Cupola Contemporary Art

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Cupola Contemporary Art Cupola Gallery has four exhibition spaces plus a fabulous sculpture garden the gallery stocks work f

Established in 1991, Cupola has grown to become one of the largest and most respected privately run contemporary galleries in the north of England. With four gallery spaces and an award-winning sculpture garden, Cupola represents local, national and international talent across many disciplines. The owner and founder Karen Sherwood has been listed on the Who's Who of galleries and dealers since 2002.

Join us tonight!You are warmly invited to the opening event of our new exhibitions, From Out of Silence by Antonia Salmo...
16/10/2026

Join us tonight!
You are warmly invited to the opening event of our new exhibitions, From Out of Silence by Antonia Salmon The Solway Series by David Lucas.
Come along to admire their fantastic artwork and meet the artists in person!

From Out of Silence – Antonia Salmon
The Solway Series – David Lucas
Exhibition dates: 17 October – 14 November
Opening Evening: Friday 16 October, 7-9pm. Hospitality provided.
Exhibition venue: Cupola Gallery 178-178a Middlewood Road, Sheffield S6 1TD

Two award-winning artists, two distinct approaches to the natural world. David Lucas returns to the landscapes of the Solway Firth, translating their light, colour and atmosphere into an evocative series of paintings, while Antonia Salmon looks beyond the visible landscape, transforming the sounds and vibrations of the Peak District into tactile ceramic forms. Together, the exhibitions offer two contrasting yet complementary explorations of place, perception and our connection to the landscape.




You are warmly invited to the opening event of our new exhibitions, From Out of Silence by Antonia Salmon The Solway Ser...
15/10/2026

You are warmly invited to the opening event of our new exhibitions, From Out of Silence by Antonia Salmon The Solway Series by David Lucas.
Come along to admire their fantastic artwork and meet the artists in person!

From Out of Silence – Antonia Salmon
The Solway Series – David Lucas
Exhibition dates: 17 October – 14 November
Opening Evening: Friday 16 October, 7-9pm. Hospitality provided.
Exhibition venue: Cupola Gallery 178-178a Middlewood Road, Sheffield S6 1TD

Antonia Salmon

From Out of Silence brings together a collection of ceramic sculptures by Antonia that explore the intimate relationship between landscape, sound, silence and the body. Rooted in her experience of walking through the moors and valleys of the Peak District, these works are not representations of the landscape in any conventional sense, but an attempt to translate its rhythms, vibrations, textures and changing qualities into sculptural form.

“The ceramic sculptures that you will see in this exhibition capture qualities from the natural world, predominantly through somatic listening. They are visual representations of the qualities of sound in wind, water, mosses and rocks as I walk in the moors and valleys of the Peak District.

What do I mean by somatic listening? This is listening with the whole body, not only hearing with the ears. Somatic listening is a natural experience of sensing sound and vibration within the body. As I walk in a landscape I feel that I am moving over a giant vibrant sculpture; the body is breathing in the vibration, shapes and light of the land, the wind, rain and vegetation. What then follows is that sensing of sound is assimilated and naturally translated into visual structure, forms and textures.

The ability to perceive somatically is available to anyone by being in touch with silence within. Quiet the mind. Sound that arrives into our awareness has emerged itself from silence. Hence the title of this exhibition From Out of Silence is referring to both sources of silence – which are naturally connected.” Antonia Salmon

Each work represents many months of hand building and careful honing. Many of the works are hand burnished over and again to impart a fine polished finish - they quite literally express the hand of the maker. There is a kind of ritual nature to the burnishing and also at the point when the sculptures are offered up to the smoke firing.

“Antonia makes exquisite lyrical ceramic forms often polished smooth. A sense of movement is conveyed via gentle curves, a spiral or a circular form. These are strong shapes laced with delicacy due to their design and the smoke firing which decorates the sculptures with the effects of the process and sometimes creates surface patterns reminiscent of classical marble and rippling water. The sculptures are often black or white only coloured with the carbon from the firing process, but Antonia also uses an evocative and rich blue/turquoise colour which adds to a deep sense of calm. I find these works, beautiful, as in full of beauty and meditative. The smooth surfaces and flowing lines also make you want to touch them. Born out of silence and something deeply personal, their strength is their beauty and their stillness.” Karen Sherwood, Director



You are warmly invited to the opening event of our new exhibitions, From Out of Silence by Antonia Salmon The Solway Ser...
14/10/2026

You are warmly invited to the opening event of our new exhibitions, From Out of Silence by Antonia Salmon The Solway Series by David Lucas.
Come along to admire their fantastic artwork and meet the artists in person!

From Out of Silence – Antonia Salmon
The Solway Series – David Lucas
Exhibition dates: 17 October – 14 November
Opening Evening: Friday 16 October, 7-9pm. Hospitality provided.
Exhibition venue: Cupola Gallery 178-178a Middlewood Road, Sheffield S6 1TD
David Lucas

Born in Yorkshire and now based between Sheffield and North Cumbria, David Lucas’s latest collection of paintings marks a return to his roots and to some of his earliest artistic inspirations.

The Solway Plain, looking across the Solway Firth towards the lowland fells of south-west Scotland on one side and the northern fells of the Lake District on the other, has played a formative role in Lucas’s artistic outlook. His deep-rooted relationship with this landscape—its distinctive character, shifting light, expansive western skies and striking sunsets—has been a constant source of inspiration. Emerging from the Shaft of Light series, the Solway series seeks to reconnect with a landscape that has, in some respects, been overshadowed by the better-known Lake District National Park.

Inspired by astrophysics, philosophy and the natural world, Lucas explores the intersection between external landscapes—from the Pennine moors to dramatic coastlines—and the internal experience of perception. Working primarily in oils on canvas, his process balances structural control with the potential for accident, embracing the tension between intention and chance.

Through intense colour, contour and form, Lucas attempts to distil the experience of a moment: not simply to represent a landscape, but to explore how it is perceived and remembered. By reducing the northern landscape to its essential tones, shapes and atmospheric qualities, he creates a visual language of light and shadow that is both rooted in place and open to interpretation.

“His large paintings, in particular, allow viewers to feel immersed in the colour and atmosphere of the paintings in a way that mimics the experience of being in a landscape. The paintings are not topographical in any way but seek to evoke a memory or a feeling that connects us to our own unique experience of our awesome natural world.” Karen Sherwood, Director



You are warmly invited to the opening event of our new exhibitions, From Out of Silence by Antonia Salmon and The Solway...
12/10/2026

You are warmly invited to the opening event of our new exhibitions, From Out of Silence by Antonia Salmon and The Solway Series by David Lucas.
Come along to admire their fantastic artwork and meet the artists in person!

From Out of Silence – Antonia Salmon
The Solway Series – David Lucas
Exhibition dates: 17 October – 14 November
Opening Evening: Friday 16 October, 7-9pm. Hospitality provided.
Exhibition venue: Cupola Gallery 178-178a Middlewood Road, Sheffield S6 1TD

Two award-winning artists, two distinct approaches to the natural world. David Lucas returns to the landscapes of the Solway Firth, translating their light, colour and atmosphere into an evocative series of paintings, while Antonia Salmon looks beyond the visible landscape, transforming the sounds and vibrations of the Peak District into tactile ceramic forms. Together, the exhibitions offer two contrasting yet complementary explorations of place, perception and our connection to the landscape.




Our popular selected mixed group show Structure ends this Saturday. Pop in the gallery before it ends! Structure - selec...
08/10/2026

Our popular selected mixed group show Structure ends this Saturday. Pop in the gallery before it ends!

Structure - selected mixed group show
Main Exhibition dates: 12 September - 10 October

Bren Head, Jester, mixed media on panel 30 x 30 cm


David Jones, Genie, Acrylic on canvas
An image of a cypher in a desert; an upturned architectural form, modular like vertebrae and sheathed in glass.


Michael Enderby Smith for Amynd, The Stiperstones, Mineral-based composite / water-based resin, wax and natural essential oils
The Stiperstones is a group of three hand-cast sculptural vessels that respond to the structure of the Shropshire ridge of the same name, where exposed rock, erosion and layered mineral formations create a dramatic natural structure shaped over time. Each vessel is made by hand in our Shropshire studio, from drawing, modelling and mould-making to casting, finishing and filling. Pigmented mineral-based composite is brushed into the mould and left to merge and form organically during curing, so the surface structure of each piece is partly controlled and partly formed by the behaviour of the material itself. Together, the three vessels create a small mineral landscape. Their structure is physical, visual and functional: form, colour and scent work together to evoke place through different senses, while the vessel remains as its wax contents can be renewed through repeated use.


Beccy Ware, Constructed mother, Collage and ink on board
Collage woman on lifeline spiral


Trevor Fearnley, Emergent, birch ply off cuts
Constructed entirely from small plywood offcuts saved from the making of other sculptural works, Emergent gives discarded fragments a new form and purpose. The grinding process exposes the layered structure of the plywood, creating surfaces that suggest erosion, growth and the passage of time. Both the object and its title reflect this process of something new emerging from what might otherwise be waste.


*Open Call*Merry Making Christmas ExhibitionDeadline Midnight 27th OctoberApply through https://www.curatorspace.com/opp...
08/10/2026

*Open Call*

Merry Making Christmas Exhibition
Deadline Midnight 27th October
Apply through
https://www.curatorspace.com/opportunities/detail/open-call-exhibition--merry-making---november----january/11162

Exhibition dates: 21 November 2026 – 9 January 2027
Deadline: 27 October 2026
Merry Making – 21 November 2026 – 9 January 2027

Despite the frustration and hard work in the act of making we can not deny the joy it brings us all. As Merry Making is a joyful, noisy celebration or the act of having fun with others during a festive gathering. We want to celebrate the act of making itself.
Artists are welcome to submit what ever they like so long as it brings them joy or happiness.

We welcome diverse interpretations of the theme, whether literal or abstract, personal or universal.

Alongside larger exhibition works, we will also be accepting submissions of smaller-scale, affordable gift items suitable for the festive season.

Eligible Media
We invite submissions in:
Painting
Sculpture
Ceramics
Jewellery
Glass
Photography
Printmaking
Textiles
Drawing
Mixed Media

Other original artworks and handmade gift items relevant to the theme
All submitted work must be for sale.

Deliveries must be by appointment only, unless arriving by post, but notice of estimated arrival date is much appreciated.

In-person deliveries accepted Monday–Friday only

Postal deliveries can arrive Monday - Saturday, but Saturday deliveries will not be checked until Monday.

Delivery deadline for accepted works is Friday 13th November, although works can arrive earlier of course.

Exhibition Dates: Saturday 21 November 2026 – Saturday 9 January 2027

Structure Selected Mixed Group Show is nearly over! Pop into the gallery to explore this fabulous collection of artworks...
07/10/2026

Structure Selected Mixed Group Show is nearly over! Pop into the gallery to explore this fabulous collection of artworks before the exhibition ends this Saturday, 10th October.

Structure – selected mixed group show.
12 September – 10 October 2026
Opening hours: Mondays to Saturdays 10:00 - 18:00

A couple of days left before our Structure selected mixed group show ends this Saturday.. Structure - selected mixed gro...
07/10/2026

A couple of days left before our Structure selected mixed group show ends this Saturday..

Structure - selected mixed group show
Main Exhibition dates: 12 September - 10 October

Imogen Perkin, Tulip Fields 2, oil
Often seen as a hackneyed subject, as with sunsets, it all depends on how you treat it. I loved the strong patterns of the brightly coloured stripes that so plainly delineate the unrelieved flat structure of the landscape. The unresolved balance between abstraction and naturalism I hope give an added depth and interest to the scene. The painting is framed.

Vikoi (Vicky Clark), On The Way, acrylics on canvas
On The Way explores the process and structure that artificial intelligence and technology must navigate on the path toward singularity. That theoretical moment when machine intelligence surpasses human understanding and becomes something we can no longer predict or control. The robots are caught in the middle of something, suspended in the grey turbulence of the process itself, connected by threads of data, doubt, and fragile filaments of something still moving forward.


Caroline Lewis, Frosty Moon, Acrylic and mono printing
Structure of trees - abstract landscape featuring a copse of trees touched by the glow of the setting sun as the moon rises


Catherine Morris, Beyond the Bend of Reality, Oil and mixed media
Oil paint and mixed media on an unframed box canvas.morris.art

Megan Gant, The Old Infirmary Block, Stoneware
This vessel is inspired by a photograph that I took inside an abandoned infirmary block in Cornwall. My work utilises slips, underglazes, textured glazes, and photolithographic transfers that reference abandoned walls marked by graffiti, stains, and human touch.


Dom Chastney, Imagined FutureScape, Acrylic, spray paint and distemper with photo-luminescent pigments on Arche paper on board.
This is painted with a base layer of photo-luminescent paints which glow in the dark like illuminated windows at night. I cut out quadrilateral shapes in cardboard to mask the surface from spray paint; a repeated process of small shifts in the position of the masks and re-spraying to create geometric patterns. These have a certain optical illusion quality like a Necker Cube and I started turning these into architectural structures- towerblocks, windows, spires and highways of some imagined future scapee or metropolis. A shrouded celestial like figure on a mobile hovers like a cloud in the sky emanating a beam off a lens down to earth.chastney

06/10/2026

Structure - selected mixed group show
Main Exhibition dates: 12 September - 10 October

Mandy Payne, Broken Britain, Spray paint and oil on concrete
Broken Britain depicts the Golden Lane, a housing estate in London. Just as I was finishing the painting after spending many, many hours on it I had an accident with it and it cleaved in 4 large pieces. Having devoted such a lot of time to it I decided to glue it back together (as in the Japanese kintsugi method of restoring broken pottery but without the dusted gold). I reinforced the back of the painting with a plywood panel and thought it seemed appropriate to title it 'Broken Britain' given the current plight of social housing in the UK.


Melanie Bellis, Transit, Etching
Etching on steel, hand printed on Hahnemuhle Natural 300gsm paper


Claire Allam, Paired Firestones, Clay
Two separate sculptures, displayed as a paired single exhibit in stoneware clay with oxide, underglaze and glaze decoration.


Sue J Blake, The Climb, Coloured pencil & graphite on tinted paper
Inspired by a worker making his way to the top of a phone mast. He is almost at the top - perseverance is essential. He is static, drawing breath for the next step. An allegory for everyday life. Part of an on-going series of people in High Vis clothing and the paradox that they're usually doing vital work and intended to be seen, yet we ignore them.


Mariel Borst Pauwels, Yellow Curtains, Oil and household paint on board


Shaun David Morris, A Field in England, oil on canvas
The submission I am making represents a range of paintings that are inspired by man-made structures such as the towering concrete cathedral like pillars of Spaghetti Junction that tower above the canals that snake beneath; the makeshift fences and dilapidated factory units that back onto the canal; and the pylons that sit and buzz in dormant fields at the edge of the housing estate.


Address

178A Middlewood Road
Sheffield
S61TD

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 6pm
Tuesday 10am - 6pm
Wednesday 10am - 6pm
Thursday 10am - 6pm
Friday 10am - 6pm
Saturday 10am - 6pm

Telephone

01142852665

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