8 craft exhibitions to see in the UK this May
Although London gets the limelight this month thanks to its annual craft week, there’s plenty worth your time happening around the country too
A Fine Line: Modern Makers at Pitzhanger
Curated by Joanna Bird, this selection of 11 artists draws links between contemporary ceramic and glass practices and the architecture of Sir John Soane’s Pitzhanger Manor. There's an intriguing pile of bricks in different iron-based glazes by French artist Emmanuel Boos, landscape-inspired porcelain vases by Hanne Heuch and glacier-like glasswork by Joseph Harrington (pictured above).
8 May – 4 August 2024 at Pitzhanger Manor and Gallery, London
Dion Kitson: Silver Linings
As part of Kitson’s Rue Britannia exhibition at Ikon Gallery, the artist and has created an off-site commission in a former silverware factory. Among the dies, tools and paraphernalia of the workshops (preserved in situ by English Heritage), Kitson’s used his silversmithing skills to introduce cheeky interventions that make us think about industrial pasts and new technologies.
10 May – 8 September 2024 at J.W. Evans Silver Factory, Birmingham
Roger Ackling Diagram 2003/2004 © Estate of the Artist / Courtesy Annely Juda Fine Art, London Roger Ackling Voewood 2006 © Estate of the Artist / Courtesy Annely Juda Fine Art, London
Sunlight: Roger Ackling
Using a magnifying glass to focus the sun’s rays, Roger Ackling made art by scorching driftwood, household objects, paper and card with enigmatic patterns. These unusual pieces, mostly shown abroad in the mid-1970s, were ahead of their time in using only natural resources and found materials. This survey of 150 works at Norwich Castle offers a contemporary reinterpretation with local relevance (Ackling combed the nearby beach of Weybourne for inspiration).
18 May – 22 September, Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery, Norwich
Mary Farmer: A Life in Tapestry
Drawn to weaving as a method to transmit colour intensity, Mary Farmer brought new life to tapestries and rugs in the late 20th century. Nine pieces from her estate join this exhibition at Crafts Study Centre, which celebrates Farmer’s creative legacy and gives a wider picture of her artistic and academic life through notes, samples and photographs.
London Craft Week
The capital’s annual festival of craft gets underway this month. Now in its 10th year, London Craft Week has become renowned for its displays, demonstrations, parties and talks which pop up around the city to celebrate all that’s handmade. New this year is a programme of outdoor art, a vintage market and a secret ceramic auction. Not sure where to begin? Read more in our special guide.
13-19 May 2024, various venues, London
Hamid Zénati
‘All-over’ is the way self-taught Algerian artist Hamid Zénati described his busy visual language – applied enthusiastically to textiles, ceramics and other surfaces. His joyful use of colour and pattern involves a range of references from North African modernism to the set designs of Sonia Delaunay. Get acquainted with his individual style at the Nottingham Contemporary this month.
25 May 2024 – 8 Sep 2024, Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham
Laura Aldridge, The Inside of Aliveness, 2024. Courtesy of the artist and Kendall Koppe, Glasgow
Laura Aldridge: Lawnmower
Glasgow-based artist Laura Aldridge has an experimental practice that brings together stoneware, fabric, glass and other artefacts in strange and sometimes unsettling installations. For a pond in Jupiter Artland’s garden, she has made a fountain of giant snail shells, stacked up and richly glazed. See it from 11 May along with further art and video works.
11 May – 29 September 2024 at Jupiter Artland, Edinburgh
Mike Dodd: His Final Firings
This swan song exhibition of works by British studio potter Mike Dodd celebrates his 60 years in the craft. Having worked in various locations around the UK throughout his career, Dodd has become known for his hands-on approach: as well as making pots, he builds kilns and makes glazes from local rocks, clays and wood-ashes.
