Simon Mills

‘In Your Face’

The idea came about when Brónach and I were sitting in a café in a village square on the Greek island of Kythira and we kept seeing these interesting old geezers with long grey ponytails, dark glasses on their heads, riding motorbikes, no crash helmets, and I said “What fantastic faces these guys have.  All the wrinkles and laughter lines that tell the story of a life lived to the full. I might have a go at painting a series of heads of people of our generation.” 

I have tried to avoid using words like ‘old’ to describe the subjects of these paintings and I especially hate the word ‘elderly’ because it sounds so patronising. I have chosen instead to use the word ’elders’ to describe this group of people. 

It was Jonathan Wilmot, co-owner of Restoration House that proposed the title “In Your Face”.

MKL - Medway & Kent Lens 2026

Open call by The Black Art Hub CIC

Black Photographers, filmmakers and videographers are invited to submit work for Black History Month: MKL 2026 (Medway & Kent Lens), responding to the theme “Unapologetically Black”

Submit here

Find out more on The Black Art Hub website

Can you feel me in the swells?

Lux Orion

Lux orion (b. 1994) is an interdisciplinary visual artist whose artistic practice delves into identity through explorations of queerness and transsexuality; home in the body and in nature; folklore and folk customs; and the unending journey of grief and healing.

He combines sculpture, painting, photography and fibre arts to develop personal, layered works which invite the viewer into their world of salt marsh, self-acceptance and continual transformation.

'Can you feel me in the swells?’ the debut solo show by Lux Orion, reimagines earthly tethers and deep longing through an array of mediums and artistic practices. linking the physical realm – home, the north kent marshes and mud flats – with the spiritual – folklore and customs, detachment and disassociation – the artist evokes deep seated fears, insecurities and otherness alongside hopes of freedom and relief. their work engages with kentish folk customs and landmarks, blending them with personal imagery to narrate a story of identity, belonging and the act of laying ones trauma to rest. the exhibition takes its name from the artist entreating with the viewer whilst delving on the journey of returning to nature; becoming one with the water and experiencing all earthly tethers dissolving into salt and foam.

Preview: Thursday 19th November, 5-7pm

100 under £100

For The Halpern Gallery Winter Open 2026 we are inviting artists to take part in 100 under £100.

Full details and how to submit here