A new gallery is opening in The Avenues shopping centre in Newton Mearns, Glasgow, in November: Beautiful Materials will open its doors on Sat 15th Nov, from 10 am to 4pm. The project of Glasgow-based artist and curator Nicola Atkinson, its first exhibition will be VESSELS – Conversations about Materials by Nicola Atkinson, which will comprise a series of more than thirty small-scale paintings that formed her recent solo show at Linlithgow Burgh Halls. Nicola promises to give visitors a personal welcome to the gallery.
The gallery’s window space will display Nicola’s two-metre Vessel artwork of velvet and georgette (a thin silk), and inside will stand her model of Linlithgow Burgh Halls, which were built in 1670, housing 31 miniature velvet vessel paintings, created by the artist as part of her show there. The artwork is an outcome of her interest in how we see things every day. She notes, ‘It seems that we are now able to view the whole world in miniature on our phones, why not art in person?’
The gallery will also host a group show from 13th Dec – 31st Jan 2026, which address two questions: ‘What is being present? What can be a present?’ – appropriate to a time of year for reflection and giving. Nicola sees the gallery as a perfect way of introducing and supporting a selection of artists, who are responding to her invitation to create an artwork no bigger than A6.
