14 exhibitions to see in Sussex

With museums, galleries, former artists’ homes and historic sites welcoming visitors indoors, here we round up 14 exhibitions on in Sussex.
Ditchling Musuem of Art + Craft reopened with an exhibition on illustrator John Vernon Lord. Photograph: Rosie PowellDitchling Musuem of Art + Craft reopened with an exhibition on illustrator John Vernon Lord. Photograph: Rosie Powell
Ditchling Musuem of Art + Craft reopened with an exhibition on illustrator John Vernon Lord. Photograph: Rosie Powell

See Picasso prints in Chichester, photographs of David Bowie in Brighton, patchwork squares stitched during lockdown in Bexhill and ‘rubbish’ pet portraits in Worthing.

Booking and entry details vary at each venue and it is advised to check the website listed.

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Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft. Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft reopened on May 20 with Taking a Line for a Walk, a celebration of illustrator John Vernon Lord. It includes drafts – said to be on show for the first time – of his 1972 children’s book The Giant Jam Sandwich and his illustrations for literary works, such as the 2009 print of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. It also includes pieces by some of Lord’s former students and contemporaries, such as Sir Quentin Blake. Until October 31; see ditchlingmuseumartcraft.org.uk

The Forked Forest Path at Fabrica. Photograph: Tom ThistlethwaiteThe Forked Forest Path at Fabrica. Photograph: Tom Thistlethwaite
The Forked Forest Path at Fabrica. Photograph: Tom Thistlethwaite

Newlands House, Petworth. Until July 4, Petworth gallery Newlands House continues Joan Miró: La Gran Belleza, looking at more than 50 years of the Spanish artist’s work. See paintings, sculptures, engravings and drawings spanning from 1931 to 1981. The exhibition is the gallery’s third – it opened in March 2020. See newlandshouse.gallery

Royal Pavilion, Brighton. Brighton’s Royal Pavilion is continuing its exhibition A Prince’s Treasure. More than 120 items that George IV, then Prince Regent, commissioned or bought for what was his seaside palace were returned on loan to the Pavilion in 2019 from The Royal Collection, going on show for the first time in 170 years. The items, relocated from Buckingham Palace, were due to stay on display until this autumn but will remain on show until January 9, 2022. Five items were added to the display and on show for the first time when the Pavilion reopened on May 17. See brightonmuseums.org.uk

Standen House, East Grinstead. Standen in East Grinstead launched The Joy is in the Making on May 29, billed as a ‘behind the scenes’ look at the crafter. It features installations by knitting, needlepoint and patchwork artist Kaffe Fassett, ceramicist and judge of Channel 4’s The Great Pottery Throw Down Keith Brymer Jones and textile artist Mr X Stitch. Until October 31; see nationaltrust.org.uk

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Farleys House & Gallery, Chiddingly. Farleys, the former home of model and photographer Lee Miller and painter and poet Roland Penrose, reopened on May 20 with three new exhibitions, including Lee Miller: Fashion in Wartime Britain, a display of Miller’s fashion photography for British Vogue during the Second World War. Visitors will see more than 60 photographs Miller took between 1939 to 1944 before she worked as a war correspondent in Europe. See farleyshouseandgallery.co.uk

One of Phil Heckels's pet portraits, on show at Worthing Museum. Photograph: Phil HeckelsOne of Phil Heckels's pet portraits, on show at Worthing Museum. Photograph: Phil Heckels
One of Phil Heckels's pet portraits, on show at Worthing Museum. Photograph: Phil Heckels

Novium Museum, Chichester. The Mystery Warrior: The North Bersted Man has been extended at Chichester’s Novium museum until November. The display of the remains of an Iron Age warrior and artefacts, found in 2008 on land at North Bersted, Bognor Regis, opened in January last year and was due to end in September 2020. See thenovium.org

Charleston Trust, Firle. Charleston Farmhouse – the former home of artists Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant and a meeting place for the Bloomsbury set – reopened on May 19. Exhibitions on include a retrospective of the work of celebrated Welsh artist Nina Hamnett – thought to be the first retrospective of her work. It features more than 50 pieces, spanning three decades. Charleston is also displaying The Famous Women Dinner Service – 50 hand-painted plates Bell and Grant were commissioned to create of notable women throughout history. See charleston.org.uk

Fabrica, Brighton. See Icelandic-Danish artist Olafur Eliasson’s The Forked Forest Path at Brighton’s Fabrica gallery, on show in partnership with the Brighton Festival. About 3,000 branches, thinnings and saplings, sustainably sourced in East Sussex, have been installed in the former church to create a thicket and evoke a forest that visitors can walk through. Opened May 18; until June 20. See fabrica.org.uk

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Hastings Contemporary. Seaside Modern: Art and Life on the Beach – a look at the popularity of the seaside among British artists from the 1920s to 1970s – started at Hastings Contemporary on May 27 when the gallery was reopened. The display, which features work by more than 60 artists, includes watercolour Mackerel Sky by Eric Ravilious, which was thought missing and last exhibited in 1939 when it was sold to a private collector. Until October 31; see hastingscontemporary.org

David Bowie in 1975, one of the photographs on show at Brighton Museum & Art Gallery. Photograph: Geoff MacCormackDavid Bowie in 1975, one of the photographs on show at Brighton Museum & Art Gallery. Photograph: Geoff MacCormack
David Bowie in 1975, one of the photographs on show at Brighton Museum & Art Gallery. Photograph: Geoff MacCormack

Towner Eastbourne. Towner in Eastbourne reopened on May 18 with the first retrospective in more than 50 years of works by British artist John Nash. The Landscape of Love and Solace features works from across a range of mediums by the artist, who served as an official war artist in the First and Second World Wars. Until September 26. See townereastbourne.org.uk

Worthing Museum. Four new exhibitions started at Worthing Museum when it reopened on May 22, including Pet Portraits by Hercule Van Wolfwinkle – a selection of Phil Heckels’s self-styled ‘rubbish’ pet portraits, created under the name Hercule Van Wolfwinkle. The Worthing resident, who posted drawings on Facebook during lockdown that went viral and led to requests pouring in, has raised more than £80,000 for charity Turning Tides to date. Until August 7; see wtam.uk

Brighton Museum & Art Gallery. David Bowie exhibition Rock ’n’ Roll with Me continues at Brighton Museum & Art Gallery. Photographs – including 80 large framed originals – that Bowie’s close friend Geoff MacCormack took while they were on the road together between 1973 to 1976 will remain on show until January 23, 2022. The exhibition was due to end this summer. Reopened May 18; see brightonmuseums.org.uk

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Pallant House Gallery, Chichester. Degas to Picasso: International Modern Masters continues at Pallant House Gallery in Chichester, featuring prints by Picasso, Cézanne and Matisse and portraits by Degas and Manet. The exhibition was due to close in April but has been extended until June 12. On June 26 the gallery will launch two new exhibitions, including Masterpieces in Miniature: The 2021 Model Art Gallery. It will see a model art gallery commissioned by Pallant with works – from the size of a pound coin to no larger than 20cm – created by 34 artists over the past year. See pallant.org.uk

Guest curator of Seaside Modern at Hastings Contemporary James Russell with Eric Ravilious's watercolour Mackerel Sky. Photograph: Justin Lycett/ hn14902 (3)Guest curator of Seaside Modern at Hastings Contemporary James Russell with Eric Ravilious's watercolour Mackerel Sky. Photograph: Justin Lycett/ hn14902 (3)
Guest curator of Seaside Modern at Hastings Contemporary James Russell with Eric Ravilious's watercolour Mackerel Sky. Photograph: Justin Lycett/ hn14902 (3)

De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill. Bexhill’s De La Warr Pavilion reopened on May 19 with new exhibitions that included All in the Same Storm: Pandemic Patchwork Stories, in partnership with the Refugee Buddy Project for Hastings, Rother and Wealden. It shows 95 patchwork squares stitched by members of the community during lockdown – including those seeking refuge, volunteers and students – that tell stories on topics such as change, isolation, loss, home and resistance and which have been sewn into four quilts. Until September 5; see dlwp.com