New Ashgate Gallery champions the best of contemporary art and craft providing an unparalleled resource in Farnham, Surrey and beyond
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New season of exhibitions and events
Known for selecting art and craft of the highest quality, the gallery team has handpicked artists from across the UK. Our exhibitions present glass, ceramics, jewellery, sculpture, print and painting.
Surrey Artist of the Year 2021
We curate a programme of 25 annual exhibitions and events, working in partnership with local and national organisations. Visit us for exhibitions in the Pavilion, Balcony and Maker in Focus Galleries & enjoy the affordable Craft Collection, perfect for unique gifts.
Barry Stedman, Island Life series, 10x10cm
15 January to 5 March 2022
Barry Stedman: Maker in Focus
Barry Stedman is a ceramic artist whose colourful, dynamic forms come out of a deep connection to the landscape. All the work, developed in series, is rooted in the directness and urgency of drawing outside; responding to the weather, drama and life which surrounds his garden studio by the river Flit in Bedford.
Starting on the wheel or constructed in slabs, the earthenware vessels are cut open and altered, scored and handled, before being glazed with layers of oxide, slip and washes of vivid colour. The vessels are then offered to the kiln, sometimes in multiple firings, in an open dialogue of transformation; infused with the marks, rhythm and energy of their making.
Stedman came to ceramics after a career in retail when he was seduced by the possibilities of clay to express abstract ideas of colour and form. He completed a Ceramics degree at the University of Westminster in 2009 where he received the Caparo Award, joining Edmund de Waal's studio that same year. His work has been featured in numerous exhibitions and galleries across the UK and internationally.
Fiona Millais
15 January to 5 March 2022
Fiona Millais: As I Walked Out
Fiona Millais takes inspiration from the places and objects that she loves. To many people, particularly in the last year, our green spaces have become ever more important and precious. Fiona walks out every day with the dog and often gathers additional materials, so that stones, leaves and feathers become visual reminders of her experience.
Fiona says: "This daily rhythm in my walks reflects and informs my artwork. I endeavour to paint landscapes with a sense of place and of 'being there' and imagining a painting you would want to walk into. Sometimes it is a meandering path to follow through local woods and other days might bring the breath-taking sweep of a Downland panorama."
Fiona studied Fine Art at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, graduating in 1984. her great-grandfather was the Pre-Raphaelite painter, Sir John Everett Millais.
Lucy Burley, Spring Green group: Canary Yellow round vase, Light Olive bottle, Citrus Green bottle, Deep Olive bottle, New Leaf Green oval vase
15 January to 16 April 2022
Spring Craft Collection 2022: Craft with Local Heart
The Spring Craft Collection presents a curated range of unique, local and nationally renowned craft. Treat yourself to something new for your home or buy gifts for your loved ones. Pop in, browse and shop away from the crowds. You'll be supporting a local gallery and small creative artist businesses if you do, as well as finding something special.
We are delighted present a new collection of:
Ceramics by: Lucy Burley, Arjan van Dal, Georgie Gardiner, Emma Godden, Ken Eardley, Bérengère Noyau, Alison Proctor and Ali Tomlin.
Jewellery by: Holly Suzanna Clifford, Rachel Jones, Ulli Kaiser and Tracy Wilson.
Textiles by: Claire Armitage and Helen Chatterton and many more...
Graham Evernden, 2 Pears and a Goldfish
15 January to 5 March 2022
Graham Evernden: Pots, Pears, Poppies
Graham Evernden's art celebrates the small objects that we encounter in our everyday life. Graham's paintings find the beauty in colour and his forms are simple yet sophisticated, bringing joy and pleasure to the viewer.
Graham has exhibited many times at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition and won many awards for illustration, including the D&AD Gold Award, the D&AD Silver Award, the Gold Award from the New York Art Directors Club, the Gold Award from Australian Writers and Art Directors and an award from European Illustration. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers and worked for several years in London as a graphic designer before becoming a printmaker, illustrator and a painter.
Kiki Birtles, Inherited, Falmouth University
12 March to 23 April 2022
The 29th British Art Medal Society Student Medal Project
Contemporary art medals is a wonderful medium for students to learn the age-old skills involved with lost-wax casting; skills such as modelling, working in wax and plaster, and, ultimately, seeing their work cast into bronze.
But what is an 'art medal'? It is a small, two-sided artwork in relief, carrying a powerful narrative, perhaps, or celebrating an event, or making a statement about the state of the world. The two medals that won the Grand First Prize in 2020 and 2021, each of them illustrating not only what the medal can convey in its imagery, but also how tactile the medium can be. They are wonderful to hold in the hand, perfect to contemplate, thoughtful pieces that express strong feelings.
This exhibition presents art medals made by students in art colleges around the UK for the Project 2022, and also includes a guest university from Pforzheim in Germany.
The Goldsmiths' Centre gives a grant for the administration of a project that they value for its teaching of artistic skills, and a means by which students are enabled to share their work with a wider audience.
Grand First Prize Winner 2020, awarded by the Worshipful Company of Founders:
Jonathan Kelly, Patterns of Society, Leeds Arts University:
'My work is inspired by philosophical concepts around the mutually dependent relationship between the individual and society.'
Grand First Prize Winner 2021, awarded by the Worshipful Company of Founders:
Kiki Birtles, Inherited, Falmouth University:
'My medal represents how the younger generation have inherited the problems of the world, and have been bound to hold its enormous weight.'
Collections of art medals can be found in many museums, and the British Art Medal Society organises talks by makers and by curators about modern medals, as well as commissioning work for sale to its members.
Henrietta Corbett, Blue Horse, Red Moon, acrylic on plastic
12 March to 23 April 2022
Henrietta Corbett: In the Making: Paintings, Prints and Ceramics Sculpture
Henrietta's prints, ceramics and paintings, rich in textures and simple forms, are full of totemic creatures. Horses and birds stand in abstracted landscapes. While her imagery has a timeless quality, recalling animals carved into chalk hills or on a cave wall, her bold compositions and sophisticated mark-making demonstrate the confidence of an artist at the height of her powers.
Henrietta's sculptures and printmaking often show her images pared down, creating stylised lines and minimal form. Her paintings, however, are strong colourful depictions with an inventive pallet reminiscent of the Fauves.
Having studied fine art at Wolverhampton Polytechnic under Anish Kapoor and Nicola Hicks, Henrietta has become one of Leicestershire's most widely recognised artists, her work is shown in leading galleries throughout the UK.
Sarah Porter
James Trundle
12 March to 23 April 2022
Porter + Trundle: The Winner of Rising Stars Award in 2021
In 2014 award-winning British artists Sarah Emily Porter and James Trundle discussed how their individual practices could form a makers collective, but it wasn't until Trundle helped Porter fabricate 'Anatomy of Colour' in 2018 that they realised the potential in working together. The following year they set up Porter + Trundle from their South London workshop.
Presenting the perfect fusion of colour, form and craftsmanship, Porter + Trundle form a well-balanced duo. Their innovative and bespoke approach to design produces visually challenging and technically complex objects that are simultaneously unique works of art. Working to an individual's brief, Porter + Trundle promote close working relationships with architects, interior designers, retailers, private collectors and brands to create unique, high quality objects. As talented designers and makers Porter + Trundle work from initial design concept through to fabrication and installation with the added bonus of everything being produced in-house.
In 2021 they won the New Ashgate Rising Stars Award and in 2019 were awarded the Richard Seager Annual Arts Award. In 2020 they became a member of the Crafts Council UK Hothouse Talent Alumni.
Sarah Emily Porter is a visual artist who explores the historical constructs of painting - colour, composition and form. She studied Architectural History at Durham University (2005-2008) before later completing a Fine Art Graduate Diploma at Chelsea College of Art, UAL in 2016. Since then she has exhibited internationally, won the Broomhill National Sculpture Prize 2018, was invited to be the 2019 resident artist at the NLCS Jeju Arts Festival in South Korea and has been shortlisted for the Jackson's Painting Prize, Signature Art Prize and Annex Acquisition Award.
James Trundle worked as a boat builder and fine furniture maker for ten years before formalising his training at the Slade School of Art (2012-2016). Trundle is interested in the process of making and material manipulation, creating sculptures that transition between conceptual art and traditional craftsmanship. He was a finalist in the Woon Foundation Prize, Ashurst Emerging Artist Prize and Broomhill National Sculpture Prize.
12 March to 23 April 2022
Rising Stars 2022
Rising Stars is a curated, national platform to foster and champion new talent, early career makers, students and graduates from BA and MA crafts, design and applied arts programmes across the UK. Rising Stars offers new makers a first step into the market place, through a curated, selling exhibition. It is also an exciting collector opportunity for those wishing to support and collect work by future stars.
The programme will consist of the Rising Stars exhibition that enables new makers to access the market place and collectors; professional development, and a catalogue to act as a promotional tool for the selected makers. The 2022 project will also be supporting new makers in the post COVID-19 craft world.
Following a popular open call, we are delighted to announce that the makers selected for the Rising Stars 2022 are:
Balanced Earth, Maddy Barnett, Peter Black, Michelle Chung, Kunning Ding, Catherine Dunstan, Lilly Eris, Claudette Forbes, Beatrice Galletley, Cathy Green, April Hay, Lara Rebecca Hoad, Zeba Imam, Seongeun Kim, Annabelle Laurie Macleod, Pratibha Mistry, Ji-Hyun Song, Sarah Sullivan, Dr Hannah White, Jane Wilson and Yidan Wang.
We recognise there is a lack of representation from Black, Asian, and ethnically diverse backgrounds, LGBTQIA+ makers and makers who identify as having a visible or non-visible disability in the southeast region. To address this imbalance, 12 of 21 Rising Stars makers are from one of the underrepresented groups.
The shortlisted makers were selected by a panel of judges; Dan Goode (Making Goode), Dr Outi Remes (New Ashgate Gallery), Sharon Ting (University for the Creative Arts, Textiles).
One of the makers will be presented a professional development award of £1,000 and a solo exhibition at New Ashgate in 2023.
Rising Stars 2022 is organised by New Ashgate Gallery in partnership with the University for the Creative Arts and Dan Goode of Making Goode. It is supported by Billmeir Charitable Trust.
#NAGRisingStars2022
Louise Davies, Enchanted Forest, etching.
30 April to 11 June 2022
Louise Davies: From Dawn to Midnight
Louise Davies explores the landscape, nature, light and the time of day. She has a vibrant use of colour and a distinctive line drawing. Her work is based from immediate sketches that she makes whilst out in the Landscape. On returning to the studio, she works very closely with these observed drawings which are the foundation of her works on etching plate or canvas. Her response in the creation of the piece is intuitive and also from memories from the past. Louise can spend weeks on a print or painting, reworking the image and experimenting with different colour fields and mark making, until she is satisfied with the end result.
Louise studied Fine Art at St Martins and also has an MA in Printmaking at Camberwell. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers. She works full time in her studio in Woolwich in South London and has won many awards for her work.
