1) Bicester: The Bicester Art Network has opened a new pop-up art gallery at the old M&S store in Sheep Street until December 5 which includes work by more than 30 artists alongside art from Cooper School. Expect paintings, print work, photography, pottery, and sculptures. Get shopping!
2) Anish Kapoor: Painting – MAO – Until Feb 13. This exhibition of paintings by the internationally celebrated artist Anish Kapoor is a big coup for Oxford and explores rarely exhibited paintings which form an integral part of Kapoor’s work over the last 40 years. The self-proclaimed ‘painter working as a sculptor”s work concerns the question of space. The floor works evoke our bodily interiors and rich life-giving blood, overlooked by paintings of dark earthly landscapes in sulphurous yellows and acrid smokey greys as the earth bleeds and disgorges its subterranean innards, pushing the boundaries as always. https://www.tickettailor.com/events/modernartoxford/541898
3) Faringdon Art Society’s Artistic Craft Fair on Saturday Dec 4, Corn Exchange, Faringdon from 10am-3pm. Local member artists, makers and crafters will be showcasing and selling their work, bursting with a wide range of wonderful objects/artworks made by its members. These include mosaics, handcrafted dolls, jewellery, glass work, wire sculptures, artworks, cards, textile wall hangings, quilts, bellows, and plaster wall plaques. The perfect Christmas gift buying opportunity. https://www.faringdonartsociety.co.uk/artistic-craft-fair.html
4) Well known potters Jane and Dylan Bowen are holding their Christmas sale from Jan 3-5 at The Old Smithy in Tackley. New works and seconds, the husband and wife team not only constantly diversify and surprise but are becoming increasingly collectable around the world. https://www.dylanbowen.co.uk/node/36
5) Oxfordshire Craft Guild Christmas Exhibition, The Oxfordshire Museum, Woodstock until Thursday, 30 December. 30 of the county’s top designer/makers return with a dazzling array of handmade items including textiles, pottery, sculpture, and jewellery, including Helen MacRitchie’s felted bag inspired by 19th century Japanese armour in Oxford’s Pitt Rivers Museum which was awarded the annual Audrey Blackmann prize. Entrance is free. https://www.artweeks.org/christmas/oxfordshire-craft-guild-christmas-exhibition
6) ART LATE runs in Woodstock (Wednesday December 1 from 5pm-8pm) and Summertown on Wednesday December 8 from 6pm-8pm. An evening of art, socialising and a festive glass of wine. The Woodstock’s galleries involved include Dantzig, Zuleika, Darl-e and the Bear, Iona House and jeweller Libby Rak. A week later enjoy Sarah Wiseman Gallery‘s annual festive group exhibition ‘Deck the Walls’ while just down the road on South Parade at The North Wall Arts Centre you can enjoy ‘Outside’ an exhibition of three Oxfordshire based printmakers, Lizzie Wheeler, Manja Scott, Susan Wheeler. http://551.326.mywebsitetransfer.com/art-late-hits-woodstock-and-summertown-on-wednesday-night-with-artist-demos-live-weaving-sculpting-painting-drinks-and-festive-exhibitions/
7) Tokyo Art & Photography, The Ashmolean until Jan 3. Book at https://ashmolean.org/tokyo#/. This “must see exhibition that awes and educates in equal measure” introduces us to the dazzling world of Japanese culture seen through this collection of paintings, collages, photographs, video, film, print and montage. Amidst the neon, contemporary, technologically advanced modern art and its fashion-forward outlook, sit maps of destruction, paintings and photos of earthquakes, war, desolation and poverty – Tokyo’s constant reinvention is celebrated from every angle. http://551.326.mywebsitetransfer.com/sexy-sassy-and-sophisticated-tokyo-art-photography-is-a-must-see-exhibition-that-awes-and-educates-in-equal-measure-at-the-ashmolean/
8) West OX Arts: Winter Wonderland Art and Crafts Show, West OX Arts Gallery, Market Square, Bampton, OX18 2JH. Until December 18. http://www.westoxarts.com Over 40 artists are exhibiting in this constantly changing show in the lead up to Christmas. You are sure to see something new every time you visit – from glass to jewellery, watercolour to oils, textile wall art to photography, knitted beauties to felting, sculpted creations to wire and wood craftsmanship.
9) Winter Arts Festival at Ayres House Studios in Wallingford December 2-14. Xmas Makers Market Dec 5 from10.30am-3pm. As part of Oxfordshire Artweeks Christmas Events, Ayres House Studios are holding their Winter Arts Festival of Xmas workshops and shopping. The Studios Gallery will be open for Christmas Shopping, art, hand crafted items, unique gifts, homeware and decorations all created by studio or local artists and makers. The small open-air craft market will offer stalls of high quality non imported products, hand made by studio, associate and local artists. Buy unique gifts in time for Christmas and support local makers. https://www.artweeks.org/christmas/winter-arts-festival-ayreshousestudios
10) If you aren’t venturing out then there’s always the lovely Oxfordshire Artweeks on-line Winter Show with pieces by more than 120 artists, and all the work is available to buy. From a 7-piece nativity set in bronze resin by Charlbury sculptor Briony Lawson, to textile art and jewellery, paintings, ceramics and more. Go to https://www.artweeks.org/latestshow, click on the buttons below each piece and you can contact the artist directly to buy their work in this show.
