Fri 25 Oct - Sun 12 Apr 2026
Just Browsing was a group exhibition that allowed audiences to browse tactile works of art. The exhibition borrowed from the retail area around Bluecoat’s gallery to offer an experience of art that could be touched, worn and bought to take home. Artists in the exhibition used textiles, ceramics, and scent to connect with audiences in a variety of ways.
The exhibition featured works and products from artists Bruce Asbestos, Ffion Evans, Garth Gratrix, Ivy Kalungi, Lou Miller, Sufea Mohamad Noor, Lewis Prosser, Ben Saunders, Daniel Sean Kelly, Chester Tenneson, and Carla Wright.
This exhibition was part of our season Felt, which featured a programme of exhibitions and events that allowed audiences to go beyond looking, but also to touch, wear, hold, and take part, and experience art in new, hands-on ways.
Our Gallery was closed from Mon 5 - Fri 9 Jan as we added new artworks to the exhibition. This 'restock' was a play on retail stores restocking shelves, and included work from Laura Aquilina, Jade de Montserrat and David Shrigley, with some of the new additions also available to purchase.
'Review: Just Browsing at the Bluecoat'
"If you’d never been to a gallery before and you walked into the Bluecoat this winter, you would almost definitely leave thinking the art world was a safe space for you and (hopefully) that you were part of it."
- Patrick Kirk-Smith, Art in Liverpool
About the artists
Welsh artist Ffion Evans presented large wall hangings made from thick layers of fabric, quilting and tufting that invited us to move in close and feel her work. She creates bold work that uses materials and techniques that are traditionally associated with domesticity and femininity, which have often been maligned as inferior to purely visual forms of ‘fine art’.
East Sussex-based Carla Wright invited us to sit on her colourfully glazed ceramic stools. We experienced her work not only as visually arresting, but also understood it through our bodies as the stools support our weight. Wright’s practice as a ceramicist is often social, both through how her work engages audiences and also through her ceramics studio, Common Clay, which provides workshops, residencies and social events in Bexhill-on-Sea. In Just Browsing, Wright’s sculptures served to seat visitors around two large tables to engage with sculptures by Sufea Mohamad Noor, Daniel Sean Kelly, and Ffion Evans.
Sufea Mohamad Noor and Ffion Evans both presented small scale sculptures to be held in the hand. Mohamad Noor often uses recycled and repurposed materials with visible wear , giving an indication of past owners of the materials that her sculptures are made from.
Daniel Sean Kelly presented objects that subvert fine dining. His surrealist teapots suggested a futile attempt at serving tea, destined to fail by the anxious face cut into the sides of the vessel.
Within the exhibition, T-shirts were on show and available to buy by Bruce Asbestos, an artist who often blends the lines between high art, popular culture and personal branding. His ‘Hooboo’ and ‘Octopus’ characters were formed as part of a project with the Factory International Schools programme in Manchester and now feature as playful designs that can be bought and worn by visitors. In 2021, Asbestos hosted OK! Cherub!, a series of colourful inflatable sculptures, in the Bluecoat’s courtyard.
Chester Tenneson added to a sense of playful mischief with his ’T-shirt sculpture performance’ Dance with me / don’t dance with me. A pair of t-shirts that instructs the wearer to take part in a piece of performance art.
Ben Saunders works across illustration, ceramics, and community events. With all his work, he aims to create a space for trans people to feel safe to embrace their body and sexuality, without fear of judgement which so many within the community face. At Bluecoat he presented t-shirts which celebrate trans bodies, which are often come under threat and censorship in public spaces such as galleries. Saunders will also host one of his Queer Pottery Workshops in the gallery in partnership with Homotopia Festival.
The act of trying on, and understanding an artwork through the body was explored further by absurdist basketmaker Lewis Prosser. His mask was made to be worn by performers and audiences as part of a practice that uses traditional willow weaving to establish meaningful interaction between people, place and culture.
There was also a film work in the gallery by Ivy Kalungi. In The Hair Shop, the artist filmed interviews with black women in Belfast speaking about the personal and cultural significance of their hair. The women build a picture of the hair salon as a place that goes beyond personal care, and becomes a significant site of community. Kalungi and her interviewees describe the hair salon as a beacon of culture providing care, community and conversation that ranges from practical advice to politics.
Garth Gratrix drew on coastal culture in his installation Shy Girl. The work included a series of custom made beach towels, with motifs that reference British seaside towns, working-class culture and LGBTQ identity. Shy Girl proposes browsing as a mode of queer navigation.
Lou Miller presented a new collaboration with textile artist Felicity Rowley. Soft Prompts is a series of hand-crafted cushions that challenge the culture of overworking, featuring prompts designed to disrupt our thinking around exhaustion, ambition, and worth.
Laura Aquilina’s painting 'The Black Hills of Dakota (2024)' was turned into a large tapestry blanket and put on display in the gallery for visitors to interact with and purchase. The work was inspired by the song of the same name sung by Doris Day in the film 'Calamity Jane'. Aquilina's painting explores Day's character's love for the rocky mountain range in South Dakota, where the film is set.
Jade de Montserrat is an artist who works at the intersection of art and activism. A selection of her charcoal drawings feature in Just Browsing, along with a photograph of her durational performance 'No Need for Clothing' at Cooper Gallery, Dundee from 2018. Her Soul of Fire gift sets were available to purchase from the gallery, including a small sketchbook and charcoal handmade by de Montserrat.
David Shrigley is an artist best known for his distinctive drawing style and works that make satirical comments on everyday situations and human interactions. His 'Please & Thank You' scarves were on display in the exhibition and available to purchase.