The Spirit of Charleston | Watts Gallery and Artists' Village

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About The Spirit of Charleston

6 February - 6 April 2025

A new generation of young artists have embraced the exuberant spirit of Charleston Farmhouse in the 1920s and 30s.

Taking inspiration from the colourful and patterned paintings and decorations with which Duncan Grant and Vanessa Bell filled their bohemian home, today’s artists echo the style in a new way in their own uplifting and energising works.

The exhibition features the work of 10 artists:

Camilla Perkins - oil pastel and paint
Naomi Munuo - acrylic on board or canvas, screenprints
Katy Papineau - oil, pastel, pigment on panel or paper
Lily Snowden-Fine - oils, acrylics, pastel and charcoal drawings
Rachel Bottomley - mixed media on paper
Laura Page - gouache and oil pastels
Hannah Watts - collages using patterned paper
Rosemary Worsley - sculpture
Sasha Compton – handmade and painted plates
Kathy Crisp – handmade lampshades
Greenham Makers - upholstered chairs

Exhibition highlights

Rachel Bottomley, Tulip 3

Naomi Munuo, Reader 2

Laura Page, Coffee and Oranges

Katy Papineau, Dreams at Her Raillings

Camilla Perkins, Studio Flowers from Firle

Rosemary Worsley, Myrmidons

Lily Snowden-Fine, The Hare Knows

Collage using different patterned paper which is cut into flower shapes on a white background with a black and white geometric pattern border. The main flower in the middle is in the shape of a bluebell.. — Hannah Watts, Bell Flower

Sasha Compton

Kathy Crisp

1930s chairs covered in “Clouds” fabric designed by Duncan Grant. Kindly supplied by Greenham Makers

Artist Rachel Bottomley on celebrating the joy of everyday life

We sit down with contemporary British painter, Rachel Bottomley to discuss her textural paintings that feature in our current Watts Contemporary Gallery exhibition, The Spirit of Charleston.