The fine start to the spring has been a great incentive for getting out and about, and it’s a perfect time to check out the UK’s thriving art scene. Despite struggles with funding and a declining number of art graduates, the country continues to produce world-class exhibitions. Here are some exciting new shows to catch this summer.
The Singh Twins: Slaves of Fashion, Snape Maltings, Suffolk
The identical Singh twins are sisters from near Liverpool who draw on their Indian heritage to create highly intricate artworks, and have been awarded MBEs for their services to art. Their latest Slaves of Fashion exhibition forms part of the Snape Maltings summer arts programme on the Suffolk coast.
The works combine intricate miniatures with decorative textiles and new media to reflect narratives about Empire, Colonialism, and slavery that underpinned the textile trade between East and West.
Armit Singh explained to the BBC: “It makes the point – and I think people will take that away – that we’re all connected.” Sister Rabindra added: “We’d like people to take away the key messages of our work – in this case, the history of colonialism and how that needs to be redressed.”
She added: “It also looks at how the legacies of empire still have visibility in the modern world, whether you’re talking about attitudes to race, debates around colonial cultural ownership, for example.” Her sister continued: “Wherever you come from, whichever your background is, there will be something in your background you’ll be able to relate to.”
Armit continued: “They tell a story that requires an element of concentration, but what’s great about it is that you can look at the work and not see something and then come back and see something new, over and over again.”
Harry Young, who works for the Snape Malting charity, said: “We feel it’s a real coup that they [The Singh Twins] accepted our invitation to come and show here. It’s part of our invitation to broaden our programme and to hopefully make it appeal to a more diverse audience. It’s thrilling for us to have the work here.”
Bob Dylan: Point Blank, The Halcyon Gallery, London
The musician Bob Dylan has a growing reputation as a painter since his debut exhibition at the Chemnitz art museum in Germany in 2007. Point Blank at the Halcyon Gallery is a solo show of new works that are described as a ‘visual journal.’
The majority of the works are acrylic on paper and feature observations from travel and portraits of friends and acquaintances, as well as everyday scenes. The free exhibition is open daily until 6 July.
Andy Warhol: Portrait of America, MK Gallery, Milton Keynes
Andy Warhol: Portrait of America is an accessible event led by deaf artist and tour guide Chisato Minamimura at MK Gallery. The tour will be conducted in British Sign Language and is suitable for hearing impaired visitors. The exhibition features the work of prominent American Pop Artist Andy Warhol (1928-1987).
The work is exhibited in chronological order rather than themed into subject or style, with a separate room dedicated to each decade from the 1950s to the 1980s. The works include painted silkscreens, photographs, and drawings, and collaborative works carried out with Warhol’s celebrity friends and other artists and filmmakers.
If you have picked up some new pieces at a recent show, drop into our framing shop in east London and we’ll help you to display them to perfection.