Event Type : Art Exhibitions

Clare creates her artwork through the exploration of paper constantly refining and looking for perfection whilst embracing the versatile qualities of strength and fragility.  She enjoys challenging the perception of paper and the possibilities it holds, transforming it from a throwaway material into something extraordinary.
Through precision hand cutting and folding, her pieces evolve over time through methodical repetitive motions building layer upon layer resulting in highly textured mesmerising pieces of art which draw the viewer in.  The methodical approach Clare takes is rooted in her love of maths and science continually being inspired by patterns in nature, particularly those patterns seen at a microscopic level from pollen to seeds.
Clare is an award winning artist exhibiting across the UK. Her work has also attracted international attention with commissions coming from French fashion house Hermes and was also selected for the 250th Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts.  In 2023 Clare was elected an Associate at the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter.  Clare also runs paper cutting and sculpture workshops introducing participants to different ways of working with paper.

Image: Clare Pentlow ARBSA, Helianthus (detail)

The RBSA Gallery is open on: Tuesday – Saturday. Opening hours are 10.30am – 5.00pm. Plus Sunday (summer months) 11.00am – 4.00pm

Faces of Brittany
The paintings included in this solo show are of Breton dancers, caught off stage, between performances, showing their unwitting facial expressions, such as a stare, or glance, and in a world of their own.
Breton festivals celebrate the historic culture of community farm labour, through music, dance, and traditional costume, especially the wearing of unique headdresses, and are a feast of colour, movement, and mystique, especially when seen in the unusual light of southern Brittany.
Bernie likes capturing people’s ‘caught in the act’ moments, and uses quick sketches and drawings to help create imaginative paintings that evoke curiosity, empathy, and invite re-interpretation.

Image: Bernie Moore RBSA, Untidy Bow

The RBSA Gallery is open on: Tuesday – Saturday. Opening hours are 10.30am – 5.00pm. Plus Sunday (summer months) 11.00am – 4.00pm

Diamonds and Pearls
Taking inspiration from antique jewellery, chandeliers, Haute Couture, and other highly jewelled and decorative pieces, influenced this Diamonds and Pearls series.  Extravagant pearl necklaces, chokers, and outlandish adornments from the world of fashion, gave root to this series of sculptural vessels.
In juxtaposition, the canvas for these extravagant decorations seeks to reinterpret classic vases into a contemporary ceramic sculptural statement – the interplay of shadows and highlights are given centre stage.
Contoured Collection
This Contoured Collection of coiled ceramic vessels beautifully captures the maker’s creativity, developed during the slow methodical process of hand building.  Each coil is individually rolled adding to the undulating texture in each vessel, claiming inspiration from classical 17th and 18th century vases into a contemporary ceramic sculpture.

Image: Shenac Twiggs RBSA, Diamonds and Pearls

The RBSA Gallery is open on: Tuesday – Saturday. Opening hours are 10.30am – 5.00pm. Plus Sunday (summer months) 11.00am – 4.00pm

This exhibition of selected works from the RBSA Collection looks at changing approaches to the representation of the face and figure over 200 years.
The exhibition offers some fascinating insights into the cultural life of Birmingham with fine drawings, paintings and sculpture from the Georgian period to the present. There is something for all tastes, including an exquisite watercolour Self-Portrait (1830) by F.T. Lines, and the first showing of a gift of portrait sketches by Edward Samuel Harper of fellow RBSA members – the men who dominated the visual arts in this city during the early 20th century.
In contrast are the expressive drawing, Stark Encounter (1940) by the surrealist Emmy Bridgwater, Jain McKay’s startling face and tattooed torso of Stuart and the Snake (2016), and the swirling kaleidoscope of Skateboarder (1991) by C. Anthony Sawbridge. Striking a more sombre and topical note is the patient’s eye view of the masked and gowned Surgeon Redeployed for Ambulance COVID Transfer (2021) by Andrew Shorthouse. Unmissable are the haunting Girl with Flowers (1950) by Gilbert Mason and the intense, award winning Self-Portrait (1937) by Robert Ball, a local child prodigy who was left to his own devices at Birmingham School of Art to develop his talent without tuition.
The sculpture section includes one of the treasures of the RBSA, the famous bust of the painter David Cox (1860) by Peter Hollins, who shows his sitter in the unlikely but conventional garb of a Roman toga, and the Art Deco inspired Head of a Man (1950) by “Birmingham’s Michaelangelo” William Bloye, whose statues, reliefs and pub signs adorn every corner of the city. The massive wooden Head (2000) by John Alexander Williams has the commanding presence of a totemic idol while, on a smaller scale, there is something serene and timeless in the female figures by John Bridgeman and Joan Woolard.
Private View: Thursday 25 July 6.00 – 8.00pm

Featured image: Anthony Sawbridge, Skateboarder, 1991

The RBSA Gallery is open on: Tuesday – Saturday. Opening hours are 10.30am – 5.00pm. Plus Sunday (summer months) 11.00am – 4.00pm

Clare creates her artwork through the exploration of paper constantly refining and looking for perfection whilst embracing the versatile qualities of strength and fragility.  She enjoys challenging the perception of paper and the possibilities it holds, transforming it from a throwaway material into something extraordinary.
Through precision hand cutting and folding, her pieces evolve over time through methodical repetitive motions building layer upon layer resulting in highly textured mesmerising pieces of art which draw the viewer in.  The methodical approach Clare takes is rooted in her love of maths and science continually being inspired by patterns in nature, particularly those patterns seen at a microscopic level from pollen to seeds.
Clare is an award winning artist exhibiting across the UK. Her work has also attracted international attention with commissions coming from French fashion house Hermes and was also selected for the 250th Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts.  In 2023 Clare was elected an Associate at the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter.  Clare also runs paper cutting and sculpture workshops introducing participants to different ways of working with paper.

Image: Clare Pentlow ARBSA, Helianthus (detail)

The RBSA Gallery is open on: Tuesday – Saturday. Opening hours are 10.30am – 5.00pm. Plus Sunday (summer months) 11.00am – 4.00pm

Faces of Brittany
The paintings included in this solo show are of Breton dancers, caught off stage, between performances, showing their unwitting facial expressions, such as a stare, or glance, and in a world of their own.
Breton festivals celebrate the historic culture of community farm labour, through music, dance, and traditional costume, especially the wearing of unique headdresses, and are a feast of colour, movement, and mystique, especially when seen in the unusual light of southern Brittany.
Bernie likes capturing people’s ‘caught in the act’ moments, and uses quick sketches and drawings to help create imaginative paintings that evoke curiosity, empathy, and invite re-interpretation.

Image: Bernie Moore RBSA, Untidy Bow

The RBSA Gallery is open on: Tuesday – Saturday. Opening hours are 10.30am – 5.00pm. Plus Sunday (summer months) 11.00am – 4.00pm

Diamonds and Pearls
Taking inspiration from antique jewellery, chandeliers, Haute Couture, and other highly jewelled and decorative pieces, influenced this Diamonds and Pearls series.  Extravagant pearl necklaces, chokers, and outlandish adornments from the world of fashion, gave root to this series of sculptural vessels.
In juxtaposition, the canvas for these extravagant decorations seeks to reinterpret classic vases into a contemporary ceramic sculptural statement – the interplay of shadows and highlights are given centre stage.
Contoured Collection
This Contoured Collection of coiled ceramic vessels beautifully captures the maker’s creativity, developed during the slow methodical process of hand building.  Each coil is individually rolled adding to the undulating texture in each vessel, claiming inspiration from classical 17th and 18th century vases into a contemporary ceramic sculpture.

Image: Shenac Twiggs RBSA, Diamonds and Pearls

The RBSA Gallery is open on: Tuesday – Saturday. Opening hours are 10.30am – 5.00pm. Plus Sunday (summer months) 11.00am – 4.00pm

This exhibition of selected works from the RBSA Collection looks at changing approaches to the representation of the face and figure over 200 years.
The exhibition offers some fascinating insights into the cultural life of Birmingham with fine drawings, paintings and sculpture from the Georgian period to the present. There is something for all tastes, including an exquisite watercolour Self-Portrait (1830) by F.T. Lines, and the first showing of a gift of portrait sketches by Edward Samuel Harper of fellow RBSA members – the men who dominated the visual arts in this city during the early 20th century.
In contrast are the expressive drawing, Stark Encounter (1940) by the surrealist Emmy Bridgwater, Jain McKay’s startling face and tattooed torso of Stuart and the Snake (2016), and the swirling kaleidoscope of Skateboarder (1991) by C. Anthony Sawbridge. Striking a more sombre and topical note is the patient’s eye view of the masked and gowned Surgeon Redeployed for Ambulance COVID Transfer (2021) by Andrew Shorthouse. Unmissable are the haunting Girl with Flowers (1950) by Gilbert Mason and the intense, award winning Self-Portrait (1937) by Robert Ball, a local child prodigy who was left to his own devices at Birmingham School of Art to develop his talent without tuition.
The sculpture section includes one of the treasures of the RBSA, the famous bust of the painter David Cox (1860) by Peter Hollins, who shows his sitter in the unlikely but conventional garb of a Roman toga, and the Art Deco inspired Head of a Man (1950) by “Birmingham’s Michaelangelo” William Bloye, whose statues, reliefs and pub signs adorn every corner of the city. The massive wooden Head (2000) by John Alexander Williams has the commanding presence of a totemic idol while, on a smaller scale, there is something serene and timeless in the female figures by John Bridgeman and Joan Woolard.
Private View: Thursday 25 July 6.00 – 8.00pm

Featured image: Anthony Sawbridge, Skateboarder, 1991

The RBSA Gallery is open on: Tuesday – Saturday. Opening hours are 10.30am – 5.00pm. Plus Sunday (summer months) 11.00am – 4.00pm

This exhibition offers a rare opportunity to see the remarkable work of the Birmingham born and trained artist John Salt in the UK.
After settling in the USA in 1967, Salt became one of the pioneers of the Photorealist movement. Fascinated by American cars as prime symbols of consumer culture, his exquisitely detailed paintings created with brush, air brush, and stencils examine the flip side of the American Dream.
Old Cadillacs and Pontiacs, relics of the 1960s, are parked up deserted side streets on the edge of town while images of shabby trailer homes on the margins of the Interstate represent life at the bottom of the social ladder. Bathed in bright sunlight, they are poignant reminders of the transitory glamour of the culture of built-in obsolescence, but also reveal the artist’s deep affection for the American urban and rural landscape.
In contrast, the show also includes examples of the artist’s early works from his student days in Birmingham which afford a unique insight into his development as a painter.

Featured image: John Salt, Three Toned Trailer, 1975

The RBSA Gallery is open on: Tuesday – Saturday. Opening hours are 10.30am – 5.00pm. Plus Sunday (summer months) 11.00am – 4.00pm