LONDON.- Bruton’s burgeoning art scene is set to benefit from the opening of a new gallery founded by two of the region’s most established art figures. Launching this May, Bo Lee and Workman is the brainchild of Alice Workman, former Senior Director of Hauser & Wirth, and Jemma Hickman, founder of bo.lee gallery. The new gallery will present a dynamic programme of site-specific exhibitions and collaborations in and around Bruton, and globally with an online and art fair programme.

Alice and Jemma first worked together in 2010 and have continued to support one another’s professional practice ever since. It was last year, when Jemma moved to Bruton, where Alice lives, that the idea of collaborating evolved. Professionally the pair share similar interests, along with a hands-on approach, working closely with artists to support their practice and development. Together as Bo Lee and Workman they will represent a small group of artists chosen for their distinct identity and unique forms of expression.

Says Jemma: “Joining forces with Alice felt like a natural step, her knowledge and expertise of working with artists, museums and institutions will allow us to build on bo.lee gallery’s existing activities. I am excited to do this in Bruton and beyond and to be able to connect artists with new audiences and collectors”

Says Alice: “I am thrilled to be partnering with Jemma. As a woman in the art world, it is hugely helpful to find someone who has the same ideas as you and that can support you – I am happy we can offer that to each other. In turn, we are both incredibly excited to be working with a small group of artists that we can nurture.”

Bo Lee and Workman launches with an exhibition entitled ‘Flock’, celebrating the coming together of community. Held at a beautiful Grade II listed chapel just outside of Bruton, the exhibition will feature a selection of sculptors repurposing different forms and materials essential to collective rituals, habits and principles. In these tactile sculptures, objects with religious or domestic connotations are made playful, witty or surreal. Made from predominantly natural and recycled materials, they embody a sense of longing for fading practices that are kinder to the earth.

The exhibition will include Olivia Bax, Will Cruickshank, Laura Ford, Des Hughes, Jonathan Michael Ray and Nika Neelova and will support The Church of St Peter, a Grade II listed Chapel which will be home to additional events in association with the gallery this summer.

Artists represented by Bo Lee and Workman include: Ambrosine Allen, Lindsey Bull, Will Cruickshank, Des Hughes and Amy Stephens.

Jemma Hickman launched bo.lee gallery in Bath in 2009, and gained a reputation for its interesting programme of gallery and offsite exhibitions in nontraditional settings such as churches and historical buildings, including Bath Abbey. In 2013 Jemma moved to London and following a programme of global art fairs in Hong Kong, New York, Miami and London she opened a gallery space in South London. Jemma is now based in Bruton.

Alice Workman was previously Senior Director, Cultural Centres Europe at Hauser & Wirth (2011 – 2021), initially joining the company to develop the Somerset gallery which opened in 2014, and later overseeing the Menorca gallery development and Chillida Leku, the museum dedicated to Eduardo Chillida near San Sebastian. She previously led the exhibition programme at Southampton City Art Gallery (2009-2011) and was a Director at New Art Centre, Roche Court (2001 – 2009). She has worked with numerous artists and artist estates on exhibitions, including Phyllida Barlow, Richard Long, Edmund de Waal, Jenny Holzer, the Estate of Barbara Hepworth, Alexander Calder Foundation and The Henry Moore Foundation, amongst many others. She was awarded The Joanna Drew Travel Bursary, was an Adjudicator for The Articulation Prize, previously sat on the board of Spike Island, Bristol and is currently a Governor of Bath Spa University.