Hastings Contemporary looks ahead to its 2025 exhibition programme
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
Among the exhibitions is Undersea (March 29-September 14 2025).
Spokeswoman Nicola Jeffs said: “Exploring the mysteries, myths and marine life that lurk under the waves, Undersea will bring together paintings, prints, drawings and sculpture from across different cultures and artistic movements for an inspiring exhibition next spring.
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Hide Ad“Undersea follows Seaside Modern (2020) and Seafaring (2021) in a trilogy of exhibitions curated by art historian James Russell.
“With paintings, prints, drawings and sculpture by artists from a range of cultures and periods Undersea explores life beneath the waves in an exciting and approachable way.
“One group of works is based on artists’ study of the marine environment and the creatures that inhabit it. Another explores the mythological and the imaginary, with an international group of works depicting mermaids. This includes the celebrated surrealist painting A Siren in Full Moonlight by Paul Delvaux (Southampton Art Gallery) and the startlingly inventive Mermaids series by contemporary Swiss painter Klodin Erb.
“Alongside historical works by artists such as Edwardian illustrator Arthur Rackham, 19th-century Japanese printmaker Tsukioka Yoshitoshi and German Expressionist master Oskar Kokoschka, visitors will find a rich variety of contemporary work. Stand-out paintings include the mysterious Deep Dive by Tom Anholt and Octopus Veil by Michael Armitage, while a completely different view of the sea and its denizens is offered by a group of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Straits Islander artists.”
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Hide AdAlso coming up is Sophie Barber (September 27 2025-March 2026).
“Sophie Barber (b Hastings, UK 1996) will bring her accumulated and monumental canvases to Hastings Contemporary, opening in September 2025.
“Heralded as one of the country's most exciting painters, Barber creates folk-like compositions that take her home and experiences of the Sussex coast as inspiration to explore and combine factual and fictional ideas across a variety of materials including painted canvases of various volumes, repurposed and unstretched canvas, with heavily textured surfaces often incorporating ambiguous slogans and hand-carved figurines alluding to the feeling or impression a place can leave.”
Also coming up is Isabel Rock (September 27 2025-March 2026).
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Hide Ad“A new body of work by Isabel Rock, winner of the 2023 Evelyn Williams Drawing Award, will be on display at Hastings Contemporary from September into the new year. In a show combining drawing, woodblock collages and interactive spaces, this complex and far-reaching exhibition explores ideas around systems of commerce, power structures, the complexities of desire as well as investigating human nature and endeavour.
“Rock´s signature large scale drawings will be displayed alongside corresponding short stories which share visions of a new and unstable world. The show will also feature animated immersive projections and the story of Sardines, a beautiful, desirable yet flawed mutant rat lady navigating a surreal world post climate collapse.”
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