An immersive exhibition by Becky Beasley featuring linoleum artwork, ceramic works and a video portrait narrated by Russell Tovey, exploring themes of gentleness and anxiety.
Becky Beasley is showing A Gentle Man (Part II) (1975-2029) at The Bluecoat, and it's the kind of exhibition that asks you to slow down. It's open from 26 September 2026 through to 3 January 2027, so there's plenty of time to fit it in over the autumn and winter.
The whole thing centres on an imagined character, a representation of gentleness that Beasley describes as a combination of the American novelist Bernard Malamud and her own father. Russell Tovey provides the voice-over for a video portrait of him, and the installation turns the gallery into a contemplative, immersive landscape. A large pale green linoleum artwork covers the floor, and hand-cut lake silhouettes line the walls. There are adjustable 'conversation' or 'kissing' benches facing one another, which encourage you to pause and sit with each piece rather than just drifting through. Pastel pink curtain sculptures hang in the shape of the letters H, S and P — an acronym for Highly Sensitive Person — and Beasley's notes explore what it means to be labelled a 'gentle man' and how that differs from anxiety. Watery metaphors run through the work, with still water suggesting calmness on the surface while implying hidden depth beneath.
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It's not just Beasley's work on display, either. The show includes pieces by Studio Me artists Tony Carroll, Tess Gilmartin and Tom Rooney, and if you want to hear more about the thinking behind it, there's an artist talk with Becky Beasley on 14 November 2026 from 3:00pm to 4:00pm. The exhibition was commissioned by QUAD, The Bluecoat and John Hansard Gallery, with funding from the Freelands Foundation and Arts Council England, and it's one of a pair of touring exhibitions at the venue. Entry is free, so you can drop in whenever suits you between now and early January.
