A phone box screen on a street displaying ‘Rue The Waves’ (2022) by Natasha Klutch. A painted portrait of a regal looking woman in patriotic British colours. She is holding a bent trident, a round Union Jack shield and a helmet with a lion on it. She has a black eye and is covered in tomato juice.

The State We’re In 

Look out for the artworks on high-streets, bus stops, cinemas and billboards near you!

Launched in partnership with the Out-of-Home advertising industry, including Clear Channel and JCDecaux

To explore the artworks: thegallery.org.uk

#TheGalleryS2

Artists

Becca + Clare

What We Do | View Bio

Dola Posh

Care | View Bio

Hugh Malyon

Forced into a ‘TickBox’: an Acceptable Method of Gaslighting? | View Bio

S Mark Gubb

Profit and Self | View Bio

Bobby Baker

GROSSLY UNDERVALUED DOMESTIC PRODUCT | View Bio

Trackie McLeod

NOW! That’s What I Call Anxiety | View Bio

HEYDT

Last to inherit | View Bio

Natasha Klutch

Rue The Waves | View Bio

Richard Woods

A house upside down | A house on its side | View Bio

Sarah Maple

Let Them Eat Nothing | View Bio

A bus shelter screen showing GROSSLY UNDERVALUED DOMESTIC PRODUCT (2022) by Bobby Baker. A colourful sketched character on a red background. The central figure is adorned with cooking utensils, washing and other domestic symbols. She has several arms; one holds a bulging shopping basket and another arm leans on a walking cane. A child's hand tightly grasps onto another hand and one arm holds a large flag with text across it. The text reads: 'GROSSLY UNDERVALUED DOMESTIC PRODUCT'.
GROSSLY UNDERVALUED DOMESTIC PRODUCT (2022) by Bobby Baker. The Gallery, Season 2, 2023. Produced by Artichoke. Photo by Alight Media

Can artists help decode what’s going on?

11 timely and powerful artworks respond to the theme ‘The State We’re In’ on thousands of billboards and outdoor digital screens across the four nations of the UK.

The exhibition ‘The State We’re In’ is open in towns and cities, large and small, across our four nations, freely available to millions of people for 4 weeks: from London to Glasgow to Manchester, Southampton and Cardiff. 

Artworks were selected from almost 1,300 works submitted to our global, public open call. The Gallery also commissioned four new artworks. The works are created in diverse mediums including photography, illustration, oil painting, collage and digital printing.

The Gallery is a new kind of cultural institution, a major gallery without walls, created by Artichoke in collaboration with Public Artist Martin Firrell. It is the result of a unique partnership with the UK Out-of-Home* industry including the industry leaders, Clear Channel and JCDecaux,

Our mission is to make art accessible through bold and unafraid exhibitions that appear as part of people’s daily lives.

*The term Out-of-Home refers to any visual advertising media found outside of the home, including on-street billboards, digital screens, bus-shelters and train stations.

A photo from a schools workshop in Cardiff for Season 2 of The Gallery. A group of young people sit in a classroom with piles of art supplies on their work stations. They are creating artwork in repsonse to the theme
Cardiff Workshop with Fio and Cara Walker, The Gallery Season 2, 17 January 2022. Photo by Beth King

The Gallery is for everyone

Each biannual Gallery season sets out to nurture and develop artists at all levels; giving them a platform and guidance on producing art in the public realm.

Season 2 sees the addition of a Learning and Participation programme working with young people across the UK. We’ve been lucky enough to work with young people throughout Northern Ireland and Wales.

The programme highlights the power of art in public space and provides inspiration and guidance for creating your own impactful public artwork.

Learn about the history of art in public space and create your own impactful artwork! Take part with our interactive video: thegallery.org/participation

Thank you to our Season 2 partners and supporters

A billboard of CRY (2022) by Allyson Packer overlooking a busy road at night. A barren landscape. A freight train can barely be seen in the distance. A road sign in the foreground reads 'CR Y'.
CRY (2022) by Allyson Packer. The Gallery, Season 2, 2023. Produced by Artichoke.

Contact

To find out more about joining The Gallery’s growing network, please get in touch:

Development@artichoke.uk.com