Artists

exists to do something specific and, in the UK art world, relatively unusual: develop the market for contemporary art in a single region while championing the artists who make it. That dual purpose — profile-building and market-building — shapes everything on this page, from the roster of artists we follow to the graduate exhibitions we stage and the editorial we commission.

This is a working index of artists, exhibitions and opportunities connected to the contemporary visual art landscape of Birmingham and the wider West Midlands. It is not a static directory. It grows as artists develop new bodies of work, as curators propose projects, and as collectors begin to look seriously at what is being made here. For a closer look at what is currently on view across the city, see our guide to birmingham art gallery exhibitions.

Key Takeaways

• New Art West Midlands is a platform for contemporary visual art across Birmingham and the West Midlands, serving artists, curators, gallerists, students and collectors.
• The annual graduate exhibition is a defining feature of the region’s ecology, selected by established figures and staged across multiple venues between February and May.
• The SALON exhibition at the Waterhall Gallery, Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, presents contemporary art for sale — a deliberate move to connect makers with buyers.
• The artists listed here span established and emerging practices, from painting and sculpture to performance, moving image and socially engaged work.
• Two mailing lists — Friends of New Art WM and the Curators’ Network — exist to keep audiences, buyers and visual arts professionals connected to the region’s activity.

The Artists We Follow

The roster below reflects the breadth of practice in the region rather than a single house style. It includes artists working across painting, sculpture, print, photography, performance, installation and moving image, at very different stages of their careers.

• Anna Francis — socially engaged and place-based practice, often working with communities and public space.
• Anna Katarzyna Domejko — painting and drawing rooted in observation and material enquiry.
• Ali Reed, Anna Smith, Grace Williams, Sarah Taylor Silverwood — distinct voices across drawing, print and narrative-led work.
• Barbara Walker — a major figure in contemporary British painting and drawing, whose work addresses representation, visibility and history.
• Barbara Witkowska, Bharti Parmar, Vered Lahav, Yvonne Hindle — practices engaging with abstraction, identity, material and process.
• Chris Clinton, Corey Hayman, Corey Whyte, David Bethell, Dean Kelland — sculpture, installation and lens-based work.
• Doyle and Mallinson — a collaborative practice.
• Elizabeth Rowe, Emily Mulenga, Faye Claridge, Glen Stoker — photography, digital and moving image.
• Graham Chorlton, Ian Andrews, James Birkin, John Devane, Martin Green, Matt Westbrook, Oliver Jones, Paul Newman, Rafal Zar, Sharon Farrelly, Stuart Layton, Tereza Buskova, Lucy Hutchinson, Leah Carless, Juneau Projects — a wide spread of painting, sculpture, performance and collaborative work.

The point of listing them together is not to flatten their differences but to make visible the density of serious practice in one region. Collectors and curators new to the West Midlands often assume they need to travel to London to see work of this calibre. They don’t.

Why a Regional Market Matters

A healthy art ecology needs more than exhibitions. It needs buyers, critics, writers, framers, shippers, technicians, invigilators and venues willing to take risks. New Art West Midlands was set up with the explicit aim of developing the market for contemporary art in the West Midlands — a phrase worth unpacking.

• Visibility: artists need their work seen by people who might acquire it, not only by peers.
• Critical context: work needs writing about, argued over and placed in a lineage. Editorial and review are part of the infrastructure.
• Access points: buyers need somewhere to start — a salon-style selling exhibition, a mailing list, a named contact.
• Continuity: graduate shows are a beginning, not an end. The region needs pathways that carry artists forward.

For anyone interested in how regional art economies function, the broader context of the UK’s visual arts infrastructure — from Arts Council England to the network of public galleries — is worth understanding. The Arts Council England is the national development agency for creativity and culture, and its funding shapes much of what is possible regionally.

The Graduate Exhibition

Each year, between February and May, New Art West Midlands stages a selected exhibition of West Midlands graduates at venues across the region. This is one of the platform’s most important functions: it takes work made at the end of a degree and gives it a public, professional context.

The 2016 exhibition was selected by Sonia Boyce, John Stezaker and Katharine Stout, and featured work by 43 artists. The involvement of selectors of that standing matters. It signals to graduates, and to audiences, that the work is being taken seriously by people with national and international reputations.

A few practical notes for anyone thinking about applying or attending:

• Selection is competitive. A panel of established artists and curators reviews submissions; being selected is a genuine credential.
• Venues rotate. The exhibition is distributed across the region rather than confined to a single building, which brings work to audiences who might not visit a city-centre gallery.
• Timing is fixed. It runs February to May each year, so plan studio visits, applications and travel around that window.
• It is a springboard, not a guarantee. Selection opens doors; what you do next — documentation, follow-up, applications, studio discipline — determines the trajectory.

The SALON Exhibition

In 2015, from 13 November to 23 December, New Art West Midlands presented the SALON exhibition at the Waterhall Gallery, Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery. The SALON showcases contemporary art for sale.

The salon format has a long history — the Paris Salons of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and the Royal Academy’s summer exhibitions in London, established the idea of a large, curated selling show. The Royal Academy of Arts continues that tradition today. A regional salon does something slightly different: it concentrates on work made nearby, and it puts a price on it.

For buyers, a salon-style show offers several advantages:

• Range in one room. You can see many artists’ work side by side and compare.
• Accessible entry points. Selling exhibitions typically include work at a range of price levels.
• Direct contact. You can often meet the artist or the gallery team and ask questions.
• A clear signal. Buying from a regional platform supports the local ecology directly.

For artists, the trade-offs are worth understanding. Selling exhibitions reward work that photographs well, hangs well and reads quickly — which can disadvantage more durational, installation-based or performative practices. If your work doesn’t fit that mould, the salon may not be the right route; a solo presentation, a commissioning opportunity or a project space might serve you better.

Editorial and Critical Writing

New Art West Midlands commissions editorial that places regional work in critical context. Two examples from the archive:

• Barbara Walker’s Shock and Awe, reviewed by Andrew Jackson, published Friday 13 May 2016.
• Trevor Pitt and the Preston Street Union, published Wednesday 13 April 2016.

Why does this matter? Because a market without criticism is just commerce. Writing about work — describing it, interpreting it, disagreeing with it — builds the shared vocabulary that collectors, curators and artists all rely on. It also creates a permanent record. Exhibition reviews become the primary source material for future art historians of the region.

If you are an artist, treat documentation and writing as part of your practice, not an afterthought. A well-written short text, accurate captions, good photography and a clear CV will do more for your career than a hundred social media posts.

Getting Involved: Two Mailing Lists

New Art West Midlands runs two distinct mailing lists, and choosing the right one — or both — depends on who you are.

List	Who it’s for	What you get
Friends of New Art WM	Anyone interested in staying up to date with contemporary art in the region, or in buying and collecting	Exhibition news, opportunities to see and acquire work, invitations
Curators’ Network	Curators and visual arts professionals	Sector-specific updates, networking, insight into the regional contemporary landscape

How to decide:

• If you are a collector or enthusiast, join Friends. It is the route to seeing work before it disappears into private collections.
• If you are a curator, producer, gallerist or arts professional, join the Curators’ Network. It connects you to peers and to the wider regional infrastructure.
• If you are an artist, join both. You need to know what is being shown and who is showing it.
• If you are a student, join Friends now and the Curators’ Network when your practice or role justifies it.

How to Approach the Region as a Collector

If you are new to buying contemporary art in the West Midlands, a few principles will serve you well.

• Look widely before you buy. Visit graduate exhibitions, open studios, commercial galleries and museum shows. The Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery and the region’s other public venues are good places to calibrate your eye.
• Buy work you want to live with. Contemporary art is not a liquid asset. Buy because the work matters to you.
• Ask about condition, edition and provenance. For prints and photographs, ask about edition size. For sculpture, ask about fabrication and installation requirements.
• Consider the practicalities. Framing, insurance, transport and wall space are real costs. Factor them in.
• Build relationships, not just a collection. Gallerists, curators and artists are long-term collaborators. Trust compounds.
• Keep records. Invoices, certificates of authenticity and condition reports protect you and the work.

For artists reading this, the mirror image applies: be clear about editions, be honest about materials, provide documentation, and price consistently. A collector who feels respected becomes a repeat buyer and an advocate.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is New Art West Midlands?

New Art West Midlands is a platform for contemporary visual art across Birmingham and the West Midlands. It exists to develop the market for contemporary art in the region while supporting the artists, curators and galleries who make it. It does this through exhibitions, editorial, a graduate showcase and mailing lists for audiences and professionals.

Who selects the annual graduate exhibition?

The graduate exhibition is selected by a panel of established artists and curators. The 2016 edition, for example, was selected by Sonia Boyce, John Stezaker and Katharine Stout, and featured work by 43 artists. The exhibition is staged at venues across the region between February and May each year.

What was the SALON exhibition?

The SALON exhibition was a selling show of contemporary art held at the Waterhall Gallery, Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, from 13 November to 23 December 2015. It presented contemporary art for sale, giving collectors a direct route to acquire work by artists in the region.

How do I join the mailing lists?

There are two lists. Friends of New Art WM is for anyone interested in staying up to date with contemporary art in the region or in buying and collecting. The Curators’ Network is for curators and visual arts professionals interested in the contemporary art landscape of the West Midlands. Join whichever matches your role — or both.

Do I need to live in the West Midlands to buy work from the region?

No. Collectors from anywhere can buy work made in the West Midlands, and the region’s artists exhibit nationally and internationally. Buying regionally is a way of supporting a specific ecology, but the work itself stands on its own terms.

How can artists get involved?

Artists can apply to the annual graduate exhibition if eligible, submit work for consideration in selling exhibitions, and join the mailing lists to stay informed about opportunities. Building relationships with curators, gallerists and the platform’s editorial team is the most reliable long-term route to visibility.