Exhibitions in the North

Maja Lorkowska, Exhibitions Editor

As we try to navigate our way out of winter, we can always count on some new exhibitions to be the little ray of sunshine that can nourish our minds and souls. 

This month, you should check out Antonia Peña’s photographs that exude sensuality and  freedom at Instituto Cervantes’ exhibition Body and Earth, while Liverpool’s Open Eye Gallery looks back to the 90s and the colourful queer club culture of the time with For Your Pleasure: 15 Years of DuoVision.

Liverpool has also gained a new artist collective – expect the weird and wonderful at DRUDENHAUS’ inaugural show and charity fundraiser at Bridewell Studios. Meanwhile, In Southport, a new gallery has popped up from local artist John Charles, showcasing his bold pop-culture themed paintings.

A Riot in Three Acts at HOME is a multimedia exploration of uprisings in the face of austerity and social injustice. 

Our top picks

For Your Pleasure: 15 Years Of DuoVision at Open Eye Gallery

For Your Pleasure: 15 Years Of DuoVision at Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool, 9 March 2025, free entry - Find Out More

Step back in time at Open Eye Gallery’s new exhibition celebrating the vibrant queer club culture of the 90s, from guest curators DuoVision.

Mohair Man, 1991, by Dave Swindells
Mohair Man, 1991, by Dave Swindells

DRUDENHAUS at Bridewell Studios

DRUDENHAUS at Bridewell Studios, Liverpool, Until 13 March 2025, free entry - Visit now

Something new is happening in Liverpool – don’t miss the very first event by DRUDENHAUS, one that includes an artist-led exhibition, charity fundraiser, and a programme of music and poetry events, all sprinkled with a good dose of weirdness.

Drudenhaus
Niamh Tam

Imran Perretta: A Riot In Three Acts at HOME

Imran Perretta: A Riot In Three Acts at HOME Manchester, Manchester, Until 8 June 2025, free entry - Visit now

Imran Perretta confronts inequality and resistance through a powerful, immersive exhibition at HOME.

JJ.

Body and Earth: an exhibition by Antonia Peña at Instituto Cervantes

Body and Earth: an exhibition by Antonia Peña at Instituto Cervantes, Manchester, Until 18 April 2025, free entry - Visit now

Explore Antonia Peña’s striking photographs which explore the intimate connection between humanity, nature and freedom.

Body and Earth: an exhibition by Antonia Peña
Instituto Cervantes Manchester

Gallery Artist John Charles

Gallery Artist John Charles, 22 Union Street, Southport, PR9 0QE - Visit now

This newly opened gallery in Southport showcases the work of local painter John Charles and is open every Friday.

Gallery Artist John Charles
Artist John Charles

JMW Turner: In Light and Shade at the Whitworth

JMW Turner: In Light and Shade at The Whitworth, Manchester, Until 2 November 2025, free entry - Visit now

The Whitworth celebrates the 250th anniversary of Turner’s birth with a new exhibition showcasing 71 prints alongside painted works, showcasing a different side to one of the best known landscape artists.

A stormy landscape scene, in watercolour, painting by JMW Turner
JMW Turner, Storm in the Pass of St. Gotthard, Switzerland, 1845. JMW Turner © the Whitworth, The University of Manchester.

OPEN 2025 at Grundy Art Gallery

OPEN 2025 at Grundy Art Gallery, Lancashire, Until 8 March 2025, free entry - Visit now

OPEN 2025 at Grundy Art Gallery showcases the talent and creativity of the Blackpool and the Fylde coast area, through painting, drawing, sculpture and much more.

Open 2025: Annual Open Submission Exhibition. A close up of the artworks, a small tapestry piece, two printed graphics, an abstract piece, and a watercolour painting.
Grundy Art Gallery

But Does It Speak? at the Bluecoat

But Does It Speak? at Bluecoat, Liverpool and online, Until 31 March 2025, free entry - Visit now

The new season at the Bluecoat focuses on video works from artists who utilise written and spoken word. The screenings will change every few weeks until late March so make sure you come back regularly to catch each film.

Everybody was Invited to a Party, Farah Al Qasimi. Film still.
Everybody was Invited to a Party, Farah Al Qasimi. Film still.

The Boy with a Leg Named Brian: Memoirs by Pete McKee at Weston Park Museum

The Boy with a Leg Named Brian: Memoirs by Pete McKee at Weston Park Museum, Sheffield, Until 2 November 2025, free entry - Visit now

Pete McKee is a much loved artist and cartoonist born and working in Sheffield. Don’t miss his colourful show at the Weston Park Museum – a walk down memory lane, capturing precious moments and cultural events from the 70s and 80s.

A painting of a young child being bathed in a sink of a 197s style kitchen. Around the sink are a rubber duck, a bottle of  washing up liquid, a jug, a kettle and a mug.
Pete McKee, Bath Time © Pete McKee

Those Who Hold Up The Sky at Aviva Studios

BRiGHTBLACK X FUSION FACTORY present Those Who Hold Up The Sky at Aviva Studios, Manchester, 28 February–2 March 2025, free entry - Find Out More

Gaming meets live performance in this playable art installation co-created by a collective of Greater Manchester residents together with artists BRiGHTBLACK.

Those Who Hold Up the Sky
BRiGHTBLACK X FUSION FACTORY

The Plant that Stowed Away at TATE Liverpool

The Plant that Stowed Away at Tate Liverpool, Liverpool, Until 11 May 2025, free entry - Visit now

The Plant that Stowed Away explores connections between port cities, migration, and nature, blending film photography with works by Atkinson Grimshaw, Matisse, and others.

Henri Matisse  The Dancer (La Danseuse) 1949
©Henri Matisse © Succession Henri Matisse/DACS 2024

Mani Kambo: Ax·is Mun·di at Baltic

Mani Kambo at BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, North East, Until 2 June 2025, free entry - Visit now

Mani Kambo’s new major body of work focuses on spirituality, superstitions and ritual through the artist’s own lexicon of visual symbols rendered in monochrome. A striking, considered show.

John McKenzie © 2024 Baltic

David Hockney: Pieced Together at the National Science and Media Museum

David Hockney: Pieced Together at National Science and Media Museum, Bradford, Until 18 May 2025, free entry - Visit now

The National Science and Media Museum reopening would not be complete without the Bradford-born superstar artist. David Hockney: Pieced Together presents his collages in paper and video forms.

David Hockney creating a joiner of the National Science and Media Museum , Bradford 19 or 20 July 1985.
National Science and Media Museum and Science & Society Picture Library

Stuart Croft: Eternal Return at Leeds Art Gallery

Stuart Croft: Eternal Return at Leeds Art Gallery, Leeds, Until 13 April 2025, free entry - Visit now

Leeds Art Gallery celebrates the work of Stuart Croft, a Leeds-born filmmaker whose innovative films blend cinema and art and push the boundaries of moving image.

A man and woman dance in a pink theatre.
Image supplied by Leeds Inspired

Jakkai Siributr: There’s no Place at The Whitworth

Jakkai Siributr: There’s no Place at The Whitworth, Manchester, Until 16 March 2025, free entry - Visit now

Powerful textile works blend personal and political themes in this striking exhibition. You can even join the regular embroidery workshops and contribute to the display.

Jakkai Siributr There’s no Place at The Whitworth
Image credit Jakkai Siributr, There’s no Place, 2020-present. Courtesy the Artist © Jakkai Siibutr, Flowers Gallery and 100 Tonson Foundation.

The Traumatic Surreal at The Henry Moore Institute

The Traumatic Surreal at The Henry Moore Institute in Leeds, Leeds, Until 15 March 2025, free entry - Visit now

The Traumatic Surreal explores the powerful contributions to Surrealism from women artists from German-speaking countries, confronting WWII trauma, patriarchy, and the female experience through sculpture.

A sculpture of a dark brown dog looks to the right, hanging out of its middle and the back are what appears to be its insides (in cream) spilling out.
Image supplied by Leeds Inspired

Shadow and Void: Buddha10 at esea contemporary

Shadow and Void: Buddha10 at esea contemporary, Manchester, Until 20 April 2025, free entry - Visit now

Buddhist sculptures are juxtaposed with contemporary art in esea contemporary’s latest offering, exploring themes of spirituality, science, and belief.

Credit: Courtesy of MAO Museo d’Arte Orientale, ‘Buddha¹⁰’ – X-Ray ‘La Venaria Reale’ Conservation and Restoration Centre. Caption: X-ray image of the statue of Seated Buddha with Folded Hands, 16th Century.

Louise Giovanelli: A Song of Ascents at The Hepworth Wakefield

Louise Giovanelli: A Song of Ascents at The Hepworth Wakefield, West Yorkshire, Until 21 April 2025, from £0.00 - Book now

The Hepworth Wakefield’s new exhibition gathers Giovanelli’s luminous large-scale canvases, showcasing the artist’s skill as well as her musings on contemporary worship and the duality of human experience.

A painting of green and yellow curtains
Louise Giovanelli, Prairie, 2022 © Louise Giovanelli. All Rights Reserved, DACS/Artimage. Photo © White Cube (Ollie Hammick). Courtesy of the artist and White Cube

The Skin We Live In: Portraits from the NGCA Collection at NGCA

The Skin We Live In: Portraits from the NGCA Collection at Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art, North East, Until 2 March 2025, free entry - Visit now

See portraiture like never before at the NGCA’s group show, gathering works in photography, paint and print where portraits carry more than just a likeness.

Walker & Bromwich, Love Cannon, 2006, lambda print Photo:
Courtesy of the artist.

Play Interact Explore at BALTIC

Play Interact Explore at BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, North East, Until 27 April 2025, free entry - Visit now

Come and visit the BALTIC to play with the objects created especially to be interacted with, where ‘please do touch’ is the main rule!

Colourful blocks and sculpture
leap then look

Lawson Oyekan at Blackwell, The Arts and Crafts House

Lawson Oyekan at Blackwell, The Arts and Crafts House, Cumbria, Until 16 March 2025, from £0.00 - Book now

Experience Lawson Oyekan’s monumental ceramic sculptures at first hand at his solo show this season. 

Lawson Oyekan, Coming up for air, 1999
The artist

Wild at Manchester Museum

Wild at Manchester Museum, Manchester, Until 1 June 2025, free entry - Visit now

Manchester Museum’s new exhibition focuses on all things wild or related to the concept of wildness. From environmental campaigns that lead to restoring ecosystems to romanticised landscape paintings, the show gathers different approaches and practices.

Wolf in Yellowstone
Jacob W. Frank

Stephen Hawking at Work at the Science and Industry Museum

Stephen Hawking at Work at Science and Industry Museum, Manchester, Until 30 September 2025, free entry - Visit now

Explore incredible objects from the world-renowned theoretical physicist’s office in this special display.

Stephen Hawking at Work
Science Museum Group - © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum.

Hannah Perry: Manual Labour at Baltic

Hannah Perry: Manual Labour at BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, North East, Until 15 March 2025, free entry - Visit now

Hannah Perry’s explorations of matrescence in combination with class, labour and industrial materials is a unique perspective on this still underexplored topic.

A pregnant woman standing in a mirror
Hannah Perry © Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art

Bharti Kher: Alchemies at Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Bharti Kher: Alchemies at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, West Yorkshire, Until 27 April 2025, from £0.00 - Book now

One of the world’s leading contemporary artists, Bharti Kher comes to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park with a body of work that focuses on the female experience and its shifting context in today’s world.

Sculpture of a nude woman with the head of a cow placed on top of the woman's head
Bharti Kher, Animus Mundi (detail), 2018. © Bharti Kher. Courtesy of the artist and Nature Morte. Photo © Jeetin Sharma.

More exhibitions events

Wolf in Yellowstone
Until
ExhibitionsManchester
Wild at Manchester Museum

Manchester Museum explores the concept of ‘wild’ nature as a means of tackling the climate and biodiversity crisis in a new exhibition.

free entry
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Exhibitions in the North

HOME Manchester
Manchester
Theatre
HOME Manchester

Offering a packed schedule of events and things to do, HOME Manchester is one of the city’s leading hubs for arts and culture.

The Whitworth
Manchester
Gallery
The Whitworth

This much-loved gallery-in-a-park is open for business, showcasing some of the city’s finest contemporary and historic exhibitions.

Waterfront
Museum
The British Music Experience

It’s a discotheque for the senses, an incredible collection of artefacts and memorabilia, audio guides, music and stories. There are iconic costumes worn by David Bowie, Freddie Mercury, Dusty Springfield, the Spice Girls and Adam Ant, and musical instruments played by some of the world’s most renowned artists from Noel Gallagher to the Sex Pistols.

Yorkshire Sculpture Park
Wakefield
Gallery
Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Set over 500 acres, Yorkshire Sculpture Park is the best open-air gallery in the UK and an international centre for modern and contemporary sculpture.

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Section of Tapestry depicting a couple eating fish and chips
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