Exhibition Archive

Abstract Alchemy

Featuring dot-art artists Amanda Oliphant, Felice Beilin and Rachel McArdle

In Abstract Alchemy, three dot-art artists use processes akin to alchemy to transform recordings, memories and lived experiences of nature in to abstracted depictions of landscapes in constant flux.

As Amanda Oliphant moves through the landscape, she responds to distinctive patterns and rhythms. In her studio, she translates these experiences into visual stories, distilling the sensations of wind, and rugged terrain on to her surfaces. She captures not just the landscape itself, but the quiet mystery it holds. To evoke both the physical and emotional presence of place, she draws on written reflections, diverse materials, textured mark-making, and intuitive gestures. Amanda explores the hidden elements beneath the visible, where marks become fragments of sound, movement, and memory.

The aim of Felice Beilin’s work is to create mood and atmosphere within the landscape. Colour and gestural mark-making are key to conveying images that go beyond mere representation. Her work focuses on light and space to evoke a strong sense of place, drawing the natural world into the viewer’s awareness and encouraging reflection on their environment and the impact they have upon it.

Rachel McArdle is drawn to the patterns and colours found in nature, reflections in water, atmospheric skies, and shifting light and shadow. Her paintings seek to capture the often ethereal or surreal atmosphere and drama and change of the natural landscape. She distils vast scenes into intimate fragments, attempting to pin down a fleeting moment or feeling, so that each work becomes almost a memory or an imagined place. Her practice shifts between representing a physical space and evoking the atmosphere of a moment through heightened colour and abstraction.

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Neon Nature

An exhibition by Natalie Gilmore at INNSiDE hotel by Melia.

I graduated 1996 with a degree in Fine Art Painting & Printmaking from Bretton Hall College, Leeds University. Since then, I’ve followed a different career path working within public finance and the cultural sector. However, making art has consistently been an important part of my life and I try to spend as much time as possible in my studio.

Knowsley is my home, so I’ve been lucky to grow up with access to incredible green spaces. I currently live in Prescot and have a respect for the energy of the place. Having a sense of connection to place is very important to me and the more time I spend appreciating my town and city, the more related I feel.

To celebrate that connection, I make work about places I’ve visited that have had an impact on me, particularly if I’ve shared these experiences with the people I care about. I work mainly in acrylics, layering colours to create depth and contrast.

The paintings in ‘Neon Nature’ feature dense, vibrant foliage – ferns in shades of electric blue and lime green. I love to get in close and represent the twisting vines and glowing fruits and set these against outrageous backgrounds of saturated colour.

I paint in a highly detailed way, thousands of lines and dashes on top of an expressive free flowing base layer. All the paintings in this exhibition are about observation and understanding. In many cases, instead of standing back and admiring the full landscape, I focus on small areas – the shapes, the colours, texture.

For me, painting is about capturing the energy and movement of the environment, rather than trying to create a perfect replica of it. I want my work to feel alive – like stepping into a crazy electric forest just as the sun is rising. I get my biggest inspiration from nature, and I’m constantly taken by the diversity of shape, colour and structure in the world right around us.

First Floor, INNSiDE hotel by Melia, Old Hall Street, Liverpool, L3 9LQ 

Exhibition ran until September 2025

Bread and Roses 2025

Featuring dot-art Artist Members

Returning after the success of 2024, Bread & Roses is an affordable annual exhibition at dot-art Gallery coinciding with Liverpool Art Fair, which we also organise. Spanning across the summer, this exhibition brings together an array of new works from our Artist Members and displays a snapshot of their exciting portfolios

Every year, we put out an open call to our Artist Members to propose new exhibition ideas. Last year our very own Dorothy Benjamin, who paints British landscapes in oils, proposed this exhibition idea, as a way of responding to the cost-of-living crisis. All the artworks in ‘Bread & Roses’ are priced under £200 to make owning original an option for many.

James Oppenheim published his poem ‘Bread and Roses’ in the 1915 book ‘The Cry For Justice: An Anthology of the Literature of Social Protest’. The poem is associated with the textile strike in Massachusetts during early 1912, now often known as the “Bread and Roses strike.” The strike, which united dozens of immigrant communities under the leadership of the Industrial Workers of the World, was led to a large extent by women.

Running in parallel to Liverpool Art Fair, the principles are the same; art is for everyone, for us all to enjoy and have access to. One of the ways we at dot-art fulfil our mission is by connecting art lovers with affordable, original works while providing vital support to the artists who create them.

Some highlights of this year’s selected artworks include our poster image artist Alex Russell who creates libraries of images with traditional media such as print, collage and mark making and then writes generative code to arrange them into artworks. Anthony Gribbin has developed a new approach to his line arrangements and geometric pop patterns, playing with tension between hard lines and organic drips. Madeleine Pires exhibits impressionistic style portraits of famous writers, expressing their personalities, characteristics and mood.

“Small art and love and beauty their drudging spirits knew–
Yes, bread we fight for–but we fight for Roses, too.” – James Oppenheim

Exhibition ran Friday 30th May – Saturday 30th August 2025

Liverpool Lines

Featuring dot-art Artist Members Alexis Butterfield, Nicola McGovern & Richard Farrell

‘Liverpool Lines’ celebrates the timelessness of Liverpool City Region’s architectural landscape; unique in its quality array of architecture throughout the ages. The artworks displayed in this exhibition will bring forth a collection of memories for the audience, with each piece aiming to display a fresh perspective on the rich history and vibrant communities that define Liverpool. From its iconic waterfront to the hidden corners of the city; The works reflect the diverse stories that have shaped the soul of the city. As Liverpool moves into the future, the care and preservation of its buildings allow its spirit to endure.

Alexis Butterfield describes his process: “My eye has been drawn to the generous public spaces and buildings that surround us. I record these places as they are today, sometimes cared for, but often not. In all their variety they represent an ambition for our shared space to be a theatre which celebrates the twin impulses of being together and to consciously create places to help us do that better. While walking the city I have increasingly come to regard these places, both grand and more modest, as jewels – taking joy in the social investment they represent. I produce my work by combining traditional drawing techniques using pens, inks, crayons and areas of gold leaf. These are built up over layers of semi-abstract paper cutouts or over monotype prints. The jewel colours that I have used in many of the pieces are blended goldleaf and inks – lending pearlescence and reflectance in changing lights”

Nicola McGovern utilises painting and papercut illustrations as well as delivering community participatory art projects. This papercut collection celebrates the locally loved parts of Liverpool City Region, capturing them at this specific moment in time. McGovern’s landmark and cityscape artworks combine architectural details with bold, flat colour. These multi-layered collages are created using layers of coloured paper shapes meticulously cut by hand and assembled. The three-dimensional surface texture creates depth and highlights the delicate and meticulous process.

Richard Farrell is a self-taught artist who finds inspiration through the popular culture and architectural heritage of Liverpool. Through Farrell’s past life as a surveyor, he is inspired from his past as he revisits locations, bringing a newfound life to each piece. Farrell’s style is a mix of watercolour and ink wash overlaid with fine-lined detail, this allows for Farrell’s artwork to accurately capture these iconic buildings in their well-known form.

The artists in the ‘Liverpool Lines’ exhibition collectively celebrate the city’s architectural heritage, often they are being drawn to the iconic city centre but are equally intrigued by the lesser-known streets. Unique in style, each artist offers perspectives of their Liverpool, evoking a sense of nostalgia and appreciation. As a collection of works, the city’s rich history shines through, remaining visually and emotionally resonant for audiences today and in the future.

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Echoes of Emotion

An exhibition by Claire Western

Claire Western graduated from Margaret Street School of Art, Birmingham in with a degree in Fine Art. In recent years, Claire has found her painting practice to be rooted in the combination of music and the natural world.

Claire says “I explore and express the interplay of colours and emotions that I hope define my artistic voice. I am inspired by the lines, edges and colours that I see when I am out exploring as well as the experience along the way.

Music inspires a playfulness in my work; whether it’s serene sounds of ambient melodies or powerful rock beats, the emotional cadence of music shapes the compositions I create. I love to play with opacity and layer the colours, it is almost therapeutic watching this process.

The outcome has an ambiguity which is most intriguing. This is in complete contrast to the line work which is very purposeful, rigid and textured which I always add last, it grounds the work and gives it solidity and balance. The introduction of the more expressive brush strokes and smaller embellishments is a direct response to the music I listen to during the creative process.

This body of work titled ‘Echoes of Emotion’ is an abstract interpretation of the relationship between landscapes and music. I spend a lot of time outside walking. I am drawn to timeworn and eroded aspects of the outdoors, rock formations, potholes and rusty gates – all reveal a timeline of colours. The relationship between the thick textured line work and the flat sweeping areas of colour is crucial to creating a feeling of playfulness and ambiguity in my work. The landscapes I create never portray a recognisable place and this intentional as I want the viewer to experience their own moment of curiosity.”

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ICONIC WOMEN

Featuring dot-art Artists Charlotte Weatherstone, Kirsten Todd & Mariana Potetenko

‘ICONIC WOMEN’ carries us through Women’s History Month which celebrates the contributions of women around the globe to events in history and contemporary life. The portraits you will see will bring a rush of film names, songs and dates to mind as the women in this exhibition have driven progress through scientific efforts, in the sports industry and changing the views of women in the media and culture. From local legends to the world stage, they each show characteristics of excellence, channelling their talents and strength to rise; a rising tide raises all boats.

Kirsten Todd

Specialising in portraits, Kirsten works mainly in acrylics and aims to capture, vibrancy, energy, strength, balance and beauty within the people she paints. Her latest series of portraits ‘Rise of the Divine Feminine’ highlights the rise of feminine energy within us at this time of great change, celebrating the strength of womenkind. Kirsten’s portraits in this exhibition focus on the ground-breaking and fiercely original women of predominantly the entertainment world, from Blondie frontwoman Debbie Harry, Tina Turner and her electrifying stage presence to Lauryn Hill’s vulnerability, authenticity and talent for musical storytelling.

Mariana Potetenko

“As a Ukrainian artist who made Liverpool my home in 2022 after the war in Ukraine began, I was deeply moved to be part of this exhibition dedicated to the famous women of this city. The process of creating these portraits allowed me to connect with the city on a deeper level and to celebrate the women who have left an indelible mark on its history. My selection includes women from diverse backgrounds and fields, each of whom represents a unique aspect of Liverpool’s rich heritage.” Instantly recognisable faces like Cilla Black and Kim Cattrall are painted in vibrant strokes alongside new some names you will remember after you leave the exhibition, such as Louise Kenny, a pioneering professor in women’s health and cancer survivor, who has made significant contributions to medical research, improving lives and advancing science.

Charlotte Weatherstone

Charlotte studied Graphics at Liverpool John Moores University and is an illustrator, designer and mural artist based in Liverpool. “This series of illustrated and mixed media portraits is a tribute to some of the most iconic women in the music industry during their early or breakthrough years. PJ Harvey, Siouxsie Sioux from Siouxsie and the Banshees, Grace Jones, Courtney Love from Hole, and Björk. These artists have influenced and inspired me at different stages of my life, not only through their groundbreaking music but also through their bold live performances, candid interviews, revolutionary fashion and, most importantly, their unapologetic attitude. For me, attitude is what defines a person, it is the force that shapes how they navigate the world, take risks, and make their presence felt. Using my signature linear style, I sought to distil their spirit into a visual form using simple yet expressive mark making tools which reflect the raw energy, complexity, depth of these women. Each have taught me how to embrace boldness, defy convention, and remain authentic in the face of adversity.”

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The Liverpool Collection 2024

An exhibition featuring dot-art Artist Members.

The heart and the history of Liverpool comes to dot-art. Closing out 2024 and welcoming in the new year; this exhibition features art that reflects the beauty and diversity of the city and it’s surrounding region.

Offering art that is both rooted in history and alive with modern perspectives and practices, highlighting the well-loved and hidden gems alike, this exhibition reveals Liverpool through the eyes of 25 dot-art Artist Members. This is a unique opportunity to showcase our Artist Members; while our group shows often feature a select few, this exhibition highlights a diverse cross-section of artists we support — local, affordable, and committed to developing and showcasing their work in their home city.

Longstanding member Susan Finch is a storyteller through her art, she uses motifs that create drama and nostalgia against the backdrop of her home city. New member Joao Coelho, who is St. Helens based, creates detailed dioramas inspired by the history and architecture around him, capturing time worn facades and the rust, graffiti and urban decay that comes with them.

Frank Leung is an extremely skilled portraitist and has developed a series of street scenes of buskers and residents of Liverpool. The city’s landmarks are hidden in the background, while these bright and lively characters entertain you in the foreground. Joseph Venning recently completed a live painting for the Beyond Van Gogh experience at ACC Liverpool. Utilising the iconic modern artist’s style, he created a portrait of Van Gogh painting the Liverpool skyline. From this exhibition, Joseph has developed an incredible painted collage of Liverpool landmarks with a twist of Van Gogh’s infamous blue swirling sky, suspended stars and crescent moon.

Ali Barker is showing work from her dot-art x Everyman Artist Residency last year. Over 6 months Barker spent time with the staff, watched productions and toured the Everyman and Playhouse Theatres. Here, she shows the façade of the iconic Hope Street based Everyman theatre as well as the interior of the Playhouse, looking up to the Radio City Tower.

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Natural North

An exhibition by John Sharp, Katherine Dereli & Richard Serridge

Rolling hillsides and a colder climate; this is the North of England. It holds the Lake District, the moors and the northern coast. The artists in this exhibition explore the far stretches of the ‘Natural North’ and all it’s natural beauty, devoid of the urban and man-made.

Richard Serridge is a landscape painter from the Wirral with a BA in Fine Art and a passion for nature and the local environment. By using repurposed materials, Richard challenges the waste culture of everyday life, whilst selecting materials that reflect each specific scene. Richard explores locations that are in his everyday surroundings, but usually go overlooked. He captures atmosphere and texture using high contrast colour, a variety of mark making techniques and allowing the unpredictable nature of his ground to influence structure.

Dealing with issues surrounding mental health is represented by the deliberate lack of human figures within the landscape, creating a sense of seclusion and beauty without interference. With a keen interest in railways, gardening and general making, these themes are also visited within Richard’s painting practice.

Katherine Dereli is a Lancashire based oil painter with a classical training in sculpture. Her subjects are various: figures, carefully arranged still-life objects, landscapes, painted quickly in the field or laboured over in the studio. What unites them is a particular approach to paint. She carefully observes and reproduces colour from life, mixed cleanly on the palette and laid down to create a varied surface of alternating high detail and broad ‘messy’ brushwork.

John Sharp studied illustration at De Montfort University, John then went on to work as an illustrator, graphic designer and in design/visual effects for the film and TV industry at the University of Manchester. John has exhibited nationally and internationally, with his work showcased in the Serpentine Gallery, Abbot Hall, Videcolor de Palermo in Buenos Aires and The Storey, Lancaster. Most recently John’s work has been on show at The Liverpool Art Fair, Stockport Open and “Modern Madness 9” in Hoxton London.

Zoe Roberts creates artworks of various mediums inspired by the beauty and adaptability of nature, her main focus is on changes she observes in landscape caused by weather, lighting plant life, the movements of the planet and the interactions of the inhabitants within and everyday moments. She is fascinated by how these changes in the environment can affect the atmosphere, meaning or aesthetic value of a place, her practice involves taking a photo on a walk to later recreate the mood of a place with her chosen medium through use of colour, mark making, light and memory of place. Born and based in the Wirral UK, Zoë graduated in 2022 with a BA (Hons) Fine Art Degree through Chester University and Wirral Met.

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Day & Night

An exhibition by Dannielle Campbell

dot-art and Dannielle Campbell present ‘Day & Night,’ an abstract series of contrasting nocturnal and day bright scenes. She uses art as a visual storytelling method, capturing the sense of seascapes and the raw energy in crashing waves and tidal surges. Through a simplified colour palette and texture that builds, she evokes emotions of the deep blue. Campbell centres her art as a process of exploring and understanding our ever-changing world.

The artworks reflect her love of water and its duality of stormy and calm. Creatively Dannielle explores themes of beauty, peace and serenity yet provokes something to make the viewer want to look further. This exhibition is an opportunity to be removed from the everyday and be transported to somewhere special, letting your imagination roam.

As an interior designer, creativity and setting the scene is part of her skillset. Dannielle has adored art since her school years and continues to paint at every available moment as it unlocks a place of relaxation and stillness.

The artist invites you to step into her painting portfolio, a captivating collection of artistic endeavours. Dive into a world of colour, texture, and emotion as you browse the paintings.

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Figures in Space

An exhibition featuring James Hallinan & Julie Lawrence

An exhibition showcasing a complementary duo; James and Julie share a reflective temperament on the impact of their body and mind through experiencing nature, solace and changes in environment. Their abstract figures boxed into rooms or distant on vast beaches are obscured, creating opportunity for the viewer to find a character and themselves within these works.

“I walk every day through local woods and heathland and am fascinated by the way experiences of changing light and weather influence memory and perception. As I contemplate the movement of my own shadow passing through that space, I consider how this is transformed by memory too.”

Julie explains more about her work; “The paintings selected for this exhibition are a response to my walking shadow; my shifting, momentary intuitions, where light and shadow improvise unanticipated harmonies experienced on this simple daily walk. Using predominantly pastels and water-based media, my work reveals my shadow as a transitional, ambiguous figure moving through space – an unresolved tension within the landscape that evokes the fleeting mixture of memory and perception. My instinctive working process involves building up layers of wet and dry media on a small scale. The ambiguous images that emerge strive to invite the viewer into a quiet psychological territory and a liminal space which hovers between nostalgic association and something unknown.”

Julie Lawrence is a Wirral based artist and her work references the spiritual painting language of the Visionary Landscape Tradition. She holds a BA (First Class) and an MA in Fine Art from Chester University. Her most recent exhibitions have included ‘The Pastel Society Annual Open’ exhibitions at the Mall Galleries in London, 2022, 2023 and 2024. Here she was also awarded the 2023 Yoshimoto prize. She is also pleased to have recently contributed to ‘The Drawing paper Show ‘publication and exhibition and also Platforms Project in Athens. Her work is currently included in The Lady Lever Art Gallery artist spotlight on five female landscape artists working on the Wirral today.

James Hallinan is an artist based in Liverpool who primarily works on canvas using oils, acrylics, and pastels. James’ work has been featured in galleries in Ireland, the UK, and Mexico. James holds a BA in Visual Communication and a PGcert in Fine Art from the University for the Creative Arts London. James’s current work deals with themes surrounding heightened periods of emotions and the effects it has both on the mind and body while reflecting on the root cause. Using the body as a focal point in his work, James creates a visual language that externalises these internal experiences using symbolism throughout to represent past experiences or present beliefs.

Since moving to Liverpool James has used colour and composition discovered and documented while wandering around his local area which are then developed further in the studio. James uses this process to connect to new surroundings, unpack the emotional experience of emigrating from Ireland while drawing on the historical past and present of the area as well as his own. This can be seen in his current series of works, such as No Parking, Identity and Hill Street. The latter two along with the series Rooms are represented in the exhibition Figures in Space.

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A Window to Your Neighbourhood

An exhibition in partnership with Liverpool Architecture Festival

dot-art and Liverpool Architecture Festival 2024 (LAF24) have worked in partnership to produce this exhibition featuring local creatives. Artists of all abilities entered a free competition to show us ‘A Window to Your Neighbourhood’.

dot-art as an arts organisation works with artists, communities, and businesses across Liverpool City Region. The dot-art Gallery was the ideal place for LAF 24 to host an exhibition exploring the architectural and place making elements of Liverpool’s neighbourhoods through artistic interpretation. The selection panel consisted of Kuda Mushangi (Architect, Artist & former LAF Committee Member) Lucy Byrne & Claire Henderson (Managing Director and Gallery Manager, dot-art). Mathew Giles (Director of Liverpool Architecture Festival) mediated the panel and provided prompts for the selection criteria based on artistic technique, displays of community and areas of historical significance and architectural interest.

From this process the panel selected 15 artists from the entries to exhibit their submitted pieces for the nearly 3-month long exhibition; out of which, and with much deliberation, the judging panel nominated an overall winner and three runners up. The overall winner is Simon Ward with ‘Portrait of Dr Sam Naghibi’. The runners up in no particular order are Neale Thomas with ‘Bootle Gasworks’, Gill Cowley with ‘Quarry Green Club’ and Martin Jones with ‘Ghosts’. The winner will receive a £500 voucher for art supplies as well as a year free as a dot-art Arist Member. The runners up will each received £100 voucher for art supplies and a year free as a dot-art Artist Member. The exhibition celebrates selected winners and all who have entered. We encourage our visitors to pick their winning works and share pictures across socials and tag @dotartliverpool and @laf_uk.

The range of artists in this exhibition specialise in a variety of media, from print to digital collage and more. We asked the artists, and now put the following questions to you as visitors to the exhibition: what does your neighbourhood mean to you? How is it framed within your day-to-day life? What local buildings, monuments, or built objects hold memories or stories? What hidden architectural gems does your local area hold?

‘A Window to Your Neighbourhood’ intentionally shifts the lens away from Liverpool’s iconic city centre architecture to the neighbourhoods where our small businesses thrive, communities grow, and resilience is built. Take a walk-through unfamiliar areas or down memory lanes. What do you remember from your locality? What’s still there? The exhibiting artworks, although many are devoid of people, exemplify through the industrial relics, social clubs, and shop fronts, that it is people that make places.

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Bread & Roses

An exhibition featuring dot-art Artist Members

“For the people hear us singing: Bread and Roses! Bread and Roses!” Bread and Roses was a poem written in 1912 by James Oppenheim, about women and children striking for better wages and working conditions.

The metaphor of Bread and Roses is that we all need bread to feed our bodies, but we also need to be nourished by life’s roses: art, music, literature, education, and nature.

As the cost-of-living crisis continues, we wanted to curate a group exhibition that showcases the best of affordable art. This show is dedicated to featuring original works under £200 and limited editions under £100. Owning art does not have to break the bank and quality artworks do not have to have eye watering prices.

This exhibition features a wide array of imagery and styles from over 20 dot-art Artist Members. On display you will find still life, cyanotypes, abstract paintings, lithographs, and charcoal portraits. A show for everyone, ranging from the traditional to the conceptual.

Artists such as Caroline Race have responded to the history of the poem and its historical moment. “I have produced a series of affordable paper lithographs on kozo tissue with 22 carat gold leaf embossed onto Fabriano print paper. A series of objects representing the strength of women and their fight for fairness and equality during the suffragette movement of the early 1900’s. I am using warm red tones to represent the blood spilt during their fight, the gold leaf representing their struggle for equal pay and fairer working conditions.”

Susan Cantrill Williams reflects on her personal connection to this exhibition’s theme. “My bread was provided by my Grandmother Hanna Pritchard, an active member of the labour party who marched for women’s rights in Birmingham and ran her own business in a rough part of Aston. She enabled education for my mother and art education for myself, allowing us to experience the roses.”

At dot-art, we are always affordable and have payment plans for works over £250 because we know the value of treasuring special pieces of art by local artists, so do our very best to create the best buying conditions for art lovers.

As the poem says: “Hearts starve as well as bodies; bread and roses, bread and roses”.

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The Art of Line

An exhibition by Charlotte Weatherstone, Mike Goodwin & Stu Harrison

‘The Art of Line’ showcases three dot-art Artist Members working in the illustrative, graphic and design arena of art. Their impressive line work and unique styles come together in ink drawings, prints and graphic patterns. A running theme in the practice of Weatherstone, Goodwin and Harrison is their character creation to tell a story. In the work of Stu Harrison these futurist creatures break dance across the canvas amplifying the movement his line work creates and populating the world of ‘Beastly’, Stu’s artist persona.

Goodwin puts his characters in humorous scenarios and dialogues and accentuates their features with bold beehive hair, Pinocchio noses and chins that jut out of the page!

Weatherstone’s feminine characters are wrapped in long wavy hair, leaping around the page, cut straight from luxurious magazines spreads. Charlotte crafts collaged and printed spaces for them to roam.

Charlotte Weatherstone – I am an illustrator & designer from Liverpool. I studied Graphic Arts at Liverpool John Moores University, and currently work as graphic designer & illustrator. I enjoy using various mediums, and work on found objects, paper, wood, a computer and brick walls. I use anything from a pencil to spray paint. My background is graffiti and murals, so spray paint is always part of my creative journey. My work is centred around layering and mark making. I try to be spontaneous when creating work, and try not overthink it – which is always a challenge! I use various techniques including print making & collage to create textural work, and mix in fashion elements in as well.

Mike Goodwin – These images are intended to be humorous and reflect my own personal sense of humour, which is influenced by film, TV, music, comic art and ‘low comedy’ in general. The illustrations feature recurring characters because I think it makes it easier to create a humorous situation when you are familiar with the foibles of the main character. I tend to use quite a lot of text, which, for me, adds to the overall story. More is revealed upon closer inspection of the ink drawings.

Stu Harrison – I attempt to celebrate the importance and the influence of club and dance music culture, and visually represent volume, rhythm and the glorious chaos found in nightclubs and on dancefloors.

My work has been described as; “these rolling, boiling images see energy and abandon collide, sparking excitement, exuberant confusion and mind-expanding insights” My early inspirations were from the psychedelic artwork of the hippy generation, and then later from pop art, urban art and graffiti.

This led me to design visuals and backdrops for the early rave scene at warehouse parties around Hackney. These influences can be seen I hope in the creation of ” kinetic and synapse-sparking street style artwork.”. Above all my work is about movement, the dance collective and boundless human energy.

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SPACE, LINE & COLOUR 2014-2023

An exhibition by John Petch

John Petch, born in Liverpool now living in Cheshire, trained to teach art in Liverpool, working in a number of local schools. He says:

“My work investigates the relationship between line and space. Challenging how the brain perceives and makes sense of the difference between what is understood and unfamiliar. I began painting in the mid 1960s moving from Op Art to Geometrical Abstraction being inspired by geometric imagery and pattern.

My paintings invite the viewer to be drawn into a conversation from a simple statement of pattern to the relationship between art and mathematical special awareness.”

My work is Geometric to hard edge abstract often with recognisable context. I have a fascination with perspective, line, space and colour interpreting the world around especially in the relationship of buildings to their setting and the energy they portray. I simplify by abstracting detail into related plains of colour.

In 2016 I was commissioned by the band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark to produce artwork for the cover of their thirteenth Studio Album ‘The Punishment of Luxury’ with further covers and related work. In 2019 completing a design for the windows of the phone box, in Meols, made famous through OMD’s second single release ‘Red Frame White Light’.

Displayed work for this exhibition covers the period from 2014 to the present.

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Degrees of Abstraction

An exhibition by Hilary Dron, Jessica Slack & John Sharp

Degrees of Abstraction brings together three abstract artists, Hilary Dron, Jessica Slack and John Sharp; each pushing the boundaries of gestures, geometric and natural forms. Abstract art can trick the human eye, as it searches for form and representation, and unlike figurative art, can evoke emotions through colour and shape. This show of large, vibrant paintings closes the door on reality and centres you in the realms of abstraction.

Hilary Dron – Hilary was born in Liverpool and completed her degree at Central School of Art and Design, London. She worked as a designer for Liberty before beginning a 30 year career, teaching art in schools and in further education. After a recent sabbatical in Japan and the Far East, she decided to leave teaching and concentrate on her own work, something she has always wanted to do. The last six months have represented a huge step for Hilary and have included a commission by Aintree Hospital and exhibitions in and around Liverpool.

Speaking about her work, Hilary notes: “My paintings are about colour, light, texture and atmosphere. They are reimagined experiences of a personal memory memories of landscapes I have visited, from woods in Liverpool, mountains in Taiwan to Sakura blossom in Kyoto, Japan. I recently spent ten days in Ballycastle, County Mayo painting the coastline, bogs and beautiful surrounding Irish countryside.” She paints to get into that quiet place in her mind, where there is no sense of time and she hopes her paintings reflect this essence of a deep, quiet experience.

Jessica Slack – Jessica is a contemporary abstract artist whose work is inspired by colour and nature. Jessica’s fascination with the power of colour and how it can evoke emotions when least expected leads to bold and vibrant expressionist paintings that aim to bring joy to homes all over the world! In her own words… “The shifting nature of the environment, from the changing seasons to the contrast between urban and rural landscapes is constant inspiration to me. The aim of my work is to capture feelings of joy, wonder and freedom – reflected in the bold use of colour, texture and abstract mark marking you see in my work.”

After graduating with a first-class degree in Printed Textiles and an MSc in Colour Science, Jessica began her artistic journey after taking part in Liverpool Art Fair back in 2019. Fast forward to now, Jessica is recognised as an emerging British artist with prestigious awards such as the Signature Art Prize and Bethlehem Card Commission in addition to being seen in The World of Interiors Magazine and having commissioned artworks throughout Liverpool City Centre.

John Sharp – John was born in Bentham on the Lancashire/Yorkshire border and grew up in Garstang. Having studied illustration at De Montfort University, John then went on to work as an illustrator, graphic designer and in design/visual effects for the film and TV industry at University of Manchester, Yorkshire television, Flehner Films, Buenos Aires and various VFX companies in Soho London and Manchester. His work has included a broad array of projects including The Harry Potter films, Emmerdale and Iceland TV adverts.

“About 50% of my work is abstract. The works on paper shown here have all evolved from more representational drawings of waterfalls and water courses; the falls of Snowdonia and Lake District, the long grasses of the river Bollin in Cheshire, and the Strid (a narrowing of the river Wharfe in Yorkshire). The ‘Heavens’ pictures are  purely abstract, definitely 2D, just paint, surface and colour…heaven.”

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Icons

An exhibition by Juliet Stockton

The exhibition ‘Icons’ is a star-studded celebration of the pop culture icons of our time, featuring portraits of influential 20th and 21st Century figures from the worlds of music, film and more.

Juliet’s eye catching, vivacious portraits of pop culture icons are created in her distinctive vivid style, with vibrant acrylic paint and bold, energetic brush marks to capture the very essence, personality and life force of these adored legends.

Juliet paints portraits in acrylics using vibrant colours, aiming for the painting to almost leap off the page. Portraits to exhilarate, invigorate, and capture moments in time, inspired by pop culture, fashion history and the rich, tropical colours of her childhood living in Papua New Guinea. She brings you paintings full of energy, life and joy to uplift your heart.

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The Kitchen Table

An exhibition by dot-art Artist Members

Paying homage to the classic still life genre of art, the artists in this exhibition The Kitchen Table capture the stillness and beauty of this style. The Kitchen Table features quiet still lives of homely, domestic settings and the peaceful moments found in them. As a central focal point of the home, the kitchen table hosts solo dinners, family meals and conversation over cups of tea. A place of exchange and production of meals, food and memories. Race, Dereli, Ashcroft and Kamalian compose simple scenes focusing on arrangement of objects, colour and form.

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Reflections

An exhibition by dot-art Artist Members

A new exhibition at dot-art, ‘Reflections’ is open to the viewer’s interpretation of the word. Some may envision sky reflected in bodies of water, mirror images or perhaps are drawn to a more personal reading of inward-looking moments of reflection. The artists in this exhibition have interpreted the theme through these various lenses and offer up their diverse artistic approaches through portraiture, landscape and photography to support the viewer’s own contemplation of what ‘Reflections’ mean to them.

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Around The World In Black & White

An exhibition by dot-art Artist Members

This exhibition from dot-art Artist Members transports us ‘Around the World in Black & White’, stopping off in Spain, Greece, France and many more iconic destinations. Taken from their travels, the artists in this exhibition share with us some of the delights our world has to offer, from civilisations gone before to buzzing cities. 

This group show combines the geometric style of John Petch, the graphic nature of Susan Brown’s lino prints and the loose pen and ink sketches from Steve Bayley. All coming together under the theme of global landmarks and making a monochrome statement. 

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The Sea

An exhibition by dot-art Artist Members

High tides and rolling waves – take in the wonder of our ‘blue world’ through paintings and photographs in ‘The Sea’. The great beauty of the deep can represent many things; endless possibilities, brewing storms, a calm horizon, or a place of pollution – the artists in this exhibition take on some of these concepts in their artwork.

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Other Points of View

An exhibition by David Brightmore

Other Points of View is an exhibition by Yorkshire born David Brightmore featuring original large-scale paintings spanning from his daily scenery on passages through Wales and more recent pieces responding to the connectedness of people through the spread of the covid-19 pandemic. David’s bright palette and talent for developing energy and movement make mesmerising paintings

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The Liverpool Collection 2022

An exhibition by dot-art Artist Members

dot-art is an independent Liverpool gallery supporting the work of local artists and our Liverpool Collection is an annual showcase of how these artists interpret their home city. Included in the exhibition are instantly recognisable Liverpool locations alongside nature walks and hidden nooks around the area. The range of works span from abstract to figurative pieces and provide customers a fantastic array of choice for gifting art this festive period.

Artists like John Petch have created geometrical paintings and prints of iconic Liverpool buildings. Megan Dunbar has dreamy oil pieces of the stunning Sefton Palm House and Carol Miller takes us on a walk through green pockets around Allerton and Otterspool.

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Trees Through Time & Seasons

An exhibition by Hazel Thomson

This exhibition consists of Hazel Thomson’s fascination with the passing of time and seasons through our natural world. Hazel focuses her lens and hyper-realistic paintings on trees as they adapt to their surroundings; shedding and sprouting leaves, exposing and enveloping branches as winter turns to spring and spring into summer.

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Flora

Featuring Andrew Sherriff, Clare Chinnery, Hilary Dron & Grahame Ashcroft

Flora, the latest exhibition at dot-art Gallery explores the historical and contemporary representation of flowers, plants and the genre of floral still life. Each of the artists in this exhibition interprets through their uniquely developed style the organic curves and soft folds of flowers and leaves that we display in our homes or plant in our gardens.

Clare Chinnery and Hilary Dron add a contemporary pop of colour with abstracted roses and pansies dripping down the canvas. Andrew Sherriff offers a traditional observational view with his flower studies, having a background in life drawing and working tonally with light and shadow, adding surprising backgrounds of textured swirls. If these artists are on a scale of style then Grahame Ashcroft sits in the middle, with his shapely compositions of close-up flowerpots and planters, all in zingy bright colours but true to the form of the flower species he analyses.

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The Interior

An exhibition by Ali Hunter & Lorna Morris

“The Interior” exhibition features two contrasting Liverpool artists; Ali Hunter with her inky and illustrative works on paper and Lorna Morris who creates immense realism in her tranquil paintings.

Both artists, though different in style, do share one thing: their subject matter of “The Interior”. Highlighting sanctuaries, reading nooks and often overlooked spots in our own abodes, these art works celebrate the ordinary and moments of stillness in a room of one’s own.

Lincolnshire born Illustrator Ali Hunter now lives and works in Liverpool. Taking inspiration from fashion, interiors and home decor; Hunter’s work captures intimate spaces, fashionable characters and pets. Graduating from Manchester School of Art in Illustration, Ali Hunter uses pen and ink to create portraits and interior scenes.

Lorna Morris graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a Masters of Fine Art. She has exhibited solo and with fellow artists. Her work is in private collections in the USA, Canada, Germany and the UK. Interiors are for her places of retreat, solitude and silence. In her paintings she hopes to create shortcuts to tranquillity. Each painting represents weeks of stillness and solitude due to the nature of her slow, oil-painting technique. You can step into them at will or set aside a time each day to escape with your painting into distilled peace.

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Traces Through The Landscape

A solo exhibition by Amanda Oliphant

Traces Through The Landscape’ is a solo exhibition by Amanda Oliphant, featuring a new body of work exploring the emotions and ideas the landscape can conjure when walking through it.

Amanda Oliphant graduated with a BA (Hons) degree in Fine Art at LJMU followed by an MA in Art as Environment at MMU. As an Interdisciplinary Artist, working nationally and internationally, her interests lie within the changing landscape of Art and Ecologies. This new series of work continues her interest in creating artistic interventions that aim to engage the public, discovering hidden layers with shared experiences within art.

The artist says: “The feeling of my footsteps upon a broken path, obstacles I go around, breath-taking vistas that stop me in my tracks, taking my breath away. The noise of crows calling or the beauty of a songbird singing, hidden layers of colour and light, the force of the wind and rain upon my face, and the reassuring warmth of the sun gifting me a feeling of content. All elements that seep into my own consciousness and that remain when I’m back in my studio transferring these experiences through paint – they are a journey of life, they are ‘traces through the landscape’.”

“Painting both outdoors and then back in the studio helps to build a painterly story, expressing many layers that sometimes I have to walk away from, find time to reflect, and then return. They are a reconnection to place, an interpretation of the natural world”. – Amanda Oliphant

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After The Rain

An exhibition by Nathan Pendlebury at INNSiDE hotel by Melia.

“The Waterloo Series” and other paintings.

This exhibition shows a selection of paintings mainly from “The Waterloo Series”, celebrating landscape in all its forms; suburban, urban, coastal and otherwise. The series was produced from sketches taken around a specific coastal area of sand dunes and lakes in Waterloo, near to the artist’s home in North Liverpool.

2019 was a year of significant change in the artist’s life, and then 2020 brought change on a worldwide scale to each and every one of us. It was at that time the artist stopped painting for a while, but after a period of not painting, the urge for Nathan was then to look for something new, a new portfolio with a different approach.

The way forward was a return to a more traditional way of working; going for a walk, making a sketch, taking a photograph for reference then going back and producing paintings from what was seen on the walk, using the photographs and sketches alongside the memory as a visual reference. It was a way of getting down to the bare bones of making art. It also produced more figurative paintings than had been done by him in many years. The paintings were almost all painted simultaneously, but the walks continued to inform afterwards nonetheless.

In the years leading up to “The Waterloo Series” in 2020, the subject landscape had begun to leak more and more into the artist’s works. The additional paintings on show are connected to Liverpool and Merseyside in some way, shape or form and although less representative, and perhaps of no particular place, still have glimpses which informed the other paintings and in some ways helped the Waterloo paintings come to fruition.

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Sunrise / Sunset

A group show exhibition by dot-art Members

Seeing in a new season with colour and scenes of sunshine, this new exhibition at dot-art brings together a selection of artworks from dot-art artists as a group show; landscapes, photographic collages and sun filled scenes that tell us spring has sprung.

This exhibition helps us look forward to brighter times with an optimistic air despite recent worldwide events.

Colourful and using nature as a muse, this collection of works can provide some respite and the promise that better days are coming.

You will find original landscapes by artists such as Simon Cooper who has recently broadened his work by introducing more colour to his practice, shown in these skyline diptychs; or Clare Wrench’s layered flashes of colour that build up her scenes looking over the Manchester Ship Canal or a Lighthouse on a distant shore.

Bexy takes an abstract view of the theme and uses photographic collage in his practice to create these dreamy soft scenes with hidden figures and textures within the worlds.

Ali Hunter’s pen and ink illustration of the ‘Bluecoat at Dusk’ sends light bouncing off this Grade I listed treasure in the heart of Liverpool City Centre.

Other artists in the show deliver views of more traditional calming sunsets that are always a serotonin hit, for example Steve Bayley creates a trio of suns in different states from rising, falling to breaking through in a harmonised pastel palette.

Mark Nelson leads viewers on a path through his paintings, merging the foreground of his work into the gallery, he invites you to walk a path across a sun-bleached field or through a mass of sunflowers.

Find all these interpretations and more as part of Sunrise / Sunset and enjoy being transported to warmer settings and get a sense of the beauty, resilience and optimism nature has to offer.

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On The Brink

A group show exhibition by dot-art Members

Each artist has examined aspects of nature and wildlife affected by climate change and used the visual to give a face to this issue that seems too big to see yet is staring us in the face.

Chris Routledge has created a series of cyanotypes of Larch trees with orange slashes of enamel paint cutting through. Larch trees are dying from fungal infection, which has spread from the international plant trade, and thrives in the warmer climate Britain is now experiencing.

More worryingly, the disease affects many other types of trees and to prevent the spread of the disease larches are being felled across northern England. First, they are marked with an orange dot to be sentenced for cutting down. The orange splash of colour in these works which is applied with a glass rod also represent the sap of a freshly cut Larch.

The exhibition includes abstract paintings by Claire Western representing the disease phytophthora ramorum, responsible for the decline in Larch trees as well as other shrubs and vegetation. Felling is currently the easiest way to control the disease, however this means a lot of deforestation, habitat impacts and leaves the landscape sparse and unsightly. These paintings are created with charcoal, using deep colours of moss and rust whilst incorporating the textures of bark and ring patterns within the trees in line work.

Oliver McAinsh presents a series of drawings using photos taken at the Natural History Museum, Exploring the relationship between the crowds and the exhibits, the present and the past. The prominence of each is varied, either people are fully immersed by the intricate relics demonstrating our obsession with other species, but sometimes it’s the sea of people that swamp the extinct creatures, leaving little room for anything else.

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The Liverpool Collection, 2021

This exhibition brings together portrayals and celebrations of Liverpool by over 17 dot-art Member artists.

Visitors will find original works and limited edition prints in an array of media from collage to watercolour to ceramics, with the common theme of portraying Liverpool in all its glory. This winter we look positively to the community and city that has pulled together during a tough 18 months, and celebrate its architecture, music, people, and art.

As an independent gallery in the heart of the city centre, supporting local North West artists, we are proud to show such a display of beautiful, colourful and dazzling references to Liverpool – a city full of art, culture and talent. At dot-art we aim to support the local art scene and collectors; this exhibition includes works to fit all budgets to ensure buying fantastic local art does not break the bank. We hope the show will create a sense of pride in Liverpool and Christmas shoppers can send prints, artworks, and mementos of Liverpool to loved ones near and far this festive season

This year we are pleased to exhibit for the first time in our Christmas exhibition, experimental ceramic and iron works by Simon Dredge. Dredge has incorporated found iron fragments from the Cast Iron Shore of Liverpool to wash and glaze the ceramic pieces. Using time, washed up materials and adventurous bisque and glazing techniques, Dredge’s limited works are not to be missed at £190 each.

For those who enjoy traditional sights and street views of Liverpool, Kathy Dereli’s oil paintings capture iconic buildings on a walk around Liverpool. Peering round a corner to the Anglican Cathedral or reaching the peak of Brownlow Hill to spot the Victoria Gallery & Museum filling the sky, these small and delicately hazy paintings feel like a familiar scene to many who wander the city. Prices start at just £150 for these original works.

And for quirky art lovers, we invite you to explore the cartoonish world of Mike Goodwin. These humorous and detailed pen and ink drawings will keep you looking closer, Goodwin’s mesmerizing “Lennon” and dystopian Mersey scene ”Stop It!” will be available as limited-edition prints. Using the background of Liverpool life to imagine his world, often incorporating text, these works will keep you coming back to the music or the joke. All limited-edition unframed prints are £50.

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Grasses, Seas, Flowers and Trees

Seeing the summer out with a splash of colour, dot-art’s new exhibition Grasses, Trees, Flowers and Seas celebrates the natural beauty of the world around us through a collection of paintings by artists Hilary Dron and Steve Bayley.

Grasses, Trees, Flowers and Seas invites you to take a closer look at the world’s natural wonders, from the buds of a flower to the crescendo of a crashing wave, come and immerse yourself in the breathtaking beauty of the world through paint at dot-art Gallery.

Steve Bayley works from Hub Studios in Cains Brewery Village, Liverpool. His new works include traditional & impressionistic landscapes of some of his most treasured places in Merseyside and across the world.

Liverpool born artist Hilary Dron has created a new body of work for the exhibition that focuses on colour, light, texture and atmosphere. Hilary has reimagined memories of places she has visited, from forests in Liverpool, mountains in Taiwan, coastlines in Ballycastle, to sakura blossoms in Kyoto.

Through this collection, the artists encourage you to foster a personal connection with the world at a time when we need to most.

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Out of the Darkness

Runs from Saturday 17th April

The Liverpool Collection

View from a Window

Runs from Friday 25th September

Expression Through Colour

Runs from Monday the 7th of September

dot-art is delighted to announce its new artist residency partnership with The Anglican Cathedral.

Set in the stunning Derby Transept at Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral our first residency exhibition Expression Through Colour features work from long-standing dot-art members, Nathan Pendlebury and Ali Barker. 

Nathan Pendlebury & Ali Barker form a vibrant pair; both celebrating the potential of colour, abstraction, movement and music within their bright highly charged compositions. Nestled within the magnificent architecture of the Anglican Cathedral, this dynamic showcase is truly brought to life through the glorious stained glass windows beaming streams of light down onto each canvas.

Artist and musician Ali Barker expresses music in colour, inspired by her experiences of sound-colour synaesthesia – this is the notion of visually perceiving musical notes in colour. Ali’s body of work draws upon her experiences as both a listener and a performer, presenting a range of expressive, gestural paintings made in response to her colour synaesthesia.

Alongside this work, Ali will showcase a series of paintings which translate daily sounds recorded throughout a year and represent them as grids of coloured squares based on the layout of a calendar.

With an adept eye for colour and composition, Nathan Pendlebury’s paintings are bright, organic and abstract. Nathan says about his work ‘I am not interested in knowing where a painting is going, the painting always leads the way. It’s about trying to create something, a glimpse, a glimpse of something new.’ Listening to music whilst he paints, Nathan often finds song lyrics seeping into his titles.

Expression Through Colour premieres new works from Nathan, these pieces take his musical inspiration one step further, as he paints directly onto vinyl records. 

Garden in Lockdown

Runs from 25th August until 22nd September.

As dot-art Gallery reopens it’s doors, our new mini-exhibition Garden in Lockdown presents a beautiful botanical haven for you to peruse while you’re waiting for your socially distanced appointment.

Grahame Ashcroft is a professional artist based in Merseyside.

A colourist painter, Grahame’s intense yet elegant depictions of the natural world form vibrant and joyful compositions of the flora and fauna surrounding his home.

Grahame’s works are in private and municipal collections both in the UK, Europe and USA.

Pixel

Runs from 31st January until 14th March.

dot-art Gallery showcases the works of four contemporary artists from the North-West, each sharing the practice of digital art and pixel manipulation.

A widely debated art form, digital art explores the crossover of creativity and technology, with many digital resources emulating traditional fine art tools allowing artists an unlimited platform to express themselves. Pixel is an exhibition showcasing the art of artists who are no longer bound by tradition.

The showcase comprises of paintings, collage and sculpture, each piece realised by innovative computer technology and the digital emulation of traditional fine art tools.

James Chadderton’s series consists of theatrical post-apocalyptic landscapes, collapsing the boundaries between traditional and composite drawing. James’ drawing style is characterised by a tendency towards realism or moments of fantasy within realistic portrayals. His playful, colourful, and at the same time dark and nightmarish landscapes open up possibilities within the space between reality and fiction, or intent and interpretation.

Mixing vintage images with her own photography, Liverpool artist Olga Snell uses digital software rather than scissors and glue to create surreal, retro-futuristic collages. Her playful new series ‘Re-Imagined’ juxtaposes images that are hundreds of years old with contemporary objects, rearranging elements to digitized folktales.

This exhibition also features new collections by digital collagist Vincent Kelly as well as laser-etched sculpture by Susan Williams.

The exhibition continues until 14^th March.

The Liverpool Collection

Runs from Friday 22nd November until Sunday 5^th January & Thursday 28^th November until Saturday 18^th January

dot-art announces its largest-ever Christmas exhibition The Liverpool Collection, taking place across the Metquarter and dot-art Gallery this winter. The fourth annual showcase will feature over 100 spectacular artworks by local creatives, each celebrating Liverpool’s iconic landmarks, famous faces and rich musical culture in a variety of artistic media.

Over 40 artists’ work will be for sale, from oil paintings to photography, embroidery to sculpture, giving the discerning festive shopper the perfect opportunity to buy unique Christmas gifts from as little as £25.

In the Metquarter from 22 November, pick up a truly special gift from a curated selection of Liverpool themed art. Award-winning portrait artist Jacob Gourley creates stunning, ethereal portraits of people on Liverpool’s public transport, highlighting the beauty in the ordinary. Jo Gough adds a vibrant flourish of hand-painted flowers to Liverpool’s most-loved landmarks, from the Albert Dock to the Radio City Tower. If her originals are just out of your budget, she has also produced a limited edition of fine-art prints from only £65.

In the dot-art Gallery from 28 November, Liverpool Art Fair People’s Choice winner James Chadderton will be exhibiting a new digital artwork, depicting a well-known Liverpool scene in his compelling dystopian style. Oil painter Kathy Dereli shows a different side of Liverpool, painting the city’s historic streets from beautiful, unseen angles – the perfect gift for someone in need of a little bit of home.

Finally, to celebrate the fourth year of The Liverpool Collection we are selling our popular Christmas baubles luxuriously wrapped and ready to post! Each gift box will include 3 must-have collectables; Sefton Park Palm House, Liver Building and Metropolitan cathedral editions. Pick up a box and post straight to that special person this Christmas!

The Metquarter exhibition opens on Friday 22^nd November and runs until Sunday 5^th January. The dot-art exhibition opens on Thursday 28^th November and runs to Saturday 18^th January. Entry is free

A Walk In Autumn

Runs from Friday 18th October until 23rd November 

To celebrate the change in seasons dot-art Gallery presents A Walk in Autumn, a new exhibition depicting autumnal landscapes in places that are continents apart. This showcase will feature paintings by Hazel Thomson and Thao Nguyen, and opens to the public on Friday 18th October.

Historically, autumn has been a time which signifies the end of a yearly cycle, prompting self-reflection and retrospection. Each artist has painted autumnal landscapes from their past and present, providing the viewer with riots of seasonal colour – splashes of ochre and deep orange – illuminating varying landscapes both in the UK and Vietnam. Long, atmospheric shadows and fallen leaves personify the cyclic natural world, each piece focusing more on mood and season rather than topography.

Thao Nguyen has created a series of new work for this show inspired by her childhood memories growing up in semi-rural Vietnam. These original acrylic and beeswax pieces celebrate the poeticism of autumn in Vietnam, the fleeting vibrancy and rhythm of nature accentuated by bold, orange hues. Her mixture of both landscape and townscape are painted entirely from memory, the low warm sunlight a recurring feature in her compositions.

For Wirral artist Hazel Thomson, the depths of British woodland are a regular subject matter. For this showcase, Hazel looks back to locations where she has lived or explored before, often painting plein air, or from her own photography. Varying from bright, crisp autumn mornings, to soft, dappled light cast by bare-branched trees, Hazel’s Liverpool and Cheshire compositions portray a striking visual reality. Her meticulous yet sensitive detail using oils, portrays the beautiful contrast between light and shade.

The exhibition runs from 18^th October and continues until 23^rd November, with a private view taking place on 17^th October. All artwork is for sale.

Metropolis

Runs from Friday 30th August until 12th October // Private View: Thursday 29th August, RSVP here

Launching on 30^th August, the upcoming exhibition at dot-art Gallery will showcase the work of two artists, Susan Finch and John Charles, who focus on depicting urban landscapes, specifically Merseyside. The metropolis serves as a centre for work, play and education; it is a site of continuous growth and destruction. So which shapes, colours and textures create the fabric of its identity and vibrancy? Both from different parts of Merseyside, Finch and Charles explore Merseyside architecture in different yet complimentary ways.

Liverpool-born Susan Finch first studied Fine Art at Manchester Polytechnic University. Since returning to her home city in the 1980’s, her urban compositions have continued to combine the vibrancy and essence of the city in beautifully anecdotal ways.

Using an array of media to depict her much-loved Merseyside, Susan marries broken text with expressive line; hand-writing subtle quips among her magical, multi-layered work. Finch is well known for her otherworldly depictions of Sefton Park Palm House and has exhibited her expressionist cityscapes in galleries and museums nationally.

John Charles grew up in Kirkby, Liverpool and first applied brush to canvas at the age of 27. Using his preferred medium, acrylic, John is now an award-winning artist, his individual style attracting commissions from a number of national and international personalities.

In his art, John employs the unusual technique of edging his subjects in bold, vibrant line, taking distinctive Liverpool landscapes and highlighting their unique and often overlooked character. John explores the impact of modernization in his work, using delicate palette knife strokes to emphasize fragile balance of urban infrastructure.

The exhibition continues until 12^th October. Entry is free and all artworks are for sale.

Borderline

Runs from Friday 12th July until 24th August

The dot-art Gallery’s exhibition, Borderline, will showcase the work of five North West based artists, each exploring the relationship between geographical boundaries in a variety of artistic styles.

Ralph Waldo Emerson described the horizon as ‘the point of astonishment’. However, it isn’t a point, it is a line. This exhibition showcases a new way to connect with landscapes; each artist depicting the space where two natural edges meet and where one surface borders with another. The artists reflect and interpret our physical landscapes, painting the overlapping of elements at coastlines, cliff edges, open plains and the liminal transition from sea to sky.

Simon Cooper is a Manchester based artist whose monotonal landscapes were first created to reflect his personal experience of grief and the hope and optimism born from a state of grievance. His metaphorical use of resisting verticals and the demarcations of rocky cliffs against soft hues of cloud depict the complex stages of emotion from depression to enlightenment.

Grahame Ashcroft is a professional artist based in Merseyside. His works are in private and municipal collections both in the UK, Europe and USA. A colourist painter, Grahame’s intense yet elegant depictions of naturally occurring borders form vibrant and joyful compositions of mountain peaks and lively coastlines.

North Wales based painter Catherine Taylor Parry is inspired by natural forms in her work, the subtle suggestion of boundary lines in each of her pieces are highlighted by flecks of bright colour creating atmospheric and poetic scenes.

Lancashire artist Rob Edmondson includes both coast and moorland in his naturalistic paintings. The focus of his art is deeply introspective, as for each piece he considerately questions the composition, exploiting light to accentuate the fluid boundary between two elements.

Kevin Adams is largely self-taught. His natural ability to use flowing composition emphasises the blending of water to sky. Often using pastel tones, Kevin’s coastal depictions reflect the meditative qualities of local shorelines.

The exhibition continues until 25^th August. Entry is free and all are welcome.

Liverpool, 2028

Friday 24 May – Saturday 6 July 

dot-art and Liverpool music and culture magazine Bido Lito! are teaming up to curate and present an exhibition of work which seeks to critique and contemplate our city’s creative future.

Today, our city’s creative community faces a unique set of challenges and opportunities; from rapid digitisation to the rising prominence of AI. As a community what do we foresee; a dystopian, culture-less nightmare or a utopian, technicolour dream? What will be the key issues and challenges, opportunities and changes we’ll be grappling with in 2028? What will Liverpool’s new music and creative culture look like in another 100 Bido Lito! editions’ time?

How much can a city change in nine years? What will the cultural ecosystem look like? Will the way we work as creatives have moved on? Will digital have completely taken over from traditional methods of communication, art production and sharing, or will a backlash lead to the re-emergence of once lost skills? Will technology extend or diminish our creative capacity?

“Liverpool, 2028” will open in the dot-art Gallery, alongside a number of other exciting projects in celebration of Bido Lito!‘s centenary edition, on Friday 23rd May.

Guided by the theme of speculation and foresight, we have invited artists based in the Liverpool City Region to show us a future not yet determined. Six artists have been selected and their artwork will soon be on display and for sale from the gallery.

This exhibition starts on Friday 24 May and runs to Saturday 6 July. Entry is free and all are welcome.

The Female Gaze: Women Depicting Women

Friday 8 March – Saturday 11 May

Launching on International Women’s Day, Friday 8^th March, the new exhibition at dot-art showcases the work of three women artists, Liz Jeary, Mia Cathcart and Rebecca Atherton. Each artist depicts women in their work, capturing and exploring identity and the complex representations of women in art through diverse art forms.

Navigating the historical phenomenon of the male gaze, the three participating artists subvert the portrayal of women in art. According to the National Museum of Women in the Arts, 51% of visual artists are women; however as artists the Guerrilla Girls famously stated in their art work Do Women Have To Be Naked To Get Into The Met?, in the Modern Art section of a Museum like the Metropolitan in New York, less than 5% of the artists exhibited were women, but 85% of the nudes are female. By removing the female body from the picture and concentrating on the face, we are forced to consider a new dialogue and fresh perspective of women as subjects. Using brush, embroidery and photography, this collection of work positions women as the onlookers in each piece to enable expression, energy and thought to act as the key narrative throughout the exhibition.

Mia Cathcart paints from her studio space in The Royal Standard, Liverpool. Employing a bold aesthetic in her portraits, Mia’s art purposefully plays between true representation and the abstract. By doing this, each piece experiments with the paradox of familiarity and anonymity, offering the viewer a decision to empathize a recognizable ‘other’ or to invent a character from strong, gestural brush strokes.

Liz Jeary reimagines photographs by applying colourful hand-stitch. Her photographic embroidery sometimes sees the lens turning on herself, experimenting with the representations of femininity, using stitch to extend the emotional narrative of each portrait.

Rebecca Atherton’s acrylic paintings present a magical and theatrical landscape. The women in each piece are often hybrids of human and mythological birds; juxtaposing the more traditional, nurturing role of women in nature with fantastical adaptations which alter our ability to view the subject as female.

This exhibition starts on Friday 8 March and runs to Saturday 11 May. Entry is free and all are welcome.

Welsh Landscapes

Friday 18 January – Saturday 2 March

Launching on the 18^th January, the new exhibition at dot-art showcases the work of three painters whose landscape art works are autobiographical representations of their Welsh heritage and the historical interlinking of North Wales and Liverpool.

Liverpool’s connection with Wales goes far beyond proximity. Referred to by some as the capital of north Wales, the impact of the Welsh on Liverpool’s infrastructure, architecture and even accent is deep-rooted, with a long history of Welsh migration instrumental in expanding the city to include towns such as Anfield and Everton.

A key symbol of the Welsh influence is Toxteth’s ‘Welsh Streets’, built for Welsh workers migrating to the city and fondly named after Welsh towns and mountains; the silhouette of the Clwydian hills visible across the river Mersey. This exhibition aims to reflect this historical bond between Liverpool and Wales, depicting the appreciation Liverpool has for the beautiful Welsh landscape and the striking topography our neighbouring region provides for us to enjoy and explore.

Huw Lewis-Jones is a professional artist based in Liverpool with roots in Dolgellau, North Wales. Huw finds inspiration in the beauty of rural north Wales and his home in south Snowdonia. Painting in impasto layers, he demonstrates rich texture carving out the magnitude of Welsh mountains and skilfully layering colour to recreate the dramatic physical details of the landscape.

Susan Williams’ practice reflects the extraction and quarrying processes that have impacted and altered the appearance of the North Wales landscape over time. Mainly working around The Great Orme, Parys Mountain and Snowdonia regions, the generous planes of colour elicit movement and pattern across the canvas. Her abstracts are constructed from layers of painting, drawing, and print using local organic and mineral pigments overlaid with precious metals.

Dorothy Benjamin was born in New Zealand where she completed a Fine Arts degree at Auckland University before moving to Britain. Dorothy loves to explore the different landscapes strung along the Welsh coast; a palette of earthy browns and oranges capturing the quiet intensity of the landscape. Her fascination of heavy, foreboding skies evokes a visceral response in each of her signature oil pieces.

This exhibition starts on Friday 18 January and runs to Saturday 2 March. Entry is free and all are welcome.

The Liverpool Collection

Friday 23 November – Saturday 12  January

dot-art Gallery is celebrating the festive season with exhibition The Liverpool Collection, which returns for the third in an annual series of local art. Opening on Friday 23^rd November, this year’s exhibition will comprise 19 artists from across the Liverpool region; celebrating a city steeped in culture through a variety of distinctive artistic styles.

The Liverpool Collection showcases our city’s vibrant, cultural landscape with an eclectic range of art for a variety of tastes and budgets, from indulgent, original art pieces to thoughtful limited edition prints. A watercolour Goodison Park print? A hand-embroidered acrylic painting of Sefton Palm House? Discover dot-art’s Christmas collection, filled to the brim with unique Merseyside mementos and Liverpool iconography, all from our community of local creatives. Here’s just a few things we have in store…

Liverpool is well known for its thriving music scene and Amanda Oliphant’s beautiful mixed media collages depict one of Liverpool’s most famous exports, The Beatles. These simplistic yet intricate limited edition prints are available from only £75, a stand-out gift for the music lover you know.

Phill Gornall creates stunning pen and ink renderings of Liverpool’s architectural triumphs. His brisk and energetic drawings are a keen favourite among those who love a minimal aesthetic and with framed originals starting at only £160 they make the perfect, thought-filled gift.

Whether you frequented The Magnet for years or met your best friend in Cuthbert’s coffee shop, you’re bound to recognise one of Antonio Franco’s subjects. Better known as the photographer behind ‘Liverpool Shopfronts’, Antonio’s love for symmetry and balance is depicted in each of his charming shopfront portraits and from £35 you’ll never have been a better Secret Santa!

Finally, to celebrate the third year of The Liverpool Collection we are releasing a brand new bauble design to adorn your tree alongside the must-have collectables Sefton Park Palm House and Liver Building editions. In frosted white our latest Metropolitan Cathedral bauble will glow among any Christmas themed décor and will be available online and in the gallery.

The Abstract

Thursday 4 October – Saturday 10  November

Shape, colour and gestural markings are at the fore of the new exhibition at dot-art Gallery. The Abstract will be open to the public from 4th October to 10th November and will feature a double bill of local artists whose practices both reject conventional representation.

Emily Bartlett and Daniel John form a compelling pair; both harnessing the power of colour, shape and motion within their art through schematized compositions. Vibrant forms and punctuating brush strokes take the viewer on a visual journey across each canvas with no intended beginning or end.

Artist Daniel John has practised drawing and painting for most of his life. Having graduated with a first-class fine-art degree in 2003, Danny has continued creating art from his studio in Liverpool. His art often contains a scaffolding of systematic and clean structures and by layering lines of intense colour; reds, oranges and yellows, the notion of depth is consistently experimented with. Using acrylics, Danny applies controlled drips, dots and connecting lines to paper and canvas creating a calming illusion of space and dimension.

Emily Bartlett’s bold collection of work is pure-abstraction. Having grown up on a dairy farm in rural Dorset, Emily’s inspiration is derived from the noisy and stimulating energy of the land. Now based permanently in her Liverpool studio, Emily’s current collection showcases a responsive use of colour, her own visual vocabulary communicating deeper themes and emotions common to all viewers. By exploiting non-naturalistic brushwork and dynamic form her work is luminous with energy, a profusion of imagination and curiosity.

This exhibition starts on Thursday 4th October and runs to Saturday 10^th November. Entry is free and all are welcome.

Light on Water

Saturday 11 August – Saturday 22 September

dot-art Gallery’s exhibition Light on Water is a showcase of 10 contemporary artists from the North-West. Each of the artists share a fascination with light and its ever-changing effect on the surface of water.

This exhibition features a plethora of artists Clare Bates, Dorothy Benjamin, Frank Linnett, Grahame Ashcroft, Julie Lawrence, Mark Nelson, Mark Reeves, Mark Sheeky, Rob Edmondson, and Subhash Lal, each examining the interplay of light and water and the different way in which water can be represented through art.

The Light on Water collection exploits a variety of media to convey our most abundant yet precious element. From dark layers of oil to dappled watercolour, each artist transcends the symbolic wavy line, using water as a subject to determine the overall mood of the piece.

Julie Lawrence’s ‘Tide of Light’ series fades sky into ocean, capturing the fleeting and ephemeral quiet of fog-covered marshland and slick rock pools before the swelling tides take over. Using light, curved brushstrokes Julie lifts the textural coastline from the unusual stillness of the water.

Photographer Mark Reeves adopts an array of camera techniques to create his open and minimal compositions. Capturing soft planes of light refracting on the water’s surface, Mark’s impressionistic use of angle and movement accentuate the passage of time.

New Zealand born Dorothy Benjamin renders the true essence of the rural British landscape, drawing inspiration from the Welsh coast and the dark peaks of Derbyshire. Her mood-filled landscapes are heavy with foreboding; dark clouds casting sheets of rain into the distant churning waves and using light brush strokes highlighting where sea tumbles into land.

Painter Rob Edmondson uses colour to showcase the relationship between light and water. From accents of ochre to cerulean, his coastal landscapes depict the setting sun over expanses of water in an almost photographic style, perching the viewer on a panoramic vantage point.

Each of these works complement a series of art by Clare Bates, Grahame Ashcroft, Subhash Lal, Mark Nelson, Frank Linnett and Mark Sheeky.

The Rough With The Smooth

Friday 15 June – Saturday 4 August

Featuring art from five local artists, The Rough With The Smooth explores how artists choose and work with materials to create varying textures. Different surfaces very much affect the way we respond to art and here we aim to showcase the physicality of materials and the properties yielded from each medium, from the viscosity of paint to the coarseness of wool.

This exhibition features artists Liz Jeary, Sharon Mullane, Catherine Carmyllie, Joanne Thompson and Hilary Dron, each experimenting with relief and depth, light and dark, combining elements to create a contrast of actual and perceived textures.

Sharon Mullane is a self-taught artist based in Liverpool whose work is an interpretation of emotion captured in a single point in time. Clouds of alcoholic inks and smooth resin exaggerate the notion of depth in each of her pieces, with heavy waves of colour and abstract shapes fundamental to her expression. Sharon exploits the smooth, glossy properties of liquid resin to capture the movement of ink through layers, freezing the interaction of colours mid-motion.

Liz Jeary uses embroidery to explore new meaning in fine-art photography. Intricately piercing rows of rainbow stiches and incorporating geometric lines of tactile organics, Liz reimagines photographic portraits and landscapes, using wools and cottons to emphasise textures that the camera simply can’t. Liz’s collection of portraits are sewn with a sense of whimsy and light-heartedness, pushing the boundary of what is considered a photograph.

Liverpool born artist Hilary Dron explores the physicality of new materials, using oil and cold wax to build up to thirty different layers, showcasing their unique properties through scraping, scoring and dripping to reveal colour and shape beneath, a methodical artform which reflects the natural processes that inspire her in surrounding landscapes. Hilary’s aim is to achieve a structural integrity though these multilayered surfaces; each piece with its very own ‘geography’ on the surface.

Joanne Thompson combines a broad range of materials to balance the textures in each of her vibrant pieces. By contrasting expressive mark making through energetic flicks of paint and more refined parallel stripes, each part of Joanne’s art responds to light in adverse ways as a result, showcasing a playful variation in surface plane.

Liverpool based Catherine Carmyllie is inspired by her surroundings, both the changeable landscape and by contrast, the static and industrial city. Her work is heavily process driven and constructed by layers of collage, Modroc, paint, ink, oil pastel and metallic foils. This diverse range of media allows for exciting experimentation with both colour and texture.

The exhibition runs from Friday 15 June to Saturday 4 August. Entry is free and all are welcome. 

Metamorphosis: John Petch x OMD

Tuesday 8 May – Saturday 9 June

Metamorphosis is a new exhibition of paintings and drawings by Liverpool-born artist John Petch. In 2016, John was asked by electronic band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, who hail from the Wirral, to design the cover for their new album. This collection comprises the development and preparatory work for the individual painting, the accompanying single artwork designs and subsequent pieces inspired by the creation of these now highly recognisable artworks.

The album art represents a morphing of physical states; from colour to black and white, human form to mechanical, creating tension between the known and unknown. Taking inspiration from the symbolist works of Giovanni Sagantini, whose foreboding painting ‘The Punishment of Luxury’ lends its name to OMD’s 13th studio album, Petch translates traditional philosophy into abstract symbolism using bold geometric intersections and acidic blocks of colour.

On Friday 18 May from 5pm until 10pm, all are welcome to explore Queen Avenue as we take part in celebrating LightNight and this year’s theme of ‘Transformation’. Visitors will be able to see new art exhibition Metamorphosis; a John Petch and OMD collaboration at dot-art Gallery as well as surprise musical performances and food and drink stalls from Liverpool’s favourite eateries.

The exhibition runs from Tuesday 8 May to Saturday 9 June. Entry is free and all are welcome. 

Arboretum

Friday 16 March – Saturday 28 April

Featuring artwork by six local artists, Arboretum showcases the enduring relationship we have with our botanical cohabitants. A source of creative inspiration for hundreds of years, figures of poetic symbolism and worship, emblems of calm and tranquillity – Arboretum celebrates the tree. 

This exhibition will showcase work from artists Joe Thompson, Amanda Oliphant, Hazel Thomson, Frank Linnett, Hilary Dron and Rob Edmondson.

Hilary Dron layers oil and cold wax to create dense thickets of texture in her paintings. Her collection of abstract Pines and Silver Birches depict windows of reimagined adventures from her travels from Liverpool to Ireland and Japan. Although exploiting a vibrant palette, each woodland scene evokes a deeply quiet aesthetic through her use of generous layering.

Wirral-based painter Amanda Oliphant believes in forming a kinship with the natural world through her art, highlighting and exposing elements that often go unnoticed to others. Her oil and acrylic landscapes showcase the twisting hollows of weather beaten trees beneath atmospheric skies, her clever use of negative space placing her solitary trees centre stage.

Hazel Thomson is a seasoned ‘Arborealist’. Having painted many of her stunning landscapes in Cheshire and Liverpool, Hazel’s body of work reflects her intimate observations of forests throughout their cyclic conservation and regrowth, both cold and exposed and lush and green. Her realistic representation captures the gentle movement of dappled light and the rushing sounds of leaves.

For Liverpool-based artist Frank Linnett the importance of having visible references to ‘real’ things in his paintings, even if the piece does not reflect a definite reality, can be seen throughout his collection in Arboretum. The contrast of delicate Birchwood branches against soft pastels creates an effective and surreal aesthetic, whilst transporting the individual viewer to a specific and nostalgic place.

Rob Edmondson’s art is a true reflection of the beautiful Lancashire landscape where he lives. The focus of his art is deeply introspective, as for each piece he considerately questions the choice of natural subject matter. Rob’s bold and lush palette is refreshing and invigorating to take in and illustrates the organic beauty found in every season.

Joe Thompson is a Liverpool-based painter whose Arboretum series of work portrays soft and looming woodland scenes. Taking inspiration from his own travels, Joe translates his observations onto the canvas, perfectly capturing the fleeting glimpses of light breaking through the canopy.

The exhibition runs from Friday 16th March and to Saturday 28th April. Entry is free. 

MONOCHROME

Friday 26 January – Saturday 10 March

Featuring artwork by three local artists, MONOCHROME serves as a contrast to last year’s exhibition ‘Chroma’ – which exploited and harnessed the use of colour – now aiming to simplify the focus of the viewer onto creative process, form and subject.  

What do we see in art when colour is taken away? Exhibition Monochrome presents a striking collection of paintings from three artists; Lee Summerfield, Susan Williams and David Brightmore, each of whom have limited their use of colour, instead giving prominence to texture, form and shadowy depth.  

Artist Lee Summerfield takes inspiration from the natural world when painting. Having worked as a graphic designer for most of his career, Lee has in recent years returned to the easel, enjoying the kinetic and organic processes behind his work. His Monochrome pieces build up heavy layers and concentrated textures with purposeful mark making, creating a unique plane of depth to his ethereal woodland scenes.  

Susan Williams’ art practice involves taking inspiration from her surrounding North Wales landscape, developing figurative and abstract images. She reflects upon the extraction and quarrying processes that have impacted and altered the appearance of the land, expressing her observations through layers of painting and drawing, using local organic and mineral pigments overlaid with precious metals. The way the land has been formed and deformed by human activity informs the process of her image making and is brought to the fore in her bold Monochrome collection.  

David Brightmore’s usual portfolio of work uses vibrant acrylics and oils, his keen interest in family history and his own Welsh heritage manifesting in each piece. His series of ‘figurescapes’, inspired by the beautiful mountain region of Snowdonia, combine the scrambling energy of abstract figures with the rhythm of the rough terrain. For Monochrome, David maintains the energy of his subject matter, painting without colour to exaggerate the liveliness of the human form using heavy layers of charcoal and pencil.  

The exhibition starts on Friday 26th January and runs to Saturday 10th March. Entry is free. 

THE LIVERPOOL COLLECTION

Friday 24 November – Saturday 13 January

dot-art Gallery’s Christmas exhibition, The Liverpool Collection opens to the public on Friday 24th November. This is the second year the gallery will host a festive group show celebrating Liverpool’s famous vibrancy, from striking and renowned iconography to subtle Merseyside nostalgia. The exhibition will showcase over 20 local creatives whilst inviting Christmas shoppers in for a mince pie and a browse. So whether you have a football fan sibling (red or blue!) or an old friend who’s moved away from the city, our independent, local gallery is decked with unique gift inspiration for the person who has everything.  

The Liverpool Collection features a diverse array of artists including Olga Snell and her surreal digital collages, which turn well known Liverpool sights into swirling, whimsical mandalas. At only £60, they’re perfect for the eclectic vintage lover you know.  

For the extrovert who loves bold, statement colours, Chris Grace’s lino prints of Liverpool’s famous architecture would make a brilliant gift. Printed in limited editions, his pieces would make a stocking filler with a difference, starting at only £40.  

Susan Finch creates ethereal mixed-media canvases, twisting well-known Liverpool scenes into magical and otherworldly paintings. Her original canvases would make a very special gift, but if they are out of your budget, she has produced a limited edition of prints ranging from only £95.   

 And finally, the baubles are back! After selling out last year, our bespoke, hand-designed, Liverpool themed baubles are back in stock. We have frosted white limited editions of both the Sefton Park Palm House and the Liver Building available; a must-have collectable and an essential accompaniment for any themed Christmas décor. dot-art baubles are available both in our gallery and online.  

THE ART OF THE PRINT

Friday 6 October – Saturday 11 November

dot-art Gallery’s new exhibition, The Art of The Print opens on Friday 6th October and will showcase the work of eight local artists; Bryn Davies, Helen Conway, Mark Reeves, Michael James, Nathan Pendlebury, Alistair Parker, Marianthi Lainas and Jessica Keeler. Each artist in this exhibition explores different methods of printing; traditional, experimental, manual and photographic. For this collection, we observe the distinctive variations of print and how elements from different printing methods strongly characterise the artwork on the surface. 

Bryn Davies is a fine art photographer and Licentiate at the British Institute of Professional Photography. His collection for this exhibition offers a contrast to his striking, architectural photography and presents a softness through light drawings of natural forms; Japanese Kussharo trees and static landscapes, lending inspiration from his time spent in Eastern Asia. Bryn’s use of organic materials such as handmade rice paper showcases his affinity for experimental medium.

Inspired by urban street art and graffiti writing, Helen Conway incorporates her experiences exploring different urban landscapes, harnessing her inspiration from rapid regeneration and city decay. Her stitched photographic collages in this exhibition hold together unique fragments of Liverpool’s well known landmarks. Fractured local iconography and textural fonts are sewn together creating nostalgic urban mood boards.

Wirral-based Mark Reeves has always had a strong preference for outdoor photography, having spent a lot of his time in the beautiful coastal and mountainous landscapes of the British Isles. His abstract photography includes intentional camera movement to emphasise the interchangeable presence of nature.  Mark says:

“My images were taken in the mountains and on the coasts of Scotland, England and Wales; environments where nature’s presence dominates over that of man’s.  These are wild places which, despite the images we see on postcards, can be dangerous and inhospitable.  The weather changes rapidly in such places and I have chosen to portray my subjects in haunting moods.”

Michael James is a Liverpool based artist interested in portraiture and architectural drawings. He works in various media and in this exhibition has used bold lino printing to showcase minimal planes of colour in vibrant portraits of Liverpool’s historic architecture.

Nathan Pendlebury studied Fine Art at Liverpool John Moores University from 1993 to 1996 specialising in painting. His collection of works shows pure abstraction in dynamic and striking form. He layers bold statements and amalgamates different media to create ambiguous patterns. His photography in this exhibition capture natural scenes that are jarringly quiet and contemplative, the Polaroid prints creating a sense of timelessness.

Alistair Parker’s current work connects his observations of people with the urban space they occupy. His fascination for the rapidly decaying and disappearing cityscape, particularly the classic seaside resort, presents a collection of work filled with nostalgia and intrigue. Bringing together a fusion of photography, digital imaging and fine art, the approach taken is highly experimental and combines a range of unconventional materials and processes in addition to the more traditional art media.

Having spent her life living by the coast, Marianthi Lainas’ work is predominantly inspired by the shifting sands, dune systems and flowing skies that she encounters daily. Her series of botanical prints further reveals her affection for the organic; bringing the outside inside, in a collection of beguiling still photographs of plants and flowers.

Jessica Keeler is a self-taught printmaker who originally studied Theatre Design at Nottingham Trent University. Jessica creates both one colour prints and reduction prints as an exploration of her interpretations of rhythms and patterns noted from nature and places.

The exhibition starts on Friday 6th October and runs to Saturday 11th November. Entry is free.

CHROMA

Friday 11 August – Saturday 23 September

Colour in all its forms is the theme of the new exhibition at the dot-art Gallery. Chroma will be open to the public from 11^th August – 23^rd September and feature a collection of works by five local artists whose work exploits and harnesses the power of colour.

This new summer exhibition celebrates colour and abstraction through rigid line and natural forms. From bold statements to minimal geometrics, Chroma has been curated to demonstrate iconic style.

David Andrews is a street artist whose current series of works are geometric abstractions taking inspiration from architecture and his background in graphic design and created especially for this exhibition.

Anthony Gribbin, an artist who was based at Liverpool’s Bridewell studios for over 30 years, also produces geometric work but his are pure abstraction. Layers invite us to look closer as the various elements play with and contradict our notions of depth and surface plane. The eye responds in a direct and selective way to certain colour situations, line arrangements and patterns and may be misled so that an attempt to interpret may be confused or frustrated by ambiguous structures.

Nathan Pendlebury, who created the album art for the most recent Jake Bugg record, is a painter for whom colour is vital. He says: “I am interested in colour and I want my paintings to be confident, positive and vibrant. I prefer to produce more abstract work but the marks and shapes still tend to produce associations nonetheless. Associations are produced like glimpses without always being totally direct in realistic or figurative terms.”

Paul Fulton is a painter who attempts to recreate emotion on canvas. Through abstract paintings and use of colour, Paul’s work presents a strong visual statement to the viewer. Incorporating the concept of alchemy, the work allows him to transform the base metals of his moods and emotions into the gold of visual images that reflect responsive personal memories and emotions.

Finally, photographer Anna Nielsson has created a series of stunning abstract images using high-speed flash photography, exploring the patterns made using ink and water, creating unique and intriguing artworks.

The exhibition runs from Friday 11^th August to Saturday 23^rd September. Entry is free.

Fabrication

Saturday 15 July – Saturday 5 August

An acclaimed artist from North Wales is to have an exhibition of her latest work at a gallery in Liverpool city centre. Joanne Thompson’s ‘Fabrication’ will showcase her series of contemporary work inspired by the textile mills of the North-West of England, at the dot-art Gallery, Castle Street, starting on Saturday, July 15th.

The 53-year-old mother-of-two, from Ruabon, near Wrexham, who has created in mostly mixed media since she graduated in 2007, has used the fabric designs from textile mills as inspiration for her contemporary creations.

She has worked from her studio near Wrexham for over a decade and has had previous exhibitions with different themes in Cardiff, Aberystwyth and in several northern English towns. Her work is currently displayed in both private collections and corporate premises.

She says: “I have always tried to create at the point where my own inner reality meets the outside world in a naturally artistic and intuitive way. ‘Fabrication’ is my response to the invention, enlargement, manufacture and construction of textiles and I have used this concept as a catalyst for these compositions. Using old fabric designs from the textile mills of the North West I intend to convey their design elements in an enlarged and contemporary manner.”

 The exhibition starts on Saturday and runs to August 5^th.

The dot-art Gallery can be found at 14 Queen Avenue, Castle Street, Liverpool, L2 4TX (just 5 minutes’ walk from Liverpool One).

Opening times: Monday – Saturday, 10am-6pm

Micro Macro

Saturday 27 May – Saturday 8 July 2017

Launching on 27^th May, the new exhibition at dot-art showcases the work of two artists who focus on depictions of microscopic details and global overviews, respectively. Amy Ritchie and Sarah Nicholson both take elements of nature and change their scale so dramatically that completely abstract, but stunningly beautiful images, are created.

Amy Ritchie uses Microphotography to explore plant forms and the structures within them. Through careful sourcing and preparation of samples, the concurrent imagery shows us dense organic structures and the unique complexity that make up the flora we still hold very much in sentimental reverence.

Complimenting and conflicting with this work is a reconnection with her painting practice; focusing on dense fluid forms, reminiscent of natural processes and constructs. The work communicates the fundamental fascination with natural aesthetics and aims to give audiences an accessible insight into microphotography and artistic abstraction inspired by nature and science.

In this new body of work, created specifically for the Micro / Macro exhibition, Sarah Nicholson brings together several themes that have interested her for more than two decades: the Industrial Landscape, the Environment and the Drawn Line.

Using Google Earth to locate and take snap shots of Solar Farms around the world Nicholson creates an abstract image using various pens and inks on heavy paper for long, obsessive mark making practice, following the forms of the solar farms in the landscape and the concentration of the solar panels to create patterns of densely woven lines in delicate forms reflecting the fragility of the new technology in a world which frequently does not support “Green Technology”.

The exhibition continues until 8^th July.

LightNight 2017

Friday 19 May 2017

Join dot-art, Bruntwood, Cau and the Interesting Eating Company for a free, fun filled evening of art, music and food in Queen Avenue, as part of the annual city wide Light Night extravaganza

On Friday 19th May from 5-10pm, all are welcome at the dot-art Street Party in Queen Avenue, off Castle Street, to celebrate Light Night. This year’s theme is TIME so where better to start your journey than by stepping back in time into the last remaining 19th century avenue in Liverpool. Visitors will find the closing party of our exhibition “Seasons”, celebrating the effects of time on our landscapes as well as a specially commissioned sculpture by Sarah Nicholson, entitled SPAN.

Suspended amid the architecture of Queen Avenue, this new artwork has been created from 450 plastic bottles (1 for each year it takes a single bottle to degrade) donated by the local community. Interpreting the theme of time, Sarah’s concept is built upon the luxury of convenience. SPAN highlights the environmental concerns of the production and consumption of plastics whilst reminding us to consider the impact that each of us has on the planet.

SPAN has been sculpted by cutting, twisting and manipulating plastic bottles to create fantastical forms with an important environmental message. During the day, SPAN hangs floating in time as a translucent “ghost” meandering through Queen Avenue and at night, comes to life as a glowing wonderland of suspended trails of sculpture and light.

Between 7-9pm, visitors can also join the artist for a hands on workshop using recyclable materials, and add their own contribution to the art work.

Alongside the art, there will also be live music from the Havana Sugar Kings (at 8pm and 9.15pm) and delicious food from Cau and The Interesting Eating Company.

This event has been made possible with the kind support of Bruntwood.
Find out more about Light Night here.

Seasons

Friday 7 April – Saturday 20 May 2017

To celebrate the start of spring, the new exhibition at the dot-art Gallery looks at the seasons and the changes they bring about on the landscape. This group show will feature paintings by Martin Jones, Michael Love, Lee Summerfield, Hazel Thomson and Joe Thompson and launches on Friday 7^th April.

Hazel Thompson’s work regularly takes the seasons as its subject matter. Her bright, crisp springtime paintings of bluebells are as effective as her evocative autumnal woodlands aglow with fallen leaves. She specialises in capturing the play of light in nature, whether that be dappled summer sunshine or the long shadows cast by trees in a clearing. Some of Hazel’s more unusual works portray two or even four seasons in one painting, demonstrating how the landscape changes throughout the year.

Lee Summerfield has created a series of new work for this show entitled Daydreaming. These works take a distinctive and unusually low viewpoint and allow the viewer an insect eye’s view of flowers in a summer meadow. The thick, textured application of paint and vibrant colours wonderfully evoke a sunny afternoon. Speaking about his work, Lee explains ‘I love exploring the change of seasons in my paintings. There are so many wonderful things around us in plain sight, pockets of beauty and I love trying to capture these. Each season has its own colour palette and mood and I like to try and express this in my work. I strive to invoke emotions through my paintings, reproduce how I am feeling. The inspiring thing about nature is that it’s never ending so I’ve always got something new to be inspired by.”

The paintings of Martin Jones are the result of hundreds of hours of painstaking and meticulously detailed work. The works on show all focus on trees, with each leaf individually rendered by this supremely patient artist. In some of his newer work, the combination of different species, shapes and colours of leaf on one canvas combine to create almost abstract patterns.

These are complemented by a series of snow scenes by Michael Love and summer woodland landscapes by Joe Thompson.

The closing party for the exhibition will form part of dot-art’s offering for this year’s Light Night on 19^th May. 2017’s theme is Time and this exhibition was specially put together to fit with this concept. Full details of both the dot-art event can be found below and the full programme for Light Night 2017 can be explored by visiting lightnightliverpool.co.uk.

Seasons continues until 20^th May.

The Figure

Friday 3 February – Saturday 25 March 2017

dot-art Gallery celebrates its first anniversary in the beautiful 19^th century Queen Avenue with a new exhibition exploring and celebrating the movement of the human body, featuring work by painter David Brightmore and sculptor Faith Bebbington and opening on 3^rd February.

The Figure is the seventh show in dot-art’s new gallery and the first to feature three dimensional work. The two participating artists both address the way the human body moves and interacts with its environment. David’s Fine Art MA studies focused on the role of rhythm and gesture in painting and Faith’s sculptural practice stems from her personal experience of cerebral palsy and the restrictions this places on the movement of her own body.

David, a professional artist since 2000 who spent many years living and working Snowdonia, says of his work: ”Some people have said that maybe the figures within the paintings and drawings are self-portraits. I would not argue with that as I am trying to show my feelings of a physical relation with my immediate environment, which for the last 30 years or so has been full of mountains and hills”

Faith, who is based in Liverpool and has many public art works on display across the UK and beyond, describes her approach: “My sculptural practice stems from having cerebral palsy, a disability that is almost imperceptible to most people, but has a big impact on my daily life.  My work explores the body in motion, but free of all restrictions like jumping, climbing, swimming, skydiving, free running; it’s the moment in mid-air that interests me most!  My sculptures are purposely universal, often genderless figures set in space, so the viewer can focus on the action or movement of the figure. To observe and capture energetic movement I use dancers and athletes as models to help achieve dynamic sculptural sequences. It’s important to me that my artwork is accessible, aiming to spark some personal connection or recognition with the viewer.”

The Liverpool Collection

Friday 25 November 2016 – Saturday 21 January 2017

The dot-art Gallery’s Christmas exhibition, The Liverpool Collection, opens on Friday 25^th November. This group show, the first in an annual series, showcases the work of over 20 locally based artists producing abstract, stylish and authentic interpretations of Liverpool and the surrounding area.

The Liverpool Collection celebrates our city’s iconic views and culture while also giving the discerning shopper the opportunity to buy unique Christmas gifts and support the local creative community. Whether you have a family member who has moved away from the city and would appreciate a little bit of home, an Everton loving partner or a friend who has just moved into a new house, we have gifts for all tastes and pockets. Here are just a few…

Susan Finch creates stunning, multi-layered oil paintings of the iconic Sefton Park Palm House, full of intricate detail. If the large scale original is beyond your budget, she has also produced a limited edition of just 10 prints for the show, which are £95 each.

If you prefer your art more graphic, the work of Michael James will be of interest. His bold, contemporary lino-prints of some of Liverpool’s architectural highlights, in monochrome with chunks of primary colour, start at just £40.

Finally for the music lover in your life we have a fantastic pen and ink drawing of the Beatles by Josh Worrall. The work shows the faces of the famous four at the height of their fame; the original work is £200 and limited edition prints are available for just £40.

The exhibition continues until Saturday 21st January.

Wonderland at Cass Art

November 2016 – January 2017

Frances Broomfield creates work that has been described as ‘sophisticated naive’ with the subject matter of her paintings being inspired by imagination.

She is currently working on a series of paintings based on characters from Lewis Carroll’s Alice books. Her work has featured on several book covers including Colin Dann’s Farthing Wood series. Frances has taken part in many group and solo exhibitions in the UK and the USA and her paintings are in public and private collections worldwide. Most recently one of her pictures was sold at the auction of work owned by Ringo Starr, in Beverley Hills.

Wonderland brings together a selection of Frances Broomfield’s limited editon prints available both framed and unframed from £45. The framed prints are currently on display at Cass Art (Liverpool ONE, 18 School Ln, Liverpool L1 3BT) and can also be viewed, unframed, at the dot-art Gallery on Queen Avenue.

A special thank you to Cass Art for partnering with us on this artist spotlight and supporting dot-art’s mission to make affordable art available to all.

Topography

Friday 7 October – Saturday 19 November

Whilst the subject matter of Andrew and Simons work can vary greatly, both artists are united by a common motivation – landscape and the construction of the artwork itself. For the work in this exhibition, the physical act of painting and the conscious and subconscious decisions made during the process are as important as the original subject matter.

Andrew takes his direct experience of nature as his inspiration. As wind, erosion, ageing, decay constantly alter what we see in nature, so too his paint is layered or poured, surfaces erased and reworked. He constantly struggles between allowing materials to follow their own course or directing them towards his own intuitive ends.  Often his paintings do not represent a recognizable landscape, but the colours, textures and shapes of the composition evoke natural qualities of solidity, form, air and space. Traces of marks and materials are left on the surface, making the viewer aware of the act of painting as well as the innate beauty of the materials themselves. The end result is paintings which have their own unique form, with their roots in both nature and his own subjective experience.

Similarly, elements of nature can be seen in Simon’s paintings. He draws inspiration from features such as skies, mountains and seas and creates images of landscape that ebb and flow between abstraction and representation. Mark making is integral to his working method, layers of paint hang upon a skeleton of underpainting and drawing. Often what is left exposed becomes as important as what is added. Simon carefully selects the substrate he paints on for textures or characteristics that suggest the qualities of the landscape he is working with, sometimes choosing less traditional.

Topography continues until Saturday 19 November 2016.

Four-Dimensional Colour

Saturday 10 – Saturday 24 September

On Saturday 10th September, dot-art will launch a special two week exhibition by Ali Barker as part of the Liverpool #BiennialFringe. The solo show, entitled Four-Dimensional Colour, consists of a series of paintings inspired by the artist’s synaesthesia, a condition where senses are triggered by one another and allow the artist to hear colours. This unique perspective will be demonstrated through the daily painting of two ongoing works over the course of the exhibition.

This exhibition will showcase new paintings made between January and August 2016, comprising a set of “instinctive synaesthetic responses” to music and another set representing sounds translated into colours.

Since the start of 2016, artist and musician Ali has recorded a distinctive sound each day. Whether this is a musical note, a door-bell, a car horn in the distance or the rumbling of a coffee machine, each sound has then been translated into a small block of colour and added to her ever-growing portfolio of artwork.

For each month of 2016 she is composing one painting to represent the music and sounds she experiences, as a grid of coloured squares based on the layout of a calendar. Finally, she will also make a similar, but larger painting comprising all 366 notes and sounds recorded in 2016. This, and the painting of “September 2016”, will be works in progress at the time of the exhibition.

The solo exhibition will last for 2 weeks only so pop it in your diary and we look forward to seeing you soon!

AEROSOL

Friday 15 July – Saturday 3 September

United through their shared expertise of mixed media, see abstracts, landscapes and typography artworks created with spray paint. Influenced by the medium’s movement, style, culture and function, expect bold, vibrant and contemporary compositions in this group exhibition at dot-art Gallery.
Brand new original and limited edition artworks will be available from each of the artists.

AEROSOL is part of #BiennialFringe 2016, an independent event facilitated by The Double Negative that will run alongside Liverpool Biennial 2016.

AEROSOL Live at REX, Bold Street

Thursday 14 July – Saturday 16 July

Watch Jessica Arrowsmith-Stanley create a cityscape artwork at REX on Bold Street between Thursday 14 July – Saturday 16 July.
Jessica will be composing the piece over 3 days in the display window at REX during 12pm – 3pm. Watch an original artwork being created and track her progress with #AEROSOL16

Tweet your images to @dotart & @RexLiverpool

Experiments in Photography

13th May – 2nd July

Through process, composition and technique, this group exhibition of local artists showcased a diverse range of experimental photography. From David John Pearson’s warped light forms to Bryn Davies’ beautiful East Asia landscapes, Experiments in Photography demonstrated the balance between technology and nature, through both digital and analogue processes.

Read the full press release.

Dear Liverpool

12th February – 23rd April

The first exhibition in dot-art’s new gallery showcases the work of 18 artist members and is designed to be a love letter to the cultural capital of the North, and perfectly summarises Liverpool’s energy and vibrancy. While there are some familiar scenes on show, several artists have chosen to represent the city in abstract or unexpected ways and it is abundantly clear from the diversity and quality of the work in the exhibition how much our city’s architecture, culture and people influence our creative community. All the artwork is for sale, with prices ranging from £25 -£2500.

Read the full press release.

15th – 25th May 2015

Portraits of Nature

Photography exhibition by Stewart Ellett at the dot-art Exhibition Space at Rex. Part of LOOK/15, Liverpool International Photography Festival.

October 2014 – May 2015

dot-art at Rex #1

From late 2014 to mid 2015, shoppers were able to visit dot-art at Rex in the lower ground floor of the old George Henry Lee building on Basnett Street in Liverpol city centre, for an ever-changing selection of limited edition and original work by our member artists starting at just £20.

20th March – 10th May 2015

Faith Bebbington Sculpture

Sculpture exhibition by Faith Bebbington at the dot-art Exhibition Space at Rex.

12th December 2014 – 6th March 2015

Liverpool in Oils

Exhibition of oil paintings of Liverpool by Joe Thompson in the dot-art Exhibition Space at Rex.

8th September – 24th October 2014

Political Football

Exhibition of original illustrations and limited edition prints by renowned cartoonist Phil Disley, at the dot-art Showroom.

5th – 11th September 2014

Depictions of Land and Sea

Exhibition of paintings and prints by artists Jackie Wagg and Carol Miller at the Reader Gallery, Calderstones Park.