This Is Where I leave You by Alison Lam
As a neurodiverse, British-Chinese artist, Alison’s work explores difference, isolation, belonging and inclusion, and her practice facilitates conversations for people who sometimes find it hard to communicate. Stemming from her own personal experiences with her two sons, who are autistic with complex needs, Alison uses art and activism as a way to bridge these gaps and create a space that’s supportive and accessible. The exhibition features sculpture, video, text, and calligraphy works by Wilson So, and includes a performance on the opening night by Bettina Fung | 馮允珊
30th March - 27th April 2024
Art at The Park by Students of The Park Community School
Students from The Park Community School present a collection of artwork inspired by themes such as identity, the environment and topical issues. All of the work in this exhibition is based on their own personal experiences and interpretation of the modern world.
4th - 18th May 2024
Families in Grief presents: The Universal
The Universal is the result of a series of workshops for bereaved young people in North Devon hosted by Families in Grief and Studio KIND. It explores themes of grief through documenting creative processes to make seen what is often hidden, giving a visual voice to emotions that are hard to bare. The exhibition will also feature a number of local artists living in/around North Devon whose work deals with themes of grief and loss.
25th May to 8th June
Devon Mental Health Alliance presents: Art and Mind
The Devon Mental Health Alliance have joined with Studio KIND. to show a collection of work by local artists celebrating the community spirit in art, and showcasing the beauty and potency that artistic expression holds for our lives. We all experience difficulties with mental health at some point in our lives, and art can be a powerful medium for self-expression, mental wellbeing and kinship.
15th June to 6th July
Past exhibitions
Common Ground by Esmé Clutterbuck, Alan Stewart, Phil Ashcroft
2nd – 23rd March 2024
‘Common Ground’ brings together work by three artists; Esmé Clutterbuck (Bristol), Alan Stewart (Essex) and Phil Ashcroft (London) who have all spent time in, and made work inspired by, North Devon. The exhibition celebrates the uniqueness of our area, which has been admired and honoured by artists over many years; exploring the things that bring us together against the backdrop of our landscape and diverse communities.
New Creatives II, by students at Petroc College
10th – 24th February 2024
As the second exhibition in our new venue, The Corn Store (part of Barnstaple’s historic Pannier Market) we are thrilled to be welcoming Petroc College to the gallery, who will be bringing the second iteration of New Creatives to Studio KIND.
New Creatives is a curated collection of work from the multi-discipline Level 3 courses in Art Design and Media at Petroc College in Barnstaple. Students have been exploring new directions in Fine Art, Photography, Fashion & Textiles, Graphics & Illustration, 3D & Craft and Film, and the work on show represents their first steps into the world of creative practise.
Out With The Old, In With The New
Group exhibition by CAMP members
13th January – 3rd February 2024
Out With The Old, In With The New is the second CAMP touring exhibition to come to Studio KIND. inviting members to submit work as part of a small group exhibition, showcasing exciting and intriguing work coming out of Devon and Cornwall.
‘Out With The Old, In With The New’ encompasses ideas of change and flux, transformation, consumption and waste, materiality and cycles of ecologies. During a period of change for the gallery itself, we’re looking forward to seeing how members interpret the positive and negative connotations associated with progression, modernisation and ideas around ‘newness’.
A Darker Christmas, Curated by Jody Medland and Ruth Bateman
2nd - 16th December 2023
A Darker Christmas is an art exhibition showcasing the work of 18 artists either born or based in the South West of England, and features a mixture of paintings, sculptures, films, and mixed disciplinary practices. Entry to the exhibition is free, and there will also be panel discussions, live poetry and immersive theatre to experience throughout the course of the show.
The exhibition is curated by local artists Jody Medland and Ruth Bateman, who have teamed up to create an exhibition that puts a dark spin on Christmas, addressing the fact that for so many people, it can be a particularly difficult time of pain, loss, sadness and loneliness.
Trespassed, Connor Shields
4th - 25th November 2023
In his new solo show Trespassed at Studio KIND, Shields brings together a collection of recent works which take influence from construction and demolition sites we pass by daily. Through his work, influence is taken from the materiality and imagery that exist within these sites, with selected elements recreated into sculptural forms. Shields presents these sculptural sightings which he comes across, taking influence from their peculiarity and material combinations.
Connor Shields is Leeds based, currently completing his MA in Fine Art at the University of Leeds in September 2023. Trespassed is an accumulation of works made during his duration on the course.
Braunton Academy 2023 Showcase
The Braunton Academy 2023 Showcase is a celebration of the fantastic 2023 GSCE Art students from Braunton Academy, featuring the work of over 50 budding young artists. This diverse exhibitions includes painting, ceramics, printmaking, and mixed media, exploring themes of nature and identity.
14th - 28th October 2023
Aluna Collective Annual Exhibition
Taking over the gallery in September is Aluna Collective - six female artists from North Devon. Inspired by the Arts & Crafts movement, Aluna Collective come together to celebrate feminine energies, focusing on connection and harmony. Whilst the mediums and subject matter varies, they find commonality in creating work that brings joy, serenity and beauty through their own own personal journeys and experiences.
15th September - 7th October 2023
Hyperlocal, Ellie Baddick, StevieRay Latham, Stuart Edmundson
'Hyperlocal' brings together three artists at different stages of their careers who have grown up or lived and worked in North Devon as professional artists; drawing parallels between their individual interests whilst celebrating contemporary art coming out of North Devon. Themes range from ideas of personal histories and family archives, abstraction and the making process, and memory and sentimentality, against the backdrop of locality, identity and experience.
19th August - 9th September 2023
Studio KIND. Summer Open 2023
We are inviting Devon-based artists to take part in the first Studio KIND. Summer Open, opening to the public on 22nd July and running to the 12th August. The exhibition comes at a time when tourism is high in North Devon and we can’t wait to showcase the breadth and depth of work being made in Devon during this period. Studio KIND. is a not-for-profit arts space and the exhibition helps us in our fundraising, allowing us to continue with our commitment to making art accessible to everyone, supporting artists and showcasing work we believe in. The exhibition will be accompanied by free arts activities for children and families.
22nd July - 12th August 2023
Making Waves II, Braunton Learning Cooperative Trust
Returning to Studio KIND. is 'Making Waves', an exhibition by students from the Braunton Learning Cooperative Trust: Braunton Academy, Caen Primary School, Kingsacre Primary School, Southmead Primary School and Georgeham Primary School. We can't wait to see what the students have been up to!
1st July - 15th July 2023
That Lethal Cloud, Kirsty Harris
Kirsty Harris investigates the British nuclear testing programme in her solo exhibition That Lethal Cloud at Studio KIND. Harris’ complicated relationship with the subject stems from her childhood, where weekends were spent alongside her family trawling through muddy fields to chant and sing 'Ban the Bomb and there is beauty and brutality to be found in the work. Ultimately the audience carries their own presentiments into the space, activating the work with their lived lives.
3rd - 24th June 2023
Painting the Year, Deborah Last
In 2022 Deborah Last painted the Landscape en plein air (outside) every day for a year, not matter what; in the sunshine, in the back of her car hiding from the wind, or in an angling pod to keep dry in the rain. ‘Painting The Year’ is the first time Deborah is showing all 365 paintings from the project, demonstrating the changing seasons, a love for Northern Devon, and the endurance of her craft. The exhibition is supported by North Devon Arts, as part of their 25th anniversary celebrations.
17th - 29th May 2023
Embodied Labour, Adam Garratt
22nd April - 13th May 2023
Adam Garratt's practice has evolved around constraints of space, the use of material and repetitious making processes. Conscious not to make extra waste, Adam chooses carefully which materials to make work with. They come with their own history of use and bare the marks of an embodied labour, often with holes, creases, tears, dirt and staines. ‘Embodied Labour’ features Adam’s recent work using Hi-Vis workwear and domestic processes such as sewing, folding and textile alterations. The work is dictated by what is found or donated and embraces the material forms, allowing its own narrative to inform the work. The exhibition is supported by Arts & Culture Exeter.
SPY-nul, Anna Boland: KARST x Studio KIND.
Influenced by dystopian fiction, notions of invisible environments and worlds, and post-pandemic existence, Anna's current work explores the potential of everyday air packaging to create sculptural works. The exhibition brings together research into biological forms, the air we breathe and Plato’s writing on the structure of elements feeds the work, as does the fascination of things we cannot see, and making the invisible visible. The exhibition is part of our continued collaboration with KARST.
25th March - 15th April 2023
Of The Sand: A Celebration of Life in the Dunes
Coming to Studio KIND. this March is a pop-up exhibition hosted by Dynamic Dunescapes, ‘Of The Sand: A Celebration of Life in the Dunes’.
Dynamic Dunescapes is a nationwide project to conserve & improve the quality of sand dune habitats, and to help people to engage with their local sand dunes. Sand dunes are an incredibly important habitat to a number of rare and interesting species, but they are also regarded as Europe’s most threatened habitat; More than a quarter of all sand dunes have been lost in the last 100 years.
19th - 22nd March 2023
The Unspeakable, Kate Walters
Kate Walters’ exhibition of watercolours and oil paintings, accompanied by sketchbooks and poetry, gather together works from the past twenty years as she has moved closer to, and away from, traumatic events in her life. Kate has recently begun to focus on her inner child, supplying her with a number of sketchbooks in which she can explore, as Little Kate, many partially remembered events, and the pathways to healing that creativity and attention can bestow.
25th February - 17th March 2023
New Creatives by Petroc College
New Creatives is a curated collection of work from the multi-discipline Level 3 courses in Art Design and Media at Petroc College in Barnstaple. Students have been exploring new directions in Fine Art, Photography, Fashion & Textiles, Graphics & Illustration, 3D & Craft and Film, and the work on show represents their first steps into the world of creative practice.
15th - 18th February 2023
Tipping Point, CAMP members group exhibition
Environmentally, politically, and culturally; we are being confronted with the precarious nature of our existence and a need for change more than ever. From political divides and war, to global pandemics and the climate emergency, the delicate balance of the status quo is being pulled into ever sharper focus over the past few years, and whilst the world feels it’s becoming more and more polarised, our norm is becoming increasingly scrutinised. Do we attempt to preserve what was, or disrupt existing systems?
7th - 28th January 2023
North Devon Arts 2022 Christmas Exhibition
Back by popular demand! North Devon Arts will be returning to Studio KIND. this winter for their third Christmas exhibition. North Devon Arts is a friendly and informal networking group of professional and amateur artists, including painters, sculptors, ceramicists, graphic designers, textile artists, writers, furniture makers, printmakers and stained glass artists. The Christmas exhibition is a brilliant way to support lots of local artists and makers, and you'll have a chance to purchase original artworks from all the wonderful members.
5th - 18th December 2022
On Skin, Yuko Edwards
On Skin is a response to the covid pandemic and the civil unrest that occurred in response to the murder of George Floyd by American police. During this time, while we sheltered in place, at least 6 million people are estimated to have died across the world from the corona virus. Many more people and loved ones faced unprecedented impact and harm as a result of infections and/or governmental restrictions put in place to combat the pandemic. The value of our bodies became clearer as did societal inequality. Racial and gender injustice also came into sharp focus.
5th - 26th November 2022
Pop-up: SELFIE by Ilfracombe Academy
SELFIE is a mega series of 700 (!) timed portraits from Ilfracombe Academy.
In the era of the instant selfie Ilfracombe Academy art students have been given 5 minutes to create a likeness of themselves on an a4 sheet of paper in simple black lines. We are looking forward to a gallery full of expressive drawings and a multitude of different approaches to a singular challenge.
26th - 29th October 2022
South West Printmaking Open 2022
We are excited to launch the first ever South West Printmaking Open at Studio KIND. This exhibition is a celebration of printmaking in all forms across our region; and brings together artists who are pushing boundaries, exploring traditions and delving deeper into this popular medium.
1st - 15th October 2022
Unit 6 Takeover, group exhibition
Unit 6 is an artist studios in Barnstaple, and will be taking over Studio KIND. for two weeks in September to showcase everything their artists have been working on over the last couple of years. The affordable studios is a supportive community with the aim of mental health and wellness, whilst combating isolation; using art as a mechanism for self-exploration and self-expression.
10th - 24th September 2022
Unstable Ground, group exhibition
Unstable Ground is an exhibition that explores the ways that art can address climate change and inspire individual and communal action, and addresses themes of water, tides, flooding, climate change and changing coastal communities. The project is led by Corinna Wagner from The University of Exeter, as part of the NERC-supported project, Time and Tide: Art, Adaptation, Resilience. Time and Tide features Marcus Vergette’s bells along the coast of Devon and Cornwall, and we are very excited to have one of his bells to be coming to the gallery as part of the exhibition.
13th August - 3rd September 2022
Money Talks: Penny Parlance, by QUIETBRITISHACCENT
QUIETBRITISHACCENT (QbA) is artist duo Sharon Gale and Jason Gale, who are based in Westward Ho! (Northern Devon). QbA work across print, textiles, painting, sign-writing and digital art, often using text and depictions of money to question the value of art and the limitations and abuse of language. Since 2015, QbA have become known for leaving hand painted messages on pre-decimal pennies stuck to walls (#pennydrops). The duo think of their pennies as individual, quiet voices in a loud environment.
16th July - 6th August 2022
Making Waves, Braunton Learning Cooperative Trust
We’re excited to announce Making Waves, a pop-up exhibition by Braunton Learning Cooperative Trust. The exhibition is a collection of art made by students from Braunton Academy, Caen Primary School, Kingsacre Primary School, Southmead Primary School, Marwood Primary School and Georgeham Primary School, and a fantastic chance to celebrate the next generation of artistic talent from Braunton and surrounding villages.
6th - 9th July 2022
Queen, North Devon Arts
North Devon Arts are taking over Studio KIND. from 6th to 19th June for their summer exhibition, and this year they have chosen the theme 'Queen'. North Devon Arts members will respond to this one inspirational word, from monarchy and insects to chess pieces and rock bands. Artists at all stages of their creative journeys rise to the challenge of celebrating and interpreting one of the most universally understood hierarchical nouns in the English language.
6th - 19th June 2022
The Beasts Are Within Me and I Will Let Them Grow,
Klaus is Koming
Klaus likes to straddle somewhere between adult mags and renaissance influences, putting the female form in the spotlight, and finding a balance of the crude and the nude. Early works of Klaus took great inspirations from adult mags of the 1970-90’s; analysing how the female form could be considered provocative with a turn of the head or a twist of a leg. ‘The Beasts Are Within Me and I will Let Them Grow’ is a collection of new large-scale paintings and works on paper that brings together these references.
30th April - 21st May 2022
Remembering Histories, Louise Hall
Louise Hall is a UK-based multi-disciplinary artist working in performance, print-making and sculpture. Louise’s work explores conversations on post-colonial ideas around the Black British experience in the UK and the diaspora, investigating the materiality of fabric and language to reflect social issues within the UK. Challenging concerns of colonial narrative and history, and the impact on education and other institutions of society, Louise uses non-violent imagery within her work to represent violent traumatic events with ties to plantations, colonial history and the transatlantic slave trade.
2nd April - 23rd April 2022
Political, Spiritual, Disaster: Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens,
Jack Hirons
Jack Hirons is returning to North Devon to present his Bone Black series, in its entirety, in his show, ‘Political, Spiritual, Disaster: Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens’ at Studio KIND. The body of work, which he started in 2017, is produced using a black paint made by the artist from chicken bones. By using this as his material for these monochrome paintings the audience experiences not only the depiction of chicken but also the presence within the artworks. In doing so his work becomes a dialogue between image and object, painting and sculpture.
5th – 26th March 2022
Locality, Ilfracombe Academy: pop-up
We are looking forward to hosting a photography exhibition by A-level and GCSE photography students from Ilfracombe Academy, showcasing an in-depth series of personal interpretations exploring the theme ‘locality’. Exploring this genre in both a physical and psychological sense, the students have taken inspiration from traditional and contemporary photographers including Jonathan Miller, Sebastian Magnani, Lee Friedlander, Joe Cornish and Joel Meyorwitz.
20th – 23rd February 2022
Transient Tales of the Teinter, George Rayner
George Rayner specialises in analogue black and white photographic printing; a methodical and deliberate process that reflects his visualisations. Developing the conventional analogue technique into one more ecologically sustainable and allowing nature to have a place within his work, he explores his relationship with the environment through materialistic allegory in quiet landscapes with a gentle humour. Transient Tales of the Teinter is the collaboration of two projects: ‘Hung out to Dry’ and ‘Coasting’, both based around environmental features and qualities of our landscape, which illustrates thoughts using material artefacts in transient moments.
29th January – 12th February 2022
Micro-Monumental, Mark Jessett
Mark Jessett is a painter working on paper and with acrylic paint, rarely using brushes. Overlaying paint in very fine films, his work explores the relationship between colour, surface texture, translucency and opacity. The feel of Mark’s work is guided by an appreciation for painting and illustration styles that he has have loved from a young age. His work is imbued with the flavour of magical imagery, folkloric artefacts, outdated presentations in local museums and representations of the esoteric. The exhibition showcases large-scale and micro paintings, including the 'token painting' series; a collection of 15cmx15cm miniatures.
8th – 22nd January 2022
North Devon Arts 2021 Christmas Exhibition
We can't wait to welcome back North Devon Arts to Studio KIND. who will be showcasing lots of talented local artists. All work exhibited is available for sale. This Christmas, why not invest in some art and support your local creative community? There will also be prints and smaller works available. North Devon Arts is a friendly and informal networking group of professional and amateur artists, including painters, sculptors, ceramicists, graphic designers, textile artists, writers, furniture makers, printmakers and stained glass artists.
6th – 19th December 2021
A Cake of Painted Tin, Katy Richardson: KARST x Studio KIND.
This exhibition presents a body of new work exploring the experiences of writer Antonia White, with particular reference to her Frost in May quartet of novels. The novels describe White’s early life and young adulthood, including time spent in Bethlem Hospital for a psychosis which was attributed to schizophrenia at the time of her admittance (late 1922) but which might now be understood as a symptom of her probable manic depressive illness (Moran, 2018). A Cake of Painted Tin translates White’s experience into the bodies, voices and gestures of these women collaborators, creating echoes across the almost 100 years since her incarceration at Bethlem.
5th – 27th November 2021
Our Natural World, The Park Community School: pop-up
Students from various different years groups at The Park Community School in Barnstaple will be coming together in ‘Our Natural World’ - an exhibition that explores, examines and celebrates the natural forms that are part of our everyday; whether it’s shells on the beach or plants in our house. The influence of the natural world are all around us. There will be work in a variety of mediums; from ceramic to print-making, and we can’t wait to welcome this new generation of artists to our space.
24th – 28th October 2021
Entwined, Mike Snudden and Nicolette McGuire
Entwined is a collaboration of shared space between Mike Snudden and Nicolette McGuire, both who use different approaches to explore common themes of memory, location, and materials. Mike and Nicolette met on the MA Fine Art at UWE in Bristol in 2013, and whilst on the surface the work appear to be very different in concept and outcome, the pieces offer a reminder of who we are and where we are going.
8th – 21st October 2021
Cathedral II, Peter Stiles: pop-up
During lockdown in 2021, Studio KIND. presented a solo exhibition of new works by local painter Peter Stiles as a virtual exhibition. This September, Peter will be returning to Studio KIND. with this magical body of work in the form of a pop-up exhibition so everyone has a chance to see the show in-person. His work is constructed using the layers of memory that have accrued around the places that he has painted so often. While much of his work is to do with a small section of North Devon’s coastline he also paints people. Recently he began a series of paintings about football which enabled him to tell stories.
24th - 28th September 2021
XVi, Newlyn School of Art Mentoring Programme: pop-up
XVI artists are a legacy group from Newlyn School of Art One Year Mentoring Programme. Since their launch show at the PZ Gallery in Penzance in 2019 they have continued to collaborate, and this two day pop-up show represents a chance to see how their work has developed in the last two years. Uniquely, all 12 of the artists will be in the gallery during the show, taking part in small group crits with their peers, and visitors will have the opportunity to share this experience and talk to the artists.
2nd - 3rd October 2021
Englishness is a Moving Target, Chris Alton
Chris Alton is an artist and curator, who grew up in Braunton, North Devon. His work addresses the interconnected nature of prevailing social, political, economic and environmental conditions. In 2012 he founded English Disco Lovers (EDL), an anti-facist, pro-disco group, which looked to reclaim the EDL acronym of the English Defence League. Other recent projects include a video essay on the trident as a cypher for colonial intent, and a typeface based on the silhouettes of migratory birds. Englishness is a Moving Target brings together a selection of old and new work produced over the last 9 years.
27th August - 18th September 2021
Matter, Media and Energy, Ian Andrews
Media, Matter and Energy is part of Ian's The Sketchbook and the Collider series, developed in collaboration with Professor Nikolopoulos from the University of Birmingham particle physics group. Ian Andrews uses drawing to build equivalents between the visual forces inherent in the language of drawing and particle interactions explored within the field of particle physics. Both are elemental building blocks of these diverse specialisms that reveal a history of shared ideas on the nature of reality since the early 20th Century. Media, Matter and Energy is a new site-specific installation of large-scale drawings that explore the naturally occurring radioactive material that can be found in North Devon.
30th July - 21st August 2021
At Once and a Touch Away, Gabriela Giroletti
25th June - 24th July 2021
Gabriela Giroletti is a Brazilian-born painter living and working in London. Through her impasto painting style, Gabriela is developing a unique symbolic glossary, characterised by the constant tension between the pictorial and human presence - the imagined and the material. Existing somewhere between abstract and figurative, painting and drawing, micro and macro, body and nature, still life and landscape, simple and complex, her work performs a push and pull game between body and mind; making and thinking. At Once and a Touch Away showcases new large-scale paintings developed throughout 2020 and 2021.
5th - 18th June 2021
Following on from a successful show in December 2020, North Devon Arts group returns to Studio KIND. for their summer exhibition. North Devon Arts is a friendly and informal networking group of professional and amateur artists, including painters, sculptors, ceramicists, graphic designers, textile artists, printmakers and stained-glass artists. The summer exhibition will showcase work made during any of the three lockdowns throughout the pandemic.
POP-UP: SWARM, Braunton Academy
27th May - 1st June 2021
SWARM showcases the incredible talents of Year 7 art students at Braunton Academy. Over the past few months they’ve been working on a project exploring the structure, importance and variety of insects. The exhibition will display 150 sculptures made from an eclectic array of materials, with every student in Year 7 contributing their work. This will be presented alongside a selection of 2D work that responds to these themes.
This was Bound to Happen Sooner or Later, Molly Rooke
Molly Rooke, a multi-disciplinary artist and educator living and working between Somerset and Devon, explores preservation and longing through collections of images and ephemera. This was Bound to Happen Sooner or Later showcases a new body of work exploring themes of preservation and restoration through coastal geography and heritage. Using traditional methods of domestic fixing and repair in an expended form, the work focuses on the degradation and erosion of the Somerset and Devon coastline, and what might be considered futile attempts to protect it from being eroded any further.
30th April - 22nd May 2021
12th March - 24th April 2021
Studio KIND. is excited to present the work of recent graduate and Braunton local, Niamh Birch. Upon completing her degree in Contemporary Arts Practice at Bath Spa in 2019, Niamh moved back to her hometown in North Devon. Inspired by story-telling and domestic settings, Niamh works predominantly with oil paint and pastels, portraying the imagery of everyday objects through impasto mark-making and bright, bold colours. Underpinned by a light-heartedness and humour, Niamh’s subject-matter nods towards still life and traditional symbolism, whilst also addressing our everyday associations through familial imagery.
Cathedral, Peter Stiles
15th January - 6th March 2021
Cathedral is a new solo exhibition of paintings by North Devon-based artist Peter Stiles. On leaving The Slade, Peter Stiles began to paint the landscape of North Devon and has continued to do so. His work is constructed using the layers of memory that have accrued around the places that he has painted so often. He composes pictures in order to convey emotion and a sense of grandeur and space.
North Devon Arts is a friendly and informal networking group of professional and amateur artists, including painters, sculptors, ceramicists, graphic designers, textile artists, printmakers and stained-glass artists. NDA was set up in 1998 to enable artists, and those interested in the arts, to find a way to connect and develop across a large rural area, and the dispersed communities within it. 2020 is the theme of the North Devon Arts Christmas exhibition, giving members the chance to showcase work made during lockdown and in response to the challenges everyone has faced this year.
