From Lucian Freud to a stunning exhibition of Laurence Stephen Lowry, here are four art exhibitions to get you out of London.
Regional art exhibitions – quick links
Edge: Where the Land Meets the Sea
Hastings Contemporary
Edge: Where the Land Meets the Sea is an impressive new exhibition at Hastings Contemporary exploring the fundamental connection between land and sea, and the vital role both play in sustaining life on earth. From microscopic ecosystems to expansive coastal landscapes, the exhibition reveals the interdependence of forests and kelp, soils and oceans, human cultures and the more-than-human world.
Co-curated with The Land Gardeners, who presented the acclaimed exhibition SOIL at Somerset House in 2025, this exhibition brings together artists who examine these interconnected living systems and their shared futures. Arranged thematically, the exhibition includes fascinating sections such as The Wonder of the Invisible, Life on the Edge, Spiritual and Cultural Connections and The Skin of the Earth.
Be sure to see the superb woven tapestry Tied to the Other Side by Otobong Nkanga and the Wooden Boulder series by David Nash. And take some time to be entranced by Win van Egmond’s beautiful 30-minute video Biofilm. Just superb!
This is the first of two exhibitions to focus on ocean futures and sustainability; the companion exhibition, Horizon: Where the Sea Meets the Sky, will open in autumn 2027. Hastings Contemporary is a bold, independent gallery situated right on the shingle fishing beach and always worth a visit – and don’t miss out on the excellent fish and chips nearby.
Edge: Where the Land Meets the Sea is at Hastings Contemporary, Hastings to 3 January 2027.
LS Lowry: The Theatre of Life
MK Gallery
This stunning new exhibition of works by Laurence Stephen Lowry (1887-1976) opened at MK Gallery this month just as Milton Keynes was shortlisted to be UK City of Culture for 2029. This is the first major retrospective of Lowry’s work since the Tate Britain show back in 2013 and is the culmination of a year-long celebration marking the 50th anniversary of his death.
Featuring over 140 paintings and drawings, this thoughtful show goes beyond the usual ‘self-taught, working class man’ trope that is often associated with the artist and shows him to be a complex man, a social realist, humourist, humanist, dramatist and visionary. The considered hang moves chronologically through the galleries, opening with his early days in the room with the Florentine Blue wall to his almost surreal late works, full of wit and whimsy, which close the show.
MK prides itself on its detailed gallery cards, with some 15,000 words in this show, so take your time to study them as you go around. One highlight for me is The Pond, one of Lowry’s large-scale 1950s townscapes. As the card says, ‘He explained that the trousers hanging out to dry from the window of a house … were suggested to him by someone who came to read the meter.’
Also worth close attention, the incredibly moving and ’empty’ Seascape from 1952 feels like a contemplation on loneliness; and the 1946 painting Lancashire Fair: Good Friday, Daisy Nook, which belongs to the Givernment Art Collection but has been hung in 10 Downing Street since Margaret Thatcher was PM. There’s also the first painting Lowry ever sold, The Lodging House, for which he received the grand sum of £5, and the humorous Level Crossing from 1946 that includes two little dogs who often pop up in his paintings.
Much admired during his lifetime, he refused many honours including an Order of the Companion of Honour, an OBE, a CBE, and a Knighthood. The accompanying fully illustrated 220-page monograph is beautifully presented and a great buy for any art lover. Don’t miss this one!
LS Lowry: The Theatre of Life is at MK Gallery, Milton Keynes to 28 February 2027.
Art Then! British Painting, Sculpture and Drawing 1910-1960
Southampton City Art Gallery
See 50 years of modern British art in Art Then! British Painting, Sculpture and Drawing 1910-1960 at the Southampton City Art Gallery.
There are paintings, drawings and sculpture from over one hundred leading artists, including Paul Nash, Barbara Hepworth, David Bomberg, Henry Moore and Lucian Freud.
This extensive exhibition really is a celebration of British art and shows how the artists responded to the modern art revolution that swept across Europe and beyond. It was a pivotal time in art history that led to some of the most exciting, daring and influential work ever to be produced in the UK.
Many of the works are from the Ingram Collection, one of the UK’s leading collections of the period. Some of these pieces are rarely on public display, making this an extra special treat.
The exhibition is curated by Dr David Boyd Haycock, the author of A Crisis of Brilliance: Five Young British Artists and the Great War.
One of my favourite works is Lucian Freud’s Bananas. Best known as a portrait painter whose work is often unforgiving, this is a quite different piece. Freud went to Jamaica in 1952 to stay with author Ian Fleming and escape the collapse of his first marriage.
While Fleming was busy writing Casino Royale, Freud was outside making this meticulous study of a banana plant. Bananas was first exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 1954.
Art Then! British Painting, Sculpture and Drawing 1910-1960 is at Southampton City Art Gallery to 21 February 2027.
Richard Slee & Ancient Landscape, Modern Times
The Holburne Museum
It’s absolutely worth going to Bath to spend the day in the beautiful Holburne Museum. The original owner, Sir William Holburne (1793-1874), was an avid collector of decorative arts and he left the collection to the city for everyone to enjoy.
Since then, more than 10,000 items have been added including portrait miniatures, porcelain, embroideries and portraits by leading artists of the 18th century. This permanent collection is complemented by temporary exhibitions, with two to see at the moment.
Richard Slee: Sunlit Uplands and Withdrawing Rooms presents one of Britain’s most celebrated contemporary ceramicists and this delightful exhibition showcases over 400 individual, meticulously crafted ceramic islands in the ballroom.
Ancient Landscape, Modern Times: Eric Ravilious and the Artists of the Chalk Downs brings together works by Eric Ravilious, William Nicholson, Paul Nash, John Nash, Tirzah Garwood, Peggy Angus and other important British artists from the 1910s to the 1940s.
Through paintings, drawings, prints and archival material, the exhibition reveals how the chalk landscapes of the South Downs and elsewhere inspired a generation of artists seeking to reinvent landscape painting for the modern age.
While you’re in Bath, be sure to visit The Victoria Gallery in the centre of town and catch a show at the historic Theatre Royal, one of the best examples of Georgian theatre architecture in the country.
Ancient Landscape, Modern Times: Eric Ravilious and the Artists of the Chalk Downs and Richard Slee: Sunlit Uplands and Withdrawing Rooms continue at The Holburne Museum, Bath to 10 January 2027.
