An exhibition of urban landscapes by Michelle Heron, Ryan Everson, Jen Orpin, Mandy Payne, and Andrew Torr

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, 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.

While their techniques and tones vary, all five artists share a deep connection to place and a belief in painting as a form of witnessing. Michelle Heron’s work captures the character and vulnerability of changing high streets. Jen Orpin’s motorway bridges mark the emotional routes of personal history. Ryan Everson paints familiar architecture with a still, almost meditative atmosphere. Mandy Payne examines the social and political history embedded in concrete, while Andrew Torr finds quiet shifts of light and form in the everyday structure of the city.

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.