The Painted City

In a world increasingly mediated by technology, where quick consumption and throwaway experiences are the norm, The Painted City brings together five painters who choose to slow down and look closely. Through direct observation and lived experience, they explore the urban environment as a space filled with memory, meaning, and emotional weight.

Each artist offers a grounded and intimate view of the built world. Their paintings draw attention to the quiet presence of shopfronts, rooftops, motorways, housing estates, and overlooked corners of the city. These are not imagined spaces but real ones, seen, remembered and reinterpreted through paint.

Together, their work presents a view of urban life that is not flashy or idealised but human, emotional and honest. The Painted City is about the way we inhabit our surroundings, and how those surroundings, in turn, inhabit us.

Please join us for the opening night on Thursday 30 October from 6pm to 9pm. The exhibition continues until 21 December.

Meet the Artists

Andrew Torr

Andrew paints housing estates, riverbanks and suburban streets with a quiet, atmospheric style. His compositions often begin from observation and evolve into calm, luminous studies of everyday space. He won the 2024 Jackson’s Painting Prize and is a regular exhibitor at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition.

Jen Orpin

Jen’s motorway paintings explore themes of connection, grief, and the emotional weight of travel. Focusing on concrete motorway bridges and roadside structures, her work transforms everyday infrastructure into deeply personal landmarks. Her work has been featured in The Guardian, The Observer, on BBC Radio 6 Music and ITV News, and has appeared in exhibitions across the UK and internationally.

Michelle Heron

Michelle paints the everyday architecture of British life, with a focus on independent shopfronts, local landmarks and overlooked corners of the high street. Her work combines precision with emotional depth, offering a quiet reflection on identity, memory and change. She has exhibited widely across the UK, and her paintings are held in private and public collections.

Mandy Payne

Mandy paints post-war housing and brutalist architecture using concrete, marble dust and reclaimed materials. Her work explores social history, displacement and changing cityscapes. She has exhibited widely and has been selected for leading prizes including the John Moores Painting Prize

Ryan Everson

Ryan paints quiet, everyday architecture such as postwar housing, industrial estates and graffit-layden shopfronts. Working from his own photography and walking practice, his work captures a still, meditative atmosphere that documents overlooked spaces. He studied at Central Saint Martins and is a member of the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists.