ARTS & EXHIBITIONS

Sculpture, Painting, Ceramics, until 2 September, Beaux Arts Bath, 12-13 York Street

You can shelter from the rain, the sun and the visiting hoards in the balmy calm of Beaux Arts Bath during August, as the gallery has on show a selection of favourites. These include established artists such as Anna Gillespie, Beth Carter, Nick Mackman, Nathan Ford and Helen Simmonds, exhibiting alongside new faces such as painter Melanie Goemans. beauxartsbath.co.uk Susan McDonald at sandrahiggins.art sandrahiggins.art; sandra@sandrahiggins.com

Sandra Higgins Art is delighted to exhibit work by Susan McDonald, whose painting is born out of an acute love of nature and keen observation of its seasons and life cycles. Visit the online gallery to see more or email sandra@sandrahiggins.com to view, in person, by appointment.

World of Interiors

David Simon Contemporary, 37 High Street, Castle Cary BA7 7AW

Until 18 August davidsimoncontemporary.com

Work from Hugh Buchanan, Hugo Grenville, Victoria Jinivizian, Peter LloydJones, Alex Lowery, Mungo Powney and ceramics by The Chelsea Potter. Whether depicting an artist’s studio or home or the stately rooms of a country house, these compositions give a snapshot into the private lives of others. The subject of domestic interiors lends itself as an endless source of inspiration for the painter to include still life, portraiture, windowsill landscapes and a vehicle for exploring colour, form and pattern. Open Monday –Saturday (except Wednesday), 10am–5.30pm.

Immersion – an exhibition of contemporary photography by Shay Parsons, Burdall’s Yard, 7a Anglo Terrace, Bath, until 25 August

Bath Contemporary Artists’ Fair, Sunday 13 August, 10am–5pm Green Park Station, Green Park Road, Bath

The award-winning monthly Bath Contemporary Artists’ Fair (BCAF) is back on Sunday 13 August. Committed to bringing the best of contemporary art from the city and beyond to the heart of Bath, the fair has created a regular space where artists can network, share ideas, connect with the public, and where the public can connect with art. Visitors can browse the works of local artists and admire fine art, photography, sculpture, textiles, ceramics and much more, all under the vaulted glass roof of Green Park Station. For updates and exhibiting artists visit the website: bcaf.co.uk

Shay Parsons is a Bath-based contemporary photographer. She uses camera movement, abstraction and multiple exposure to bring a painterly and impressionistic style to her photographs. The images are her response to the landscape and nature. All images are framed, signed limited editions. This solo exhibition follows on from successful showings during May in central Bath at a pop-up gallery and as part of Bear Flat Artists’ Open Studios. Open Tues–Sat 11am – 6pm. shayparsons.com

The Holburne Museum, Great Pulteney Street, Bath

Painted Love: Renaissance Marriage Portraits, until 1 October

This lavish exhibition explores the role of portraiture in the process of marriage in Renaissance Europe. Marriage portraits not only documented the legal union of spouses, capturing that key moment in the sitters’ lives, intimate and personal as well as public and formal, but also celebrated the union of families, their wealth, power, land, and the forging of political alliances. The exhibition includes prestigious loans from the National Gallery, the British Museum, the Royal Collection Trust, the Ashmolean and the V&A, alongside numerous works from important private collections.

Lucie Rie: The Adventure of Pottery, until 7 January

This major exhibition celebrates Lucie Rie (1902–1995), one of the most accomplished and influential potters of the 20th century. Featuring work produced across six decades, this display follows the evolution of Rie’s distinguished career, from some of her earliest ceramics made in her native Vienna to striking pieces from the last years of her life. holburne.org

Summer Exhibition

Gallery Nine, 9B Margaret's Buildings, Bath, 1 July –31 August

Anna Silverton’s wheel-thrown colourful porcelain vases and bowls balance refined elegance and swooping curves while Liz O’Dwyer creates simple, unglazed, polished porcelain pieces with modern, crisp lines. Jewellery by Alison Boyce inspired by the Portuguese coastline uses silver, enamel, found objects, wood, textiles and semi-precious beads. Ulli Kaiser combines traditional crafts like bead crochet with unusual materials such as cut glass and antique metal beads. Barbara Peirson’s figurative and landscape paintings capture subjects including dawn light mirrored in the water and wet mud, summer grazing cows and small fishing vessels. galleryninebath.com

Kaffe Fassett: Timeless Themes –New Quilts, until 1 October

This vibrant exhibition showcases 23 large new quilts and ties in with Kaffe's forthcoming book, Timeless Themes. Kaffe has searched through his print archives to demonstrate the different motifs that people love to return to in patchwork designs which delight and intrigue.

Candace Bahouth: Enchanted Visions, until 1 October

Candace Bahouth, celebrated fine artist and longterm collaborator with Kaffe, creates grand rococo mirrors decorated with porcelain and china pieces. victoriagal.org.uk

Connecting Threads: Fashion Inspired by the MEAA Collection, Museum of East Asian Art, 12 Bennett Street, Bath; meaa.org.uk, until 22 December

Working in partnership with the Museum, and taking inspiration from objects in the Museum’s collection, students from the Art & Design department of Bath College were challenged to create garments which would appeal to their generation. The exhibition features a selection of four of the fashion students’ designs alongside the objects which caught their imagination. These objects, along with other treasures in the Museum’s extensive collection, provided the starting point for these young aspiring designers to follow their own curiosity and learn more about the objects’ cultures of origin. Their designs reflect this journey of discovery and highlight the themes, techniques, and cultural aspects that most inspired them. meaa.org.uk