All I see is the present

CCA Derry~Londonderry is pleased to announce its summer exhibition by artist Christopher Steenson will launch over the solstice weekend on Friday 19 June 2026, 7–9pm.

For Christopher Steenson’s solo exhibition All I see is the present, the artist combines sound photography, installation and archival material to explore the ways in which moments from prehistory can be used as a gateway to the present. 

The exhibition is the first manifestation of the artist’s long-term engagement with research exploring the prehistoric past of the island of Ireland.

With a practice that spans sound, lens-based media, text and digital systems, Christopher Steenson’s (b.1992, North of Ireland) work bridges historical and speculative narratives to interrogate the politics of time, environment and more-than-human-relations. 

In approaching these concerns, he seeks to make work through which we can ‘listen across tenses’. Recent solo exhibitions include: They haven’t gone away you know, mother’s tankstation, Dublin (2025); Breath Variations, Flat Time House, London (2023); and Soft Rains Will Come, VISUAL, Carlow (2022).

An In Conversation between Artist Christopher Steenson and Historian Dr Brian Lacey moderated by CCA Director Catherine Hemelryk will take place on Saturday 20 June 2026 from 2pm as part of Heritage Month across Derry City & Strabane District.

The exhibition runs until Saturday September 12 2026.

https://cca-derry-londonderry.org

Art Alert! FRIENDLY BRUTES by Andy Siege

Filmmaker and Author Andy Siege Launches FRIENDLY BRUTES, A Color-Drenched Art Collection to Lighten the Image of Mental Illness

New oil-pastel series uses loud colour and open faces to challenge stigma and invite joy into mental health conversations

Andy Siege, the German-Kenyan director of the award-nominated debut Beti and Amare and author of eleven novels, releases his first fine art collection, FRIENDLY BRUTES now live on Fine Art America: https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/andy-siege

The collection is not about darkness. It is about lightening the visual language we use for mental illness.

Made in oil pastel in 2026, FRIENDLY BRUTES works in a tight, joyful palette of yellow, green, red, pink and blue, outlined in thick, confident black. Faces pile on top of faces. Mouths are open in a yell, a laugh, a yawn. Eyes are squeezed shut not in pain, but in rest. Forms tip into each other like people on a crowded train.

Siege, who publicly identifies as POC, neurologically diverse, and queer, says the series grew directly from his own experience navigating clinical spaces where mental difference is rendered in grayscale.

"I was tired of the poster in the waiting room. Always a head in hands, always blue and gray," Siege says. "My brain is noisy and colourful. Sometimes it screams, sometimes it giggles, often both at once. I wanted pictures that look like that, so someone seeing them might feel less alone, and less pathologised."

FRIENDLY BRUTES deliberately borrows from Art Brut, the tradition of raw, immediate mark-making outside academic art, but reframes it. Instead of using "brut" to mean broken, Siege uses it to mean honest, and pairs it with "friendly" to remove fear.

The approach mirrors themes in his wider practice. Born Andreas Madjid Siege in Nairobi, Kenya in 1985, he is a director and author known for making work on a human scale. His debut feature Beti and Amare (2014), which he directed, wrote, shot, edited and acted in on a €14,000 budget, was nominated for the Golden St. George at the 36th Moscow International Film Festival. 

His second film, Barefoot Rasta (2017), and his books, including the magical-realism novella Don't Let Me Drown, the tragicomic Mohamed In The Stars, and the climate-fiction novel Biopunk: Aristotle released in January 2026, all center characters living with war trauma, grief, neurodivergence and identity pressure without turning them into cautionary tales.

With FRIENDLY BRUTES, Siege brings that same narrative compassion to a single image.

'Together | Apart' - Upcoming Exhibition by Neuk Collective

Neuk Collective is proud to present "Together | Apart", a mixed media exhibition at Project Ability, Glasgow, opening 18 April 2026 (Private view on 23 April).

Bringing together work by members of Neuk Collective from across Scotland, Together | Apart explores experiences of separation and connection, and the ways these can exist simultaneously. 

Artists were invited to reflect on what it means to be both distinct and interwoven: separated by geography but connected through shared experience, identity and community.

Established in 2020, Neuk Collective is a neurodivergent-led initiative supporting and platforming neurodivergent artists across Scotland. What began with just four artists at its first exhibition in 2021 has grown into a network of over 250 neurodivergent creatives. 

Through exhibitions, workshops, advocacy and peer support, Neuk works to dismantle barriers in the arts and create spaces where neurodivergent artists can thrive.

Neuk is honoured to collaborate with Project Ability, an organisation with decades of work, including platforming and advocating for disabled artists. 

Together | Apart reflects a shared commitment to inclusive practice and artist-led collaboration. Neuk Collective is grateful to Project Ability for their gallery space and in-kind support throughout this project.

The exhibition showcases a wide range of media, including textiles, painting, printmaking, ceramics, sculpture, video and sound. The result is a moving and diverse exploration of belonging, distance, interdependence and individuality.

Private View: 23rd April, 6-8pm.

Exhibition Dates: April 18 - May 23, 2026

Opening Hours: Wednesday to Saturday, 11 AM – 5 PM

Venue: Project Ability Gallery, Trongate 103, Glasgow

Accessibility

Accessibility is central to Neuk Collective’s practice. The exhibition includes:

Ear defenders and sensory supports such as stim toys

Easy Read exhibition interpretation

Closed captions for all video content

A Visual Story available in advance to help visitors familiarise themselves with the space

Neuk Collective is grateful to Creative Scotland for supporting this exhibition.

doorinthewall.co.uk

The work used in the exhibition flyer is ‘He Visits In My Dreams’ by Isabella Luciani and ‘Connections’ by Grant Glennie.

“We are delighted to bring ‘Together | Apart’ to Project Ability,” Tzipporah Johnston, founder of Neuk Collective told That's Books and More.

“Neuk began as a small group of neurodivergent artists looking for connection. Today, we are a growing national network. This exhibition reflects both our differences and our deep interconnection, and shows what becomes possible when neurodivergent artists are supported to create on their own terms.

"Together | Apart feels like an exciting development for Neuk Collective’, said curator, Amy Milner. ‘Our previous two exhibitions have focused primarily on our identity as a neurodivergent collective. Together | Apart moves beyond this, yes, we are still vocal and proud to be showcasing neurodivergent talent, but this time we have deliberately chosen a theme that doesn’t focus on identity. Neurodivergent and disabled perspectives are relevant and important, not only on issues of accessibility and inclusion, but in all broader cultural conversations."

"I am delighted to be bringing the brilliant work of Neuk collective into the space with Project Ability,' said producer Naomi Walmsley. ‘The exhibit theme immediately spoke to me on many levels about the power of a community, the place of the individual and how we experience the world, wherever our brains may take us. The diversity of pieces in the exhibition both reflects these multiple dimensions and makes for a gorgeous viewing experience."

A spokesperson told That's Books and More: "We invite the whole community - and especially neurodivergent people and their friends, families and supporters - to join us for this exhibition showcasing the vibrancy of Scotland’s neurodivergent artist community.

For more information and a list of the artists who are featured please visit https://neukcollective.co.uk/exhibition

Sting – Sounds Like Art: Rijksmuseum Amsterdam. Available from Today, March 5th on arte.tv

Sounds Like Art is an exciting new concert initiative that invites musicians to perform amongst works of art in a European museum of their choice. 

World-renowned artist Sting performs in the beautiful surroundings of Amsterdam’s Rijkmuseum amongst paintings by Rembrandt, Vermeer and Judith Leyster, and reflects on the works of the old masters.

The 17-time Grammy Award winning artist performs a unique concert amongst masterpieces in the Gallery of Honour. 

Playing a rare 17th century guitar, Sting, managed by Martin Kierszenbaum/Cherrytree Music Company, reveals his love for the Old Masters and revels in the power of books and reading, while performing in the museum’s spectacular library. As an English teacher under his given name of Gordon Sumner, his love of books and reading should cause no surprise. 

Coinciding with an international run of Sting’s musical “The Last Ship” in Amsterdam, Paris, Brisbane and New York, this special performance includes selections from his TONY Award nominated musical, a deeply personal tribute to Sting’s native Northeast England and the now-vanished shipbuilding tradition of his hometown, Wallsend. 

Accompanied by his longtime guitarist Dominic Miller, Sting reflects on the musical’s origins, shares stories from throughout his career, and performs beloved songs spanning his illustrious catalogue, including classics from his celebrated band, The Police.

While the Rijksmuseum’s crown jewel, Rembrandt’s The Night Watch, undergoes restoration, the museum opens the doors of the painting’s striking glass-fronted gallery for a rare, intimate performance. For the occasion, Sting plays a unique 17th-century guitar, originally crafted for the court of Louis XIV, the Sun King, generously loaned to the museum.

A former English teacher with a lifelong devotion to reading and learning, Sting also performs in the Rijksmuseum’s spectacular library, celebrating the enduring power of books and curiosity. His openness, intellect, and willingness to keep challenging himself shine throughout this episode—an unforgettable encounter where timeless art meets timeless music, and where history, storytelling, and song come vividly alive.

WATCH STING - Sounds Like Art https://www.arte.tv/en/videos/119031-004-A/sting-sounds-like-art/

Young Generation Art Award 2026 Ceremony

The Young Generation Art Award was initiated by Degussa in cooperation with the art magazine Monopol in 2024 and presented for the first time in 2025. 

The award was presented to the first winner during a solo exhibition at the international art exhibition Frieze 2025 in London.

The prize supports aspiring artists at the beginning of their careers.

In the second year of the award, five artists were selected for the shortlist exhibition from a pool of around 400 candidates. 

Of these five, the panel of experts, comprising Elke Buhr, Yilmaz Dziewior and Maya Heckelmann, chose artist Ken Nwadiogbu to receive this year’s Young Generation Art Award 2026.

The award ceremony was held in the Hotel de Rome in Berlin on 19 February 2026. Christian Rauch, CEO of Degussa, presented the prize to the London-based Nigerian artist Ken Nwadiogbu.

The experts highlight the following in their reasoning: Ken Nwadiogbu’s art is technically virtuositic, exceptionally evocative and multifaceted. 

He masterfully combines elaborate, hyperrealistic figuration with expressive, abstract backgrounds to take his place in artistic modernity in complex style. 

He honours the members of the Black community and lets them shine in his bright yellow portraits based on photographs taken of people around him.

"Ken Nwadiogbu seamlessly blends technical sophistication, emotional depth and social relevance in a way that deeply moves us all," Christian Rauch told That's Books and More.

The winner receives €10,000 in prize money, an individual exhibition at Frieze London 2026 and a one-year travelling exhibition that will be shown at a number of international locations. The other finalists receive an exhibition fee of €3,000.

Judges: Elke Buhr (Editor-in-chief of Monopol), Yilmaz Dziewior (Director of Museum Ludwig in Cologne), Maya Heckelmann (Art and culture sponsoring at Degussa).

degussa.com