2020 has been an incredibly turbulent year. With tighter restrictions looming, numerous industries continue to be devastated by the impact of COVID-19 and nowhere is this more evident than the arts. But it’s during uncertain times like these where creatives are most important, helping to make sense of the ‘new normal’ we are currently forced to navigate and providing some much-needed joy and light in the process.

A new exhibition at Manchester’s Contemporary Six presents artist Rob Pointon’s first solo gallery, An Unprecedented Year, which features 25 original oil paintings, all painted during an extraordinary 12 months. Over the past year, Pointon, a member of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters, has spent time capturing a zeitgeist that has left nobody unaffected, touching everything from the economy, to family life, to the way we interact.

An Unprecedented Year is an exhibition grounded in real life: the streets of the city – both inhabited and sparse – the (now incredibly strange) sight of crowds as well as the significance of quiet spaces, cultural sites and art galleries.

Main image: 12-19 Piccadilly Rush. 

An Unprecedented Year: A Solo Exhibition of New Paintings by Rob Pointon is at Contemporary Six Gallery in Manchester from October 23 until November 6, 2020.

Preview: online only 7.30pm on October 23, 2020.

Exhibition in the gallery opens to public at 10.30am on October 24, 2020.