My 2024 in Art
I travelled around the UK a fair bit in 2024, heading both north and south from my roots in the north of England. Every time I travel - whether for work or pleasure - I try and always tag on a gallery visit.
This said, it has been an unintentionally packed year of art and museums, and I've seen some incredible work and visited some of the most world renowned cultural venues. I feel so lucky to have been able to do this, and so I thought these cultural adventures deserved a bit of a New Year reflective write-up.
Here’s what I got up to, in summary:
In March I visited The Cult of Beauty at Wellcome Collection in London - a venue that connects science, medicine, life and art, and one I’d never been to before. Presenting more than 200 items - historical objects, artworks, films and new commissions - this exhibition looks at the impact of morality, status, health, age, race and gender on the evolution of ideas about beauty, questioning established norms and reflecting on more inclusive definitions of beauty.
In May, I headed to a personal favourite venue - the National Portrait Gallery, London and the Francesca Woodman and Julia Margaret Cameron: Portraits to Dream In exhibition. Showcasing more than 160 rare vintage prints, this exhibition spans the career of both artists, who lived a century apart. Cameron worked in the UK and Sri Lanka from the 1860s, and Woodman in America and Italy from the 1970s.
In June I visited The Hepworth Wakefield for the first time which, given I live in Yorkshire is ridiculous. Here I caught the Sylvia Snowden: Painting Humanity exhibition. This was the first public gallery exhibition in Europe of African-American painter Snowden’s work, which consists of large paintings made using think oil paint and pastels; acrylic and collage.
Also in June, I attended the private view of Bharti Kher: Alchemies at Yorkshire Sculpture Park - an expansive exhibition of sculpture and 2D work by one of the world’s leading contemporary artists.
In August I found myself back in London, this time at the Victoria and Albert Museum and Fragile Beauty: Photographs from the Sir Elton John and David Furnish Collection. This exhibition presents over 300 photographs from 140 of the world's leading photographers, with subjects including fashion, celebrity, reportage and the male body.
While I was there, I also enjoyed the Taylor Swift Songbook Trail, which inspired me to write this piece about making museums cool.
Exhibitions 7, 8 and 9 were all enjoyed on the same day at the same gallery. It was October 2024 and this was the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, where I saw Middle of Somewhere by Joanne Coates with photographs of rural Yorkshire and Orkney alongside portraits of young women as a reflection on the challenging realities of life in rural communities in modern day Britain.
Also at the Baltic, Franki Raffles: Photography, Activism, and Campaign Works is an expansive body of work telling the stories of women and their lives across the world. Raffles died at just 39 but produced around 40,000 images during her life, with most of them depicting real experiences of women or created as a piece of activism.
Manual Labour by Hannah Perry combines film, sound and sculpture to address themes of transitioning into motherhood, labour and class - including an enormous mechanical moving pelvis.
Another one for October - I saw the New Light Art Prize Exhibition at the Mercer Gallery in my hometown of Harrogate. This is one of the UK's largest and most celebrated open exhibitions, showcasing over 100 works from well-known and emerging Northern artists.
That’s not even all for October. A weekend in Edinburgh led me to Women in Revolt at Modern Two/ National Galleries of Scotland in Edinburgh. Touring from Tate Britain, this large showcase of feminist art celebrates women who challenged and changed the face of British culture, featuring powerful and provocative work of over 100 artists.
In November I was back in London and visited the Turner Prize exhibition at Tate Britain just ahead of the winner announcement. This is one of the best-known visual arts prizes and each year the Turner Prize jury shortlist four artists for an outstanding exhibition or other presentation. I wrote about this exhibition, the winner and my personal favourites.
My final show of the year also occurred in November - Sarah Kirby: A Printmaker's Landscape at Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Kirby works from her garden studio in Leicester, using oil-based inks to create original prints with a bold graphic quality that are inspired by public spaces, buildings, and nature.
So WOW - all that art! I don’t know quite how I might beat or even match that in 2025, but I’m going to try. I have always felt at peace and happy in art galleries, and I adore paintings and portraiture. Art feeds my soul. It’s just who I am.
If you’re interested, my top three were:
3. Francesca Woodman and Julia Margaret Cameron: Portraits to Dream In - I was fascinated by the fact these artists were positioned alongside each other, despite working a century apart. The difference in photographic style and techniques were intriguing, and some of the portraits by Cameron took my breath away - delicate light, and personalities captured so gently in facial expressions. A cleverly constructed and beautiful exhibition.
2. Women in Revolt at Modern Two/ National Galleries of Scotland in Edinburgh - This is a fantastic collection of diverse creative activism, and I was mesmerised by the stories told and messages communicated with such a broad range of artists, perspectives, and creative tools. A hugely enjoyable and really engaging experience.
1. MY TOP PICK - Franki Raffles: Photography, Activism, and Campaign Works - Franki’s reportage style is quite something, and I can’t believe how much superb work she did in her short life. The Zero Tolerance campaign deserves a special mention (bonus pictures below). Her commitment to representing women, women’s issues and activism was astounding. The world needs more bold, passionate, prolific artists like Franki.
Bring on another year of art in 2025!