SUMMER RAIN exhibition

Summer Rain

16 May - 5 July 2025

This month we are delighted to welcome back to Bristol multi award-winning artist Addison Karl. This time, in addition to his exquisite bronze sculptures, we will be introducing his mesmerising paintings and original ink drawings to the gallery.

In this exhibition Addison Karl presents canvases and works on paper that offer a counter-narrative to the blank slate mythology of North America. His paintings are landscapes filled with colour theory and ancestral code. From the desert heat of Arizona to the saturated greens of Oklahoma the works hum with the quiet resonance of stewardship, of land as relation not resource.

Paired with these landscapes are ink drawings of imagined yet remembered architecture: Mound cities re-rendered with fluid geometry and Mississippian visual language. Cosmologies embedded into the built environment. Collective memory of Chickasaw and Choctaw towns mapped into earth over centuries. Massive earthworks layered by hand, built in relationship with the sky and waters.

Summer Rain is a convergence, a weather system made of colour, memory and place. It reminds us that even in silence, the land is still speaking and sometimes, all it takes is rain to re-grow its knowledge systems.

Meet the artist

Friday 16th May, 5pm -7pm

You are warmly invited to join us in celebrating the opening of SUMMER RAIN on Friday 16th May from 5pm to 7pm.

Enjoy a drink with us and meet artist Addison Karl. Learn about his Choctaw & Chickasaw cultures, his various artistic practices and view his most recent works of art created specifically for this exhibition.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Museum acquisition

Earlier this year Bristol Museum and Art Gallery acquired an extraordinary Murano glass figure by Addison Karl. This remarkable artwork will be on permanent display in their glass gallery soon!

Save the dates!

Next month we welcome back Mvskoke textile artist Melinda Schwakhofer with an exhibition of magnificent pictorial quilts and smaller works.

'Summer Rain' opening and artist reception on Friday 16th May with Addison Karl.

Artist talk and opening reception on Friday 13th June with Melinda Schwakhofer.

Gallery Hours

Our opening hours are:

Tuesday - Friday 10am - 5pm, Saturday 10am - 4pm or by appointment.

We look forward to seeing you next week!

Jo & Erin xx