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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.
GREENER GLASS
The transformative power of recycled materials, turning waste into captivating art, is explored in this thought-provoking exhibition, co-curated by local and regional UK artists in collaboration with University of Birmingham students.
Delving into the future of glassmaking, emphasising eco-friendly practices and focusing on the artistic exploration of environmental themes, Greener Glass showcases a variety of techniques, among which are kiln work, glass blowing and flame working. The exhibition features work produced by 11 talented creatives, including artists-in-residence at Stourbridge Glass Museum, whose pieces have been created using 100% renewable energy.
Stourbridge Glass Museum, until Saturday 17 January
OZZY OSBOURNE (1948-2025): WORKING CLASS HERO
“Ozzy is proof that no matter where you start in life, with passion, grit, and a little bit of madness, you can achieve the extraordinary.”
So speaks Sharon Osbourne, celebrity wife of heavy metal legend Ozzy, who passed away last summer.
The Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery exhibition, which is free to enter, showcases Ozzy’s most prestigious international honours, presenting them alongside photographs and videos that chart his journey from working-class kid to global rock legend.
“This exhibition is a thank-you to the fans and the city of Birmingham, the place where it all began,” continues Sharon. “We’re so proud to bring it home.”
Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, until Sunday 18 January
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, Saturday 10 January - Monday 6 April
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, Tuesday 13 January - Sunday 5 April
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, Wednesday 21 January - Saturday 27 June
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
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
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
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
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
DESIGNING TERRY PRATCHETT'S DISCWORLD
Exhibition celebrating 30 Years of Paul Kidby’s Illustration
This brand-new exhibition displays the artwork of Paul Kidby - Terry Pratchett’s ‘artist of choice’ for his Discworld books.
Explaining why he selected Paul, the late author once said: “He sees things my way about 75 per cent of the time, which suggests either mind reading is happening or that my vision of my characters is really rather vague until I see his drawings.”
The exhibition includes colourful paintings, ‘exquisite’ pencil drawings, ‘and a rogue’s gallery of favourite Discworld characters’.
Worcester City Art Gallery & Museum, until Sunday 4 January
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
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