January can feel a deep inhale after December’s bright whirl. For some, it’s a month of beginnings, crisp pages in notebooks, and thoughtful intentions. For others, it’s a time to sink into the quiet, to follow the pull of slow mornings and low-lit evenings. Wherever you find yourself this month, we’ve gathered five inspiring events, from Burns Night gatherings to workshops steeped in craft.
Jake Grewal at Studio Voltaire, London
Visual artist Jake Grewal's first institutional show in London presents his most ambitious work yet, including a six-metre curved panoramic canvas. Blending his South Asian heritage with the sweeping brush strokes of Romanticism, his latest work is inspired by the artist’s time in India and Cornwall's Porthmeor Studios. Grewal’s evocative landscapes merge figures with their surroundings, capturing moments of transition in light, colour, and time.
Jake Grewal’s work is displayed at Studio Voltaire from 15 January - 13 April 2025.
Tadek Beutlich: On and Off the Loom at Ditchling Museum of Art & Craft
Ditchling Museum of Art and Craft will host the first UK exhibition of textile artist Tadek Beutlich’s work in over 25 years. Centered on his strikingly large-scale 1960s creations, highlights include Dream Revealed (1967), an eight-foot-tall weaving of jute, mohair, and horsehair unseen since 1968. The show also features intricate off-loom pieces and vivid relief prints, celebrating the visionary weaver’s remarkable career.
Tadek Beutlich: On and Off the Loom is at the Ditchling Museum of Art & Craft from 18 January 2025 - 22 June 2025.
Chance Encounters: The Art of Rachel Reckitt at The Museum of Somerset, Taunton
Rachel Reckitt was a modernist artist who lived and worked in West Somerset for over 60 years. With a versatile approach to her craft, she explored varying subjects, styles, and materials, even learning to blacksmith in her 60s.
Her work, shaped by keen observations of people and places, includes avant-garde painting, sculpture, and wood engraving. This wide-ranging retrospective brings together pieces from public and private collections, along with new acquisitions by the South West Heritage Trust.
Chance Encounters: The Art of Rachel Reckitt is on at The Museum of Somerset, Taunton, until 15 March 2025.
Through Line at City Art Centre, Edinburgh
Spanning an array of artistic mediums, Through Line showcases the beauty and versatility of the line across ceramics, drawing, jewellery, painting, printmaking, poetry and textiles. From the use of a single stroke to intricate linear patterns, nine different artists are considered in this celebration of contemporary art and craft in Scotland.
Through Line is at City Art Centre, Edinburgh until 2 March 2025.
Artist Textiles: Picasso to Warhol at Aberdeen Art Gallery
Following an international tour, this history of 20th century art in textiles has arrived in Aberdeen. Artist Textiles: Picasso to Warhol showcases examples of key European and American art movements including Fauvism, Cubism, Constructivism, Abstraction, Surrealism and Pop Art, as well as the work of leading fashion designers and manufacturers.
Artist Textiles: Picasso to Warhol is on at Aberdeen Art Gallery 23 November 2024 - 13 April 2025.
Words by Lauren Sneade.
Image 1: Work in Progress, Jake Grewal, Photo: Jake Grewal, 2024.
Image 2: Tadek Beutlich, Thomas Dane Gallery. Photo: Ben Westoby. 2024.
Image 3: Chance Encounter (c. 1959) courtesy of Liss Llewellyn)
Image 4: Lara Scobie, Concave-Convex Vessels, 2024. Photo, Shannon Tofts
Image 5: Artist Textiles: Picasso to Warhol at Aberdeen Art Gallery 2024. Exhibition organised by the Fashion and Textile Museum, London.
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