Exhibitions in Manchester and the North

Maja Lorkowska, Exhibitions Editor

Late autumn may not be the most energising of seasons when you look out of the window but there is plenty of new art to see and feel inspired by! Grab your brolly and pop into a gallery – here are our highlights.

Dreamy scenes meet painterly experimentation at the Hepworth Wakefield’s exhibition Andrew Cranston: What made you stop here?. Back in Manchester A Fine Toothed Comb at HOME explores the literal and metaphorical hidden depths of the city of Manchester and its residents. 

In Liverpool, Tim Spooner: A New Kind of Animal at the Bluecoat brings much needed humour to the gallery walls and floors, with unique characters and animatronic creatures. Baltic’s Stepping Softly on the Earth addresses the currently prevalent topics of Indigenous wisdom and inter-species communication by gathering the work of non-Western artists in a varied, thought-provoking show.

Lastly, Rosemarie Castoro: Carving Space at Mostyn is a thorough look at the work of a feminist artist whose practice spanned Minimalist and Conceptual art, dance and much more. The display includes a gallery exhibit as well as an outdoor element with an installation on the beach.

Our top picks

Andrew Cranston: What made you stop here? at the Hepworth Wakefield

Andrew Cranston: What made you stop here? at The Hepworth Wakefield, West Yorkshire, Until 2 June 2024, from £0.00 - Book now

Andrew Cranston’s compositions blend reality and fantasy encased in layers of paint and colour in the Hepworth Wakefield’s new show, the artist’s first ever public gallery solo exhibition.

Andrew Cranston, cat and cheeseboard, 2018. © Andrew Cranston. On loan from a private collection. Courtesy of the artist and Ingleby, Edinburgh. Photo: Andy Keate

A Fine Toothed Comb at HOME

A Fine Toothed Comb at HOME Manchester, Manchester, Until 7 January 2024, free entry - Visit now

Lubaina Himid takes on the roles of both artist and curator in HOME’s new display, inviting three local artists: Magda Stawarska, Rebecca Chesney and Tracy Hill, to explore Manchester’s geography, landscape and take a closer look at the city’s communities.

A Fine Toothed Comb, HOME, exhibition detail

Tim Spooner: A New Kind of Animal at Bluecoat

Tim Spooner: A New Kind of Animal at Bluecoat, Liverpool, Until 21 January 2024, free entry - Visit now

Come for tiny paintings and stay for the furry mechanical creatures rolling around on the floor, in Tim Spooner’s new travelling show currently on display in Liverpool.

Tim Spooner: A New Kind of Animal

Stepping Softly on the Earth at Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art

Stepping Softly on the Earth at Baltic at BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, North East, Until 14 April 2024, free entry - Visit now

Baltic’s new group exhibition probes the depths of human’s relationship with nature, Indigenous wisdom and ancestral traditions through art in its various forms. 

Naomi Rincón Gallardo, Eclipse (2023). Video HD. Photo-documentation: Claudia López Terroso

Rosemarie Castoro: Carving Space at Mostyn

Rosemarie Castoro: Carving Space at MOSTYN in Llandudno, Wales, Wales, Until 24 February 2024, free entry - Visit now

Mostyn celebrates Rosemarie Castoro’s rich body of work from outdoor sculptural installations to more intimate Polaroids and other wall-based works, revealing the artist’s fascination with space.

Rosemarie Castoro B TRAIN, 1972 Masonite, modelling paste, gesso, graphite 25,4 x 20,3 cm (10 x 8 in) (RC 1234) Courtesy Thaddaeus Ropac gallery © The Estate of Rosemarie Castoro

Jenkin Van Zyl: Surrender at FACT

Jenkin Van Zyl: Surrender at FACT, Liverpool, Until 28 January 2024, free entry - Visit now

A giant inflatable rat, a trophy room lined with energy drinks… Jenkin van Zyl’s ‘Surrender’ is an immersive exploration of productivity and escapism

Jenkin van Zyl: Surrender
Jenkin van Zyl, Surrender (2023). Film still. Courtesy of the artist and Edel Assanti

Light Organ at Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Light Organ at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, West Yorkshire, Until 21 January 2024, from £9.00 - Book now

With the nights drawing in and winter around the corner, step into a magical world of light, colour and sound with ‘Light Organ’.

Light Organ
Light Organ, Leeds Art Gallery, 2022. Photograph by Jules Lister

Kim Lim: Space, Rhythm & Light at The Hepworth Wakefield

Kim Lim: Space, Rhythm & Light at The Hepworth Wakefield, West Yorkshire, Until 2 June 2024, from £10 - Book now

‘Kim Lim: Space, Rhythm & Light’ celebrates the groundbreaking legacy of a forgotten giant of British sculpture.

Kim Lim: Space, Rhythm & Light
Kim Lim working on Twice, 1968. © Estate of Kim Lim. All Rights Reserved, DACS. Photo: Jorge Lewinski. © The Lewinski Archive at Chatsworth. All Rights Reserved 2023 / Bridgeman Images

Pioneers: John Ruskin, William Morris and the Bauhaus at Millennium Gallery

Pioneers: John Ruskin, William Morris and the Bauhaus at Millennium Gallery, Sheffield, Until 21 January 2024, free entry - Visit now

‘Pioneers’ examines the ground-breaking work of Bauhaus, and how its legacy has shaped our understanding of art and design to this day.

Pioneers
Gunta Stölzl, Colour Study (Bauhaus Weimar), 1921 © Courtesy Gunta Stölzl Foundation © DACS 2023

Light and Land at Cross Lane Projects

Light and Land at Cross Lane Projects, Cumbria, Until 9 December 2023, free entry - Visit now

‘Light and Land’ explores the relationships between people and place in this beautiful exhibition, archiving the ever-changing social and environmental landscapes of Cumbria.

Light and Land
'Glaramara', 2023, Kodak Medium Format film, by Juliet Kolttrup © Juliet Klottrup

John Moores Painting Prize 2023 at Walker Art Gallery

John Moores Painting Prize 2023 at Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, Until 25 February 2024, from £2.50 - Book now

The John Moores Painting Prize is back, and bigger than ever! Head to Liverpool’s Walker Gallery to see the best of contemporary painting.

'Light Industry', Graham Crowley

New Light Prize 2023 at Williamson Art Gallery

New Light Prize at Williamson Art Gallery, Birkenhead, Until 22 December 2023, free entry - Visit now

Birkenhead’s Williamson Art Gallery & Museum kicks off the New Light Prize, a touring biennial showcasing the best of Northern painting.

‘It’s A Savoy!’ by Jo Morris

Omid Asadi: Resonance and Remnants at Castlefield Gallery

Omid Asadi at Castlefield Gallery, Manchester, Until 21 January 2024, free entry - Visit now

Omid Asadi’s solo show ‘Resonance and Remnants’ brings large-scale site-specific installation to Manchester’s Castlefield Gallery

Resonance and Remnants
Iraj Narimanian

Jonathan Baldock: Touch Wood at Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Jonathan Baldock: Touch Wood at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, West Yorkshire, Until 14 April 2024, from £9.00 - Book now

Johnathan Baldock has created a witty and visually sumptuous installation that asks, exactly whose version of history are we collectively preserving?

Touch Wood
Installation view: Strange Clay: Ceramics in Contemporary Art, group exhibition, Hayward Gallery, London, England (2022). Copyright Jonathan Baldock. Courtesy the artist and Hayward Gallery, London. Photo by Mark Blower.

Mike Nelson: Hybrid Scripts at Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art

Mike Nelson: Hybrid Scripts at Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art, North East, Until 21 January 2024, free entry - Visit now

Drawing on science fiction and dark political histories, ‘Hybrid Scripts’ invites viewers to enter profound and uncanny alternate realities.

Mike Nelson, Lionheart, 1997. Installation view, The New Art Gallery Walsall, 2018. Photo: Jonathan Shaw. Courtesy the artist and 303 Gallery, New York; Galleria Franco Noero, Turin; Matt’s Gallery, London; and neugerriemschneider, Berlin.

Happiness! at Museum of Liverpool

Happiness! at Museum of Liverpool, Liverpool, Until 3 March 2024, from £2.50 - Book now

From the famous tickling sticks to his side-kick Dicky Mint, Happiness! brings the story of Ken Dodd and his magical world to life

Ken on stage wearing a sombrero. Source: Peter Rogan

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ExhibitionsManchester
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Turner prize winner Lubaina Himid curates HOME’s newest exhibition ‘A Fine Toothed Comb’, an in-depth exploration of Manchester’s communities, geography, geology and architecture.

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Exhibitions in Manchester and the North

HOME Manchester
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The Hepworth Wakefield
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Winner of the 2017 Art Fund Museum of the Year Award, The Hepworth in Wakefield is easily one of the leading cultural highlights of the North.

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