kelly at Brantwood
Image courtesy of Francesco Allegretto.

Beatrix Potter: Passions in Paint at the Armitt Museum

Beatrix Potter: Passions in Paint at The Armitt Museum, Cumbria, Until 2 December 2023, from £4.00 - Book now

Offering a brilliant blend of history, art and literature, this expanded exhibition presents a fascinating insight into the artist’s life and work.

Beatrix Potter: Passions in Paint at the Armitt Museum
Image courtesy of the Armitt Museum.

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See ‘Traces of Displacement’, the Whitworth’s major new exhibition which uses the gallery’s collection to explore the issue of forced displacement.

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