Verisimilitude: Four Artists Blur the Lines of Fact and Fiction Through Sculpture
A new exhibition brings together four artists at different career stages to ask how authenticity itself is made, opening at Centre Square 2 this September as part of Middlesbrough Art Week.
Luke Beech, Kneeling Legs, Installation shot at Humber Street Gallery, 2023. Photo by Jules Lister.
Supported by the Henry Moore Foundation, Turner on Tees and Middlesbrough Art Week, curators Penny Payne and Will Hughes present Verisimilitude, an exhibition of works by Luke Beech, Garth Gratrix, Kitty McKay and Liz Wilson.
The exhibition brings together works that explore layered storytelling, personal truths and material deception. Through the use of verisimilitude, the appearance of being real or true, each artist constructs a sense of ‘truthlikeness’ where materials, details and narratives blur fact and fiction. Rather than presenting object realities the works question how authenticity is constructed, perceived and experienced.
Each artist represents a distinct moment on their artistic path, from emerging to visible. This intercareer approach creates a dynamic dialogue across practices, methodologies, and the development of sculptural language. By bringing together artists at different stages of their careers, the exhibition foregrounds the evolving nature of contemporary sculpture in the UK while highlighting the importance of sustained support throughout every stage of artistic growth.Penny Payne says:
“As a curatorial/project management team we aim to platform artists at all points of their career. We are very excited to bring this first instalment of our partnership to Middlesbrough Art Week.”
Will Hughes says:“We are looking forward to Middlesbrough coming alive with exciting contemporary art, and bringing our sculptural exhibition to life. Through the exhibitions and exciting talks program.” Luke Beech is a multi-disciplinary artist whose work draws on the rituals and pressures of masculinity. Sport and outdoor pursuits are bent and recoded, rewriting social norms revealing performances of tenderness and violence. From a queer position both inside and adjacent to masculinity, Beech isolates its gestures and rituals, allowing shifts in posture and balance to expose what they conceal.
Kitty McKay is interested in how public space is made and unmade. Their work seeks through the reuse of civic materials to reposition typically structured authoritarian spaces. Their approach to practice is informed by feminist, queer and crip frameworks for understanding and overcoming the way power constructs place.
Garth Gratrix moves along the line of formal structure, architectures, systems and materials and ‘frolic’ as a necessary counterpart, embracing queerness, joy, mischief, and care. The works make room for multiple readings simultaneously, and trust the viewer to find their own way in.
Liz Wilson explores the stretch of time between the Industrial and Post Industrial; In particular the beginning of automation and how this is altering our relationship with technology. She is fascinated by the human machine relationship of both ‘Conductor’ and ‘Orchestra’ and how these performative roles manifest themselves within both our natural and fabricated environments.Penny Payne is an independent curator who has worked for Middlesbrough Art Week to deliver the North East Open Call since 2023. Payne has her own artistic practice rooted in the exploration of social record. She primarily explores female narratives, particularly overlooked and unrecorded histories. From her studio in Cullercoats, North Tyneside Payne creates sculptural pieces, site specific installations and performative moments that draw on archival research. Her work Canon produced as part of her Art In Manufacturing Residency had its debut at The Festival of Making, Blackburn and Haworth Art Gallery in July 2026.
Will Hughes is a visual artist and a roving coordinator. A graduate of Bath Spa University and the BxNU Institute, concepts of aspiration, queerness and glamour are central themes within their practice. Which often takes form in sculpture, print and installation. Curatorially they are interested in ways of supporting early and mid career artistic voices and building strong networks.
In 2025 they were named Tees Valley Artist of the year which represented a significant investment in their practice, and also co-founded SAWDUST WORKSHOP CIC, a workshop for artists, a lab for reimagining our streets and a place where ideas get built.Verisimilitude also presents a print exhibition featuring the selected sculptors alongside 6 additional artists. The exhibition is coordinated with Hardcopy, a publisher of artists’ editions and multiples based in Newcastle upon Tyne. See the schedule on the Middlesbrough Art Week Eventbrite for details of the two day symposium to be held at CS2 and an artist mixer event.
Location: Ground Floor, CS2 Centre Square, Middlesbrough, TS1 2BF
Exhibition Opening: Thu 17th September 5pm-7pm
Exhibition Opening Dates: (Open 10am-4pm, Sundays 12pm-4pm)
Fri 18th September - Sun 20th September
Thu 24th September - Sun 27th September
Tue 29th September - Sun 4th October
Sat 10th October & Sun 11th October
Events dates: Artist Mixer Event: Fri 25th September 12:30pm-3pm
Ground Floor, CS2 Centre Square, Middlesbrough
Symposium: Sat 3rd October 10am-4pm, Sun 4th October 10am-4pm
First Floor, CS2 Centre Square, Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough Art Week Eventbrite Tickets
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The Auxiliary Project Space
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Email: marketing@theauxiliary.co.uk
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Middlesbrough Art Week was born in 2017 as an artist-led festival powered by The Auxiliary Project Space, a growing team of artists, curators and coordinators, and fuelled by wide reaching partnerships. MAW supports artist ecologies in the North East, connecting artistic practice and ideas with like-minded peers nationally and internationally, and is committed to practise, and not just, preach principles of fair work and social justice.
Website: https://middlesbroughartweek.com/
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The Auxiliary Project Space is an artist-led, National Portfolio Organisation based in Middlesbrough that emphasises artistic development, large scale exhibitions, cultural development strategies and community participation. While the organisation is active across middlesbrough and teesside, its home is an 14,000sq ft warehouse, currently under capital development supported by the DCMS Cultural Development Fund and Middlesbrough Development Corporation. In addition to the provision of artists studios, workshops, events and gallery spaces for local and international artists, The Auxiliary is the creative engine powering two further cultural festivals each year; Sonic Arts Week and Middlesbrough Art Week. A founding member of the Middlesbrough Cultural Partnership and an advocate for the visual arts and festival sector, The Auxiliary has been instrumental in transforming the region’s industrial landscape into a hub for artistic and cultural innovation.
Website: https://www.theauxiliary.co.uk/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theauxiliaryprojectspace
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Funders & Partners:Henry Moore Foundation
The Henry Moore Foundation is a UK-based arts charity established by the renowned sculptor Henry Moore in 1977 to advance the public’s appreciation of the visual arts, particularly sculpture. Through its Grants Programme, the Foundation supports museums, galleries, and artists worldwide, fostering research, exhibitions, and new commissions that explore sculpture’s past, present, and future. The Foundation also manages Henry Moore’s former home and studios in Hertfordshire and the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds.
https://henry-moore.org/
MIMA, Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art
MIMA connects art, people, and ideas to empower creative lives and positively contribute to society. An international art gallery and museum based in Centre Square, Middlesbrough, MIMA commissions, collects, and re-thinks modern and contemporary art from the 1870s to the present day. As the artistic heart of the School of Arts & Creative Industries at Teesside University, it functions as a civic institution and a "useful museum," dedicated to collaborative learning, research, innovation, and social change. MIMA is part of the Tate Plus network and is funded by Teesside University, Arts Council England, and Middlesbrough Council.
https://mima.art/
Arts Council England
Arts Council England is the national development agency for creativity and culture. Our vision, set out in our strategy Let’s Create, is that by 2030, we want England to be a country in which the creativity of each of us is valued and given the chance to flourish, and where every one of us has access to a remarkable range of high-quality cultural experiences. Between 2023 and 2026, we will have invested over £467 million of public money from the Government, alongside an estimated £250 million each year from the National Lottery, to help ensure that people in every part of the country have access to culture and creativity in the places where they live. Until Autumn 2025, the National Lottery is celebrating its 30th anniversary of supporting good causes in the United Kingdom: since the first draw was held in 1994, it has raised £49 billion and awarded more than 690,000 individual grants. https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/
Middlesbrough Council
Middlesbrough Council keenly supports cultural events and activity across the town. A key member of the Middlesbrough Cultural Partnership, the Council is leading the bid for Middlesbrough to be named UK City of Culture 2029. The Council worked closely with Teesside University to bring the Turner Prize 2026 to MIMA and has recently completed a £4.5m investment in venues using Arts Council England funding. The Cultural Development Fund saw investment into The Auxiliary, MIMA, Central Library and Platform Arts at the town’s railway station.
Abingdon Studios
Abingdon Studios is a dynamic contemporary visual arts studio and project space located in the heart of Blackpool’s town centre. As the flagship dedicated provider of artist studios in the area, we offer a vital hub for creative talent to thrive, collaborate, and push boundaries. With ten artist studios and a flexible project space, we support both resident and visiting artists to develop new work within a supportive and inspiring environment. Our location, just a five-minute walk from the Grundy Art Gallery and with strong transport links, makes us a strategic and accessible space for creative practice. Abingdon Studios is committed to nurturing emerging and established artists, offering a platform for experimentation, innovation, and professional growth. Our facilities are available 24/7, giving artists the freedom to work on their own terms.
https://abingdonstudios.org.uk
Sawdust
Sawdust is a creative fabrication workshop and placemaking organisation based in Teesside. We provide affordable access to professional equipment, workspace and technical knowledge so artists can produce ambitious work locally. We believe creative people should not have to leave the region or work in isolation to realise their ideas. By maintaining shared infrastructure, we make it possible for more work to be designed, built and seen here. Alongside supporting independent practice, Sawdust develops and delivers projects in public space. We work with partners and communities to test ideas, improve how places function and bring imagination into everyday environments.
https://www.sawdustworkshop.co.uk/
The Flower Patch CIC
We are a ‘Not for Profit’ social enterprise, growing seasonal cut flowers in Acklam, Middlesbrough. Using social and therapeutic horticultural practice along with creative & wellbeing activities, we invite anyone suffering from the pressures of the modern world or feelings of stress and anxiety to get involved. While we are walking, drawing, painting, weeding, planting, or pottering there’s minimal thinking going on, meaning it can be very mindful as everyday worries and concerns drop away, and we concentrate on the task at hand. Growing, nurturing, and harvesting flowers offers individuals the opportunity to step away from everyday life, being out in the fresh air is great for both our mental well-being and physical health. Walking is an easy and inclusive way to boost fitness and support overall health. All funds raised from the sale of our flowers and services are used to develop our projects.
Middlesbrough Art Week
Middlesbrough Art Week is the North East’s largest visual art festival, with a free public programme of art exhibitions, screenings, performances, workshops, talks and public works. Established in 2017 as The Middlesbrough Art Weekender, it has grown each year and now celebrates a 10 day programme which reimagines Middlesbrough’s industrial past through an artistic takeover of the town. Delivered by the artist-led team of The Auxiliary and their ever expanding network of artists, programme collaborators, producers, coordinators & wide reaching partnerships, MAW supports artist ecologies in the North East, connecting artistic practice and ideas with like-minded peers nationally and internationally, and is committed to practice and principles of fair work and social justice.
https://middlesbroughartweek.com/
Tate
Tate holds the national collection of British art from 1500 to the present day and of international modern and contemporary art from 1900 to the present day. Tate operates four major galleries: Tate Britain and Tate Modern in London, Tate Liverpool in the North West, and Tate St Ives in Cornwall. Tate is committed to promoting public enjoyment and understanding of British, modern, and contemporary art, maintaining free entry to its permanent collections, and welcoming a diverse international public.
https://www.tate.org.uk/
Tees Valley Combined Authority
The Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) brings together the five local authorities of Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar & Cleveland, and Stockton-on-Tees, working collectively to drive economic growth, cultural development, and investment across the Tees Valley region. Led by the Tees Valley Mayor, the Authority supports projects that enhance skills, transport, business innovation, and place-making — including major investment in arts and culture as key drivers of regeneration, community engagement, and regional identity.
https://teesvalley-ca.gov.uk/
Turner on Tees
Hosted by MIMA, Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, part of Teesside University, the Turner Prize will anchor Turner on Tees, a six-month, region-wide programme celebrating creativity, diversity and ambition across Teesside. The Turner Prize, which is organised by Tate, is one of the world's leading artistic accolades and is awarded annually to a British visual artist. 'British' can mean an artist working primarily in Britain or an artist born in Britain working globally. The prize is named in honour of the artist JMW Turner, who was considered innovative and groundbreaking in his day. MIMA has been named by the Chair of Arts Council England as a 'beacon and a catalyst', driving new developments and creating social and economic benefits.