Preview evening for the exhibition Joy Gregory: Catching Flies with Honey, one of the headline exhibitions of Bristol Photo Festival 2026.
Arnolfini is hosting a preview evening for Joy Gregory: Catching Flies with Honey on Friday 16 October, from 17:00 to 20:00. It's the opening night of the exhibition, which is one of the headline shows of Bristol Photo Festival 2026 and the one that kicks the whole festival off. The preview runs for three hours, so you've got plenty of time to wander through the work before the evening shifts gear.
The exhibition itself is a survey of Joy Gregory's practice, bringing together more than 150 photographs, films, installations and textile works spanning from the early 1980s to the present. Gregory, born in 1959 and a graduate of Manchester Polytechnic and the Royal College of Art, has spent four decades working across historic processes, digital media, performance and textiles, and her work has remained concerned with social and political issues throughout. The show originated at Whitechapel Gallery in London, where it first ran from 8 October 2025 to 1 March 2026, and the tour was organised with Arnolfini and supported by the Freelands Foundation through the Freelands Award 2023 and by the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art.
If you're planning to stay on, the night continues with the Bristol Photo Festival Opening Party from 20:00 in the Arnolfini Theatre, featuring a live show by three of Bristol's musical artists. Tickets for the party are available via Headfirst, so that's a separate booking if you want to stick around after the preview.
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The preview evening is free entry and all welcome, though you'll need to RSVP via Eventbrite. It runs from 17:00 to 20:00 at Arnolfini, 16 Narrow Quay, Bristol BS1 4QA.
