STATE OF THE ART

Found Cities, Lost Objects: Women in the City, Royal West of England Academy (RWA), until 13 August

Found Cities, Lost Objects: Women in the City, is a national touring exhibition curated for the Arts Council Collection by Turner Prize-winning artist and cultural activist Lubaina Himid CBE. This exhibition of over 60 works, including some by Bristol-based artists, presents a wide array of modern and contemporary art, including painting, sculpture, photography and film from both the Arts Council Collection and artists’ studios.

The work in this exhibition can sometimes appear challenging and encourages visitors to view the city through a woman’s eyes, questioning our understanding of the urban city. Found Cities, Lost Objects addresses themes ranging from safety and navigation to concepts of belonging and power and fun, freedom and discovery.

RWA is excited to include work by Bristol artists Valda Jackson, Mellony Taper, Beth Carter RWA, Huma Mulji, and Veronica Vickery, amongst others.

• Royal West of England Academy, Queen’s Road, BS8 1PX

Mycelium Book by Rodrigo Arteaga, Arnolfini, until 18 June

Mycelium Book is a special display of Chilean artist Rodrigo Arteaga’s new artwork, presented in the Reading Room on Level Two at Arnolfini. Arteaga was in residence in Bristol in Summer 2022 to create a new commissioned sculpture, Fallen Tree, for their exhibition Forest: Wake this Ground. Fallen Tree was made from an ash tree found in Leigh Woods, with support from Forestry England. The work explored what it would look like if we could see underground as the tree begins to rot, decompose and become assimilated by mycelium. Mycelium is a network of fungal threads that connect the roots of plants and trees into a giant web able to communicate and share resources.

Following this commission, Arteaga undertook a residency with the Centre for Print Research (CFPR) at UWE Bristol. He worked in collaboration with researchers at the CFPR to use mycelium to produce non-human drawings, photographic images and sculptures. Arteaga experimented in ways to observe the underworld that exists beyond our senses.

• arnolfini.org.uk; 16 Narrow Quay, Bristol BS1 4QA

In this series of abstract paintings Diné artist Randy Barton explores the Bauhaus Movement through the lens of graffiti art.

Barton is a neo-contemporary Native artist, designer, dancer, DJ and music producer from the Navajo Nation in Arizona. The foundation of his work derives from the unique combination of his background in graffiti art and the traditional Navajo teachings and ceremonies that began shaping his life at an early age. His paintings showcase the Navajo Beauty Way (divine feminine) and Protection Way (divine masculine) with hip hop undertones and are inspired by the colours and hues of heightened states of awareness. He transforms acrylic and aerosol paint into stimulating abstract landscapes of time travel, rainbow walking, reflection and soul remembrance manifested from the spirit realm. Each brushstroke is a prayer and a moving meditation from spirit to canvas. The artist’s intention is to utilise art as a vehicle to uplift the soul and promote healing and awareness.

• rainmakerart.co.uk; 140 Whiteladies Road, BS8 2RS

BS9 Arts Trail, 10 & 11 June

Where can you go to see the work of 40 painters, 15 potters, 10 textile artists and eight mixed-media artists, plus printers, glass artists, jewellery-makers, digital artists, illustrators, an enamel artist and a wood carver – and all for free? Answer – this year’s BS9 Arts Trail! The trail takes place on the weekend of 10 and 11 June and 87 artists will be showing their work in 15 venues in the Henleaze, Westbury-on-Trym and Stoke Bishop areas of the city. All venues are open from 11am-5pm on both Saturday and Sunday. The artists produce a vast array of high-quality work that is available to purchase directly from the person who made it. There is something to suit every budget, from greetings cards to original paintings. The BS9 Arts Trail is a community event that benefits enormously from the support of the BS9 community and local businesses, including the sponsor for this year’s trail, VWV. The trail is located in a really attractive part of the city and artists are based in interesting venues, such as the Stoke Lodge Centre and Trinity College. Several venues offer refreshments, which not only provide welcome breaks in your journey, but have helped to raise around £2,000 for local causes in previous years.

• For more detailed information about artists and venues, visit: bs9arts.co.uk

Graffiti Ice Cream, The Viewing Room at Sandra Higgins Art, throughout June

Sandra Higgins Art is pleased to exhibit Graffiti Ice Cream, a series of unique prints inspired by Bristol harbourside. Usher in the summer with this joyful series of unique monotype prints –all named after ice-cream flavours –by Maxine Foster. Foster’s work screams hot summer days: blue skies, twinkling water and melting ice-cream.

Sandra Higgins has worked in the art business for many years, first in her hometown of Chicago as an artist and art tutor, then in the UK as an art administrator, curator and gallery owner. Sandra is now based in Bath, where she has established her art advisory business, Sandra Higgins Art. The new series is currently available at ‘The Viewing Room’ in Bath.

• For more information, visit: sandrahiggins.art

Artwork by Maxine Foster

Moish Sokal: England to Savanna, Malthouse Gallery of East Lambrook Manor Gardens, 3 June – 22 July

Travelling artist Moish Sokal has recently returned from his painting adventure safari trips to the wildlife parks of Tanzania and Kenya. His newly inspired watercolours will go on show in the Malthouse Gallery of East Lambrook Manor Gardens from 3 June – 22 July.

After waiting three years to travel to the wildlife parks of the Serengeti and Mount Kilimanjaro due to the Covid pandemic, Moish (and his assistant Prue) were able to return to the African bush, taking in the extraordinary sights of Tarangire National Park, the extinct volcanoof Ngorongoro and the Tsavo wildlife parks.

Alongside the wildlife paintings that Sokal painted upon his return from Africa, there is a significant cache of paintings which Moish painted during last years’ Autumn season featured in the exhibition.

• moishsokal.co.uk; eastlambrook.com

Artwork by Moish Sokal

Horizon, Lime Tree Gallery, until 20 June

Lime Tree Gallery is broadening its horizons with work from two artists new to the galleries. French abstract painter, Alain du Pontavice, brings beautiful, subtle colours and textures, while Swedish artist Carina Prigmore, now resident in Scotland, paints lovely moody landscapes, often of the majestic Cairngorms.

A different kind of horizon has inspired West Cork-based Ian Humphreys for much of his career. The dramatic coast and islands of his locale form the background to his increasingly abstract work, which is almost obsessed with the horizontal.

• limetreegallery.com; 84 Hotwell Road, BS8 4UB

Image: Red Sun on Icy Waters by Alain du Pontavice