The Midlands has a wealth of art galleries and museums hosting a range of fantastic exhibitions - both permanent and temporary. Here's a selection of what's showing across the region. 

SABA KHAN: RIVERLESS WATER

London-based Pakistani artist Saba Khan here continues her critical inquiry into how environmental disruption shapes identity and migration. At the exhibition’s heart is the subject of South Asian water histories, with paintings, interviews and an installation being used to examine the impact of the Mangla Dam’s construction in the 1960s - an event which led to the mass migration of people from Mirpur in Pakistan to Birmingham. 

Midlands Arts Centre (MAC), Birmingham, until Monday 6 April

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ANDI

Coventry-based artist ANDI is spending 12 weeks in the New Art Gallery’s purpose-built artists’ studio, developing new paintings and working at a larger scale for the first time. The residency, which comes as a direct result of winning the venue’s coveted Clive Beardsmore Artist Award, will see the up-and-coming creative make oil paintings that document and reflect on queer and trans experiences.    

New Art Gallery, Walsall, until Sunday 5 April  

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WHAT ARE THE ODDS?

An Ikon gallery exhibition which is being presented at the Library of Birmingham, What Are The Odds? explores the role of art in supporting health and care systems. The exhibition’s graphic identity has been designed by Birmingham-based artist Foka Wolf. Playing on a 1970s ‘game of life’ TV show aesthetic, the presentation simulates a journey through the different institutions that define a life course, along the way reflecting a range of lived experience, from diversity in infant feeding to ageing and dying well. 

Library of Birmingham, until Saturday 27 June

 

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GRAYSON PERRY: THE ANNUNCIATION OF THE VIRGIN DEAL

Grayson Perry’s acclaimed artwork The Annunciation Of The Virgin Deal is part of the Turner Prize-winning artist’s The Vanity Of Small Differences series. 

A flamboyant and funny creation, the artwork is a four-metre-long tapestry that tells the story of Tim Rakewell, a fictional 21st-century software developer who climbs the social and economic ladder from his working-class roots.

The work will be shown in Wolverhampton alongside another of Grayson’s creations: Hold Your Beliefs Lightly. 

Wolverhampton Art Gallery, until Sunday 12 April

Image © Grayson Perry. Courtesy the artist and Victoria Miro

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WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

“We are facing urgent biodiversity and climate crises, and photography is a powerful catalyst for change.” 
So says Dr Doug Gurr, director of the Natural History Museum, which has developed and produced this prestigious competition. 
“As we celebrate 60 years of Wildlife Photographer Of The Year,” adds Dr Gurr, “we also celebrate the generations of visitors who have been inspired by the beauty and majesty of its images, and the millions of connections made with nature.” 
Visiting Wolverhampton as part of an extensive international tour, the show features a host of awe-inspiring images capturing fascinating animal behaviour and breathtaking landscapes.

Image credit: Bidyut Kalita 

Wolverhampton Art Gallery, until Sunday 25 January

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COVENTRY BIENNIAL 2025: OBSESSIONS, POSSESSIONS

An exploration of the roles and functions of collecting - within the art sector, the community and the studio - lies at the heart of the fifth Coventry Biennial.
Artists whose work is being displayed at the city’s Herbert Art Gallery & Museum include Helsinki-based Sophia Ehrnrooth, who is presenting a major four-screen moving-image installation. Also featured is a Simeon Barclay-curated group exhibition exploring ‘the rich and complex history of Coventry’. 

Image credit: Garry Jones Photography

Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Coventry, until Sunday 25 January

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STUDIO PRINTS: CELEBRATING THE BALAKJIAN COLLECTION

The archive of London-based Studio Prints is the source of the artwork featured in this new exhibition, which includes prints by Lucian Freud and other 20th-century British greats. 
Studio Prints was established by the artist Dorothea Wight and her husband, Marc Balakjian, in the late 1960s, going on to produce prints for world-renowned British artists for the following 40 years. Commenting on the exhibition, the New Art Gallery’s director, Stephen Snoddy, said: “It’s wonderful to continue to promote the legacy of Studio Prints to new generations. 
“These fantastic examples of world-class printmaking amplify our collection of modern British art, and are closely attuned to our Garman Ryan Collection.”

Image: Marc Balakjian - In the silence of passing years, 1980

New Art Gallery, Walsall, until Sunday 12 April

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HARDEEP PANDHAL:SAAG AND FISH FINGERS

Saag And Fish Fingers marks Hardeep Pandhal’s first solo exhibition in his hometown. 
Hardeep creates mythical narratives in his artwork with the aim of investigating the complexities of contemporary culture.
Drawing on video games, comics, cultural theory and his personal memories, the exhibition takes form across large-scale paintings, drawings and installation, along the way ‘exploring the transformative forces of cultural assimilation’. 

Midlands Arts Centre (MAC), Birmingham, until Sunday 1 February

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COMMODITIES: SCULPTURE & CERAMICS BY RENEE SO

Hong Kong-born artist Renee So’s latest exhibition may well be a game changer in terms of how Compton Verney’s world-renowned collection of Chinese Bronzes is viewed... Specialising in darkly playful ceramic sculptures, Renee’s work explores how perceptions of history can be distorted, re-fashioned and changed, asking the question: ‘How do we create the new stories that we tell ourselves today?’

Compton Verney, Warwickshire, until Sunday 8 March

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DIPPY IN COVENTRY: THE NATION'S FAVOURITE DINOSAUR

The Natural History Museum’s iconic Diplodocus cast - life-size, made of plaster-of-paris, and affectionately referred to as Dippy - has taken up residence in Coventry for an initial period of three years. 

Diplodocus carnegii, to give it its official name, lived during the Late Jurassic period, somewhere between 155 and 145 million years ago. Huge, plant-eating dinosaurs with long, whip-like tails, they grew to about 25 metres in length and are believed to have weighed around 15 tonnes, making them three tonnes heavier than a London double-decker bus. 

Dippy first arrived in London in 1905 and recently visited Birmingham as part of an eight-city tour that attracted a record-breaking two million visitors.

Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Coventry, until Tues 21 February 2026

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